Thanksgiving, Christmakwanzakah and the Holidays are the time for feasting, but that doesn’t mean you need to have eater’s remorse.

The Holidays

I love to eat, especially when it comes to special occasions like Thanksgiving.

And even though my birthday falls right before Christmas – which was only a mildly sore spot growing up – special occasions and this time of year means I get to eat and eat my fair share and all the shares of those that I leave in my wake.

Not only do I get to gorge on the delicious foods of my friends and family, but I also get to showcase my superior cooking skills, to which there is no equal, I’m coming for your Gordon Ramsey.

Gordon Ramsay – The Mix Radio

My Festive Eating

Growing up in a vegetarian household definitely made for some interesting festive meals, not to mention both of my parents are from Europe, so our Thanksgiving feast was unique, to say the least.

Obviously, there was no Thanksgiving Turkey or for that matter, any typical Thanksgiving food but that didn’t mean it was any less agreeable to my belly.

This year I’ll be celebrating my grandparent’s 60^th wedding anniversary in France, which I’m super stoked to go back and hopefully I’ll see the bulk of my French family while I’m there and, more importantly, eat all of their delicious food.

Crêpes

But that also means our Thanksgiving will be postponed to the following week – double feast here I come.

So, even though I’m celebrating a week late, I want to go ahead and share with you my surefire ways to prevent your festivities from getting in the way of your progress. Or helping you avoid feeling like a real-life stuffed turkey.

A Stuffed Homer Simpson

Planning/Compensating

Low and behold the titles says it all. By planning or compensating for a large influx of calories you avoid eater’s remorse like dodgeball legend White Goodman himself.

White Goodman (Ben Stiller) – Dodgeball

With planning, you’ll end up being diligent with your diet prior to feasting whereas compensating happens post-feast.

An average Thanksgiving feast comes in at about 4500 calories, which is about 2000-2500 calories above an average maintenance intake.

And while I could try talking you into minimizing your sizes for your festivities, it’s a feast, treat it like one and enjoy yourself. I sure as hell will be.

Depending on how traveling goes, I’ll probably end up compensating for my belated Thanksgiving and to do so I’ll be decreasing my daily caloric intake by about 500 calories for about 5 or so days.

By doing so I’ll place myself in a 2500 calories deficit and will effectively nullify the repercussions of eating enough to feed a small family.

If you prefer, you can plan your feast and 5 or so days prior to feasting, eat in a moderate caloric deficit and feast remorse-free.

The 24-Hour Fast

I’ve been a huge advocate of intermittent fasting for the past 3 years and could not be happier with the 16/8 method of intermittent fasting that I’ve been following.

However, there is also a lesser used intermittent fasting protocol, the 24-hour fast, which is one of my favorites to use especially when controlling my intake on a day-to-day basis becomes more complicated.

AKA anytime I’m around my family and am not eating the food I prepared myself.

The 24-hour fast can be completed before or after your feast and involves you not eating for a full 24-hour window.

This ends up being a day’s worth of calories, which normally ranges from 2000-2500 calories per day, wiped clean off your slate.

I do want to mention, if you’re more concerned with fat loss I would fast prior to your feast, however, if you want to feel less of an effect from not eating for 24-hours then I would fast after your feast.

Oh, and try to avoid any grueling intensive workouts while fasting, it will only make fasting more difficult.

Conclusion

Wrapping up, this will be my first Thanksgiving back at home in the past 5 years and while it might be a week late I’m most excited to eat my father’s palatable pecan pie.

I’d love to hear what your favorite holiday meal is, go ahead mash away in the comments below.

Feasting during the holidays doesn’t have to get in the way of your goals, however, if you want to be successful at both, it will require a change of approach on how you go about feasting and reaching your goals.

Whether it be planning and/or compensating or throwing in a 24-hour fast. You are entirely capable of enjoying the holiday filled a progress and satiating overtones.

Finally, creating your ideal physique doesn’t have done entirely on your own.

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