For those who are interested in planning a healthy Thanksgiving
 

This is the "Medical and Health Discussion" board and yet the last thread got hijacked by those not interested in health. So I'm starting this thread for anyone who is genuinely interested in a discussion about health.

Thanksgiving is an interesting holiday. No one ever says they are thankful for being able to exercise restraint. Instead, we are usually thankful for the opportunity to be overly selfindulgent. Are we, as a nation, suffering from starvation? If not, why do we behave on Thanksgiving as though food is a novelty? Why is there such a big emphasis on high calorie comfort foods? Are we trying to fill a void?

If you look at the "bigger picture", it gets really strange: We are a nation suffering from an obesity epidemic and yet we celebrate all of our most important holidays with excessive amounts of high-calorie comfort-foods. (I know because I've been there, although I wasn't overweight.)

My plan, as usual, is to go out to dinner, with a good friend, on the day before Thanksgiving. Because it's not Thanksgiving, there's no pressure to overindulge. And the following day, Thanksgiving day, I'll be home eating regular meals as though it's just another day. It works for me and is one more thing to be thankful for. Notice I said that "it works for me" I'm not telling or "preaching" that you should do the same. Do whatever you want to do. We live in a free country, don't we?

Happy Thanksgiving, pooh, and everyone.

Any healthy suggestions on how to keep "compulsive high-calorie eating" under control are welcome. Thanks.

....

Thanks! And best wishes back to you for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

I believe the thread got shut down because of highly emotonal accusations that I was "preaching" etc.. Those were highly personal attacks on me and that's "hijacking" in my opinion. Do I need to give you an exact quote? You can just read the last few posts to see what I mean. They were posts that used the word "preaching" and basically were telling me that I should shut up or "keep quiet".

A nice reminder. I know I have to be more careful as I age on what and how much I eat. Again I thank you for the reminder.

It's really no different than any other day......those that indulge with fatty foods, will do so on Thanksgiving.....only more so. And, those that always eat healthy, will do so on Thanksgiving as well. For me, a holiday meal means trying a little of everything. I eat everything....in moderation.

You certainly have the right to voice your opinions. Happy Thanksgiving and Peace to you.

Happy day before Thanksgiving and Happy Thanksgiving, VPL!

But was not Thanksgiving a time when the Indians and Puritans sat around together and ate? Or is it just my elementary education kicking in? They celebrated and ate! What we eat now is, as always, up to us.

I do what is right and healthy and life prolong (we hope) about 355 days per year.

The holidays are my reward days for indulging without conscience coming into play. My indulging does not include eating to excess....but maybe a little more than the other 355 and for sure includes treats and goodies not allowed the other 355.

That works out to 2.3 % of a year anything I please is fair game and is my forumula for remaing healthy and happy.

btk

Happy Thanksgiving! :ho:

Thank you, pooh. Happy Thanksgiving!

Search: What foods did the pilgrims eat on Thanksgiving.

1) Wild turkeys and venison etc.

2) No dairy products from cows but they might have had goat cheese

3) They didn't have pies or other sweets (they brought some sugar with them but ran out)

You can get more information from the above search.

Prime rib for us
 

We will not go traditional this year. We will have prime rib, baked potato and a delicious spinach casserole (a recipe I got from Publics). That way we don't have to have the rolls, gravy, stuffing and all of that fat food. Actually, it's all wonderful and it's ok to indulge on the holidays a bit. I love turkey and stuffing!!

Hey Lookie here anybody single and alone, there is a TG party at Larry's. Look at the singles forum if you might be interested in company. I don't like being alone on holidays and bc I have only 2 close family members, I'm sticking with my single peeps whenever I can.

mmmmm. I'm liking your menu!

A healthy Thanksgiving is an oxymoron in my house. It, along with Christmas, is the time of year I use real (no fat free or light foods) and eat food I normally avoid the rest of the year. I'm following Weight Watchers and have lost nearly 20 pounds but Thanksgiving Day (and Christmas) is one of those times I'm throwing all caution to the wind! YUM-O!

:icon_hungry: Bring on the real Jello, the real homemade rolls, the real butter, the real brown sugar in the sweet potatoes, the real mashed potatoes (not mixed half and half with cauliflower) and the real whipped cream! I can hardly wait to indulge.

However, this could be me afterwards...barf

We tend to look at Thanksgiving more as a family gathering, and not a giant meal. The fireplace is burning nice and hot, the candles are lit, the smells from the oven remind us of how our grandmas' houses smelled when we arrived as kids on Thanksgiving, and we make some of the recipes they used.

It's not about the food (although we make it really tasty). It's about seeing the relatives etc. who we'd otherwise see only at funerals or weddings.

The gathering aspect of the holiday is why I like the various house parties around TV where neighbors are invited in. Also many churches do it so nobody has to be alone that day.

Sheesh!
 

At our age, just enjoy whatever. :boom:

What about that first Thanksgiving in the Fall of 1621
 

WHAT DID THE PILGRIMS REALLY EAT AT THE FIRST THANKSGIVING????

FROM "YANKEE MAGAZINE" :

""The Thanksgiving meal is remarkably consistent in its elements: the turkey, the stuffing, the sweet potatoes, the cranberry sauce. Barring ethical, health, or religious objections, it is pretty much the same meal for everyone, across latitudes and longitudes, and through the years of their lives. We stick with the basics and simply change the seasonings.""

""But what about that first Thanksgiving in the fall of 1621 (historians don’t know the exact date, but place it sometime between September 21 and November 9), when British settlers hosted the first documented harvest celebration? What did they eat, and how similar is it to the traditional American Thanksgiving meal?""

""Here’s how Edward Winslow described the first Thanksgiving feast in a letter to a friend:


"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labor. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which we brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."

""So venison was a major ingredient, as well as fowl, but that likely included pheasants, geese, and duck. Turkeys are a possibility, but were not a common food in that time. Pilgrims grew onions and herbs. Cranberries and currants would have been growing wild in the area, and watercress may have still been available if the hard frosts had held off, but there’s no record of them having been served. In fact, the meal was probably quite meat-heavy. Likewise, walnuts, chestnuts, and beechnuts were abundant, as were sunchokes. Shellfish were common, so they probably played a part, as did beans, pumpkins, squashes, and corn (served in the form of bread or porridge), thanks to the Wampanoags.""

""What didn’t they have at the first Thanksgiving? ""

""Potatoes (white or sweet), bread stuffing or pie (wheat flour was rare), sugar..."

""Aunt Lena’s green bean casserole.""

You never let it go, do you VPL. Not even one day a year. Oh well, to each his own. Happy Thanksgiving to all...no matter what you eat!

Indians Loaned Pilgrims Sugar
 

Maple sugar comprised 12 percent of the Native American diet. The Native American name for maple sugar is Sinzibuckwud (drawn from the wood). Sugar was a basic seasoning for grains and breads, stews, teas, berries, vegetables. In the Southwest, the Native Americans chewed the sweet heart of the agave plant.

Read more: Native Americans, Diet of - food, nutrition, needs, body, health, fat, eating, water

Thanksgiving on the Net - The Pilgrims and America's First Thanksgiving

You are correct.

It was Squanto who first taught the pilgrims to tap maple trees for sap, thus maple sugar.
Yankee Magazine neglected to think of that.

Thank you.

Check out Plimoth Plantation 17th Century Harvest Served Dinner. www.plimoth.org

Darn it. I'm going to miss the pottage of cabbage, etc. ALL SOLD OUT.

Seriously, I've always wanted to take our adult kids, their spouses and all five grandchildren to this Thanksgiving dinner. We are only a 3 hour drive to Boston, but we'd have to overnight at least one night.....and then some would have to fly to us, while others had another three hour ride to us and then 3 to Boston......plus it gets pricey with lodging, breakfasts, etc.......nothing like The Villages restaurant prices.

My husband and I have visited Plimouth Plantation when we stayed a long weekend in Salem, Massachusetts........another "must see" long weekend.
Cute town...or small city.....the witch's dungeons, the play, the cemetery, etc. and the piers, parks, all very nice to see.

At Plimouth Plantation we saw the original type dwelling the pilgrims lived in when they first arrived; quite small, very humble.....to us it would be like a pig's stall......then, each year, they seemed to build larger dwellings......but still had a very very rough existence, to say the least........the little goats were wandering all over, chewing everyone's tags and shoe laces.

For the Pilgrims, that first Thanksgiving must have been wonderful, to share foods brought by the Indians......when starvation could easily come in the winter time.

We all have so much food, in abundance, that the holidays aren't exactly what they used to be.........we can have these foods any old time we wish........ Even our own grandparents had to save up a little here and there for the holiday celebrations......and since it was food they didn't have on a normal day to day basis, it was special. Not any more.

That actually is a very informative website.......I was just looking at some more of the side links, etc.

LOL! where is the rolling on the floor icon?:1rotfl::clap2::MOJE_whot:

that is so triple funny! don't we shout at the wall all day on here? I jus' love it. and I'm also the wall at whom you shout. excellent post.

:agree: It doesn't hurt if you break down a couple of times a year.

I am a diabetic, who sometimes cheats and I don't get worked about it. "I must be perfect or I won't have good health". Watching one's diet is great, if coupled with exercise. Besides, some people have been watching their diet for so long, they feel they deserve the right to indulge themselves at this stage of their life barring any known medical problems. I think they feel, they have nothing to prove to anyone and are happy as they are.

People who eat let every meal that acts like they are, "going to the electric chair", needs to heed these warnings.

Nuff said.... Happy Thanksgiving to all.

[quote=Villages PL;786866]
They didn't have pies or other sweets (they brought some sugar with them but ran out)..

A Pawtuxet Indian named Squanto taught the malnourished Pilgrims how to extract sap from Maple Trees. I bet that was a Happy Day! :girlneener:

We love the holidays because it these days we get to spend time with all of the family. Tom & I eat healthy, low fat, low sodium all year long. On the holidays we throw caution to the wind and eat whatever we want and don't feel guilty about it either. Everything in moderation.

I was there but I didn't eat any maple sugar, and that's why I'm still here today to talk about it. :) I liked the wild game because I think it was only about 5% fat and it had a healthy balance of omega-3 to omega-6. Also, it didn't contain any pesticides, herbicides, hormones, or antibiotics. Unfortunately, we can't make that claim today.

I especially liked the vegetables. They were organic and grown on virgin soil. I made sure I ate mostly fruits and vegetables so as to get lots of nutrition and fiber in my diet. Too much meat would have been boring and constipating. :ohdear:

What age are you referring to? At what age should one throw in the towel? 65, 75, 85, 95, or 105? :-)

That sounds like a very wise decision, have a great holiday season.:wave:

In general, I agree with you but it's only two days a year that I would eat less than healthy. It's the other 363 days, (except for Thanksgiving and Xmas), a year that count. :smiley:

Please let it go. It's not worth getting upset about it. Everyone is going to do as they please, and no amount of info is going to change that, for most people. IMHO :smiley:

If you're sure you're doing the right thing then just keep doing what you're doing. You have my blessing. No need to try to get this thread shut down.

Thank you so very much. :smiley:

You're welcome. Have a happy Thanksgiving.

I read "enjoy", not "throw in the towel"...and that applies to any age.

VPL, I think you are the nutritional conscience of TV. I don't always agree with the degree to which you advocate adherence (nor am I self-disciplined enough to follow your lead exactly), but I have to admit you have a good regime and a lot of good facts.

Whatever you do on that day and the day before, Happy Thanksgiving.

We will board a plane at 10 pm on 11/27, crossing over the international dateline, and 11/28 is going to zip by in a heartbeat to become 11/29. As to what we will be eating, well... you know how healthy airline food is! And I refuse to pre-order vegetarian airline food. I've tried; it's even worse tasting than their normal fare.barf