So ~ how did your Thanksgiving go??

[sherahtaylor]

I know it's a hard day for many because of the emotional tie to family traditions and comfort food - we look forward to stuffing ourselves with the traditional Thanksgiving fare of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, pie, etc every year. How did your day go?

This was my second Thanksgiving since going raw and I am so happy to report that I was 100% raw all day yesterday! It's been a struggle lately because of my looming birth and hormones/emotional ups & downs.

My sister in law has been somewhat raw and made a huge fruit salad with organic apples, bananas, oranges, and grapes. We brought a huge green salad so between the two, I had more than enough to keep me full throughout the day. Just in case, I did bring my greens/bananas/apples to make a green smoothie in my MIL's Vitamix but didn't need to - that was nice.

I found it so interesting that I am 38 weeks pregnant and had NO discomfort whatsoever throughout the day - I felt my digestion was in pristine condition. Whereas everyone else kept complaining of indigestion, too full stomachs, and being very sleepy from the turkey, etc - including my SIL who is 5 months pregnant and looked absolutely miserable.

I know if I had given in and eaten the pie, the ice-cream, the whipped-cream fruit salad, the candied sweet potatoes, cranberry stuffing, turkey/gravy/garlic potatoes (which all have been my favorites in the past!) I would have been one grumpy mama. I just had a big smile on my face all day, and ample energy to take care of my children - I am so happy and thankful for raw!!!!!

[hunny99]

I don't know what it is about this raw lifestyle, but it was easy for me. And here is what the strange thing is. I cooked! All the traditinal stuff. My family always requests my cooking. So I made dressing, mac and cheese gravy etc. I had a salad with raw veggies and I made a dressing from Alissa's book and I had raw chocolate pie for dessert. We served about 50 people.

So proud of myself. 12 days raw and loving life.

Hunny

[freespirit]

100% here too...never done it through a holiday meal before!! It was empowering-I felt just perfect!! I was in a great mood, everyone kept telling me how great I look. And when I went back for seconds , I didnt feel guilty. I wont ever slip again- if i can handle thanksgiving, I can handle any situation that may make staying raw difficult

[JennaBoBenna]

I stayed raw on Thanksgiving with the exception of a slice of cinnamon Ezekiel bread. I do allow sprouted grains in my diet though, so it's not like it was a failure of mine to eat that :)
Congrats to all who were able to stick with it !

[dalimeindacoconut]

Oink Oink! Pomegranate, grapefruit helped me to get back on track today though. My mood seriously changed that is for sure and I am not looking forward to stepping on the scale. Here I go again, but it is back to raw for me.

[Raspberry4]

I made it through my first raw Holiday! even though I did all the SAD cooking (did not even test taste it) and this was the first Holiday after losing my dad and some other disturbing factors were thrown in for good measure too.

I also hit the 50 pound weight drop mark on Thanksgiving.

What really helped me was that I made the dessert, falafel, and soup the night before and the salad the morning of so I was prepared. Without preparation I would not have been able to do it so easily. Thank God for taking some time for me for a change to nuture myself and plan ahead!

Anyway...I was so happy I did not have to unbutton my pants, nor fall asleep drooling away the afternoon in a cloud of dizziness and remorse from SAD overeating.

This is big for me and I am so happy for the support of this forum and the 30 day challenges too!

Congratulations to everyone was able to be raw. (Being able to be 100% raw does not make me any better than someone who was not raw. Just get right back to it today and notice how good you feel). Good luck to everyone on this wonderful journey! :)

[Hannah]

:D I too was able to maintain my 100% raw for the holiday - not to say that I wasn't tempted - mostly by the stuffing because it smelled SO good and it was my absolute FAVORITE dish throughout thanksgivings past. The raw treats that I made flopped a bit - they were TOO salty :eek: although I did make a yummy butternut squash pie - that was delicious!

I realized though just how powerful the holidays are for slip ups and trip ups, and I guess I never realized before just how powerful tradition and foods can be - especially in tandem. I think what kept me raw was the food prep I did - even though they weren't great, they were made with love and great intentions and that felt good.

If you ate cooked dust off your shoulders, stand proud and start again - you are on a journey, and maybe sometimes it feels like a rollercoaster ride - keep rawkin' everyone!

[Lady Green Jeans]

Great to hear about everyone's Thanksgiving. Was tempted, too, but stayed the course and enjoyed the stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, two nice servings of a fresh mixed green salad, and a slice of butternut squash pie. It was great to not be bogged down and sleepy even with enjoying all that I did.

[SuziS]

I stayed 100% and while all my relatives were moaning and groaning after dinner I was buzzing around and feeling great!

[Green Life]

It was very easy to stay 100 because I drank some HOT candy cane stevia sweetened green tea all day long, lol. With the ice and snow we have here, hot tea tasted so good.

While everyone else had pumpkin pie, I had my raw version. Apple pie, the same. As for the turkey, didn't seem to want to duplicate raw with that one. Gee, I wonder why?:rolleyes:

[Holli]

All I've got to say, is that Alissa's pumpkin pie saved the day!! That is the best pie I've ever made! The whole family loved it and didn't even miss the whipped cream!

[IamLoved]

I made it through raw also. This is huge for me. It was my first ever raw Thanksgiving and I am very happy to have done it. I felt great and was not sick after eating and didn't need to go have a nap either! It was so great! I made Maraw's wonderful pumpkin pie and corn nut stuffing which were fabulous along with some of my own personal favorite recipes.

[northernstars]

We had our dinner at my daughter's house about 20 miles away. My husband brought along a nice fresh green salad and a smoothie for me. I had also made a raw pumpkin pie with an almond crust and it was very good. I did have a bit of a waldorf salad made by my son's girlfriend and a small fruit salad made by my other daughter. Other than the dressings and marshmallows I did really well even with those. It was nice not to be all stuffed. They are beginning to understand that I will not eat meat again! Nobody made an issue of what I was or not eating! Personnally, I think most were just happy that I had survived the stroke and that we were eating together again!

[Frugal Raw]

I stayed at 100%, and it was my first raw holiday. I've posted a picture of the spread on my blog, but I made 2 kinds of stuffed jalapenos, carrot nachos, herbed stuffed mushrooms, a carrot cake, and rawnog! YUM!!!

[Raspberry4]

Amber - oh my goodness everything looks scrumptious and rawlicious. You rawk girl!