Thanksgiving plans (if you’re in the US) 🦃

Joanne Zuniga

Nov '25 (edited) • ❓Questions

What’s everyone’s eating strategy for tomorrow?

Do you have anxiety being around food?

Let’s talk about it below, I’ll also she my strategy later on today 🙂

Your thanksgiving strategy:

1. Don’t show up starving.

Trying to “save calories” by under-eating all day backfires. You walk in ravenous, your prefrontal cortex goes offline, and suddenly the bread basket looks like a life raft.

A small protein-rich snack before you leave—Greek yogurt, a protein bar, eggs, a shake—keeps you in control, not primal-hungry.

2. Start your plate with protein (4–5 ounces).

Turkey, ham, roast beef—whatever’s there.

Protein steadies your blood sugar, keeps you fuller, and naturally limits mindless overeating. This isn’t discipline; it’s physiology.

3. Distance > discipline.

Standing next to the grazing table is the fastest way to consume 700+ calories you barely remember eating.

Set yourself up intelligently: hang out away from the food so you can focus on conversations instead of crackers.

4. Nothing is “off-limits.”

Forbidden foods create rebound desire.

Give yourself permission to enjoy the sides, the desserts, the nostalgic dishes. Take moderate portions, savor them slowly, and move on. You’ll end up eating less than if you tried to be “good.”

5. Train the day before or morning of.

This isn’t “earning your food” that mindset is poison.

A workout simply increases insulin sensitivity and helps your body use that extra fuel more efficiently. Think of it as priming the engine, not repenting for a meal.

6. Keep perspective.

It’s one day.

The 364 days of ordinary habits matter infinitely more than the one day of mashed potatoes. Stress spikes cortisol, and cortisol sabotages digestion, appetite, and enjoyment.

Your only job is: eat deliberately, enjoy deeply, and then move on.

7. Give yourself permission to enjoy the people and the moment.

Food is part of the holiday…not the meaning of it.

Your memories later will be about laughter, connection, and warmth, not whether you had ½ cup or ¾ cup of stuffing.

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