Thanksgiving Day Pictorial
Everything I ate on Thanksgiving day.
Mr. Skeptical pouts and asks, “Why should anyone care about what you ate on Thanksgiving?”
I stare daggers at him and add, “Many struggle with what to eat during the holidays. I’ve been studying diets and reading books on nutrition since I was 19, first as a chiropractor for 22 years and now as a trainer for the last 4. I’m 55 years old and have a six-pack, and it’s all-natural.”
Mr. Skeptical rolls his eyes, clearly annoyed at my retort.
Subconscious Fat at 30,000 feet
The first thing I ate or drank on Thanksgiving day was coconut milk with Paleovalley 100% grass-fed bone broth protein, I.Am.Amino amino acids and Bulk Supplements creatine monohydrate. I also drank coffee with a teaspoon of butter.
Mr. Skeptical’s eyebrows rise. “Coffee with butter! That sounds gross. Why?”
“I’ll explain that another day.”
“No fruit with your coconut milk smoothie?”
“I’m taking a fruit break, and I’ll decide later if I want to reintroduce fruit back into my breakfast, but so far, I’ve been fine without it.”
Mr. Skeptical shakes his head and looks at me as if I’m an alien.
The above appetizer tray was offered at my sister’s home. I was pretty hungry, so I ate some cheese and meat. That was my first actual food of the day.
Below is my first full plate of food. I got large portions of turkey with lots of skin and fat.
Mr. Skeptical comments, “Why so much skin and fat? Isn’t it healthier to avoid the fat and eat lean cuts of meat?”
Irritated, I respond, “Are you getting old and forgetting things?”
Mr. Skeptical eyes narrow in on me. He doesn’t respond, but he’s planning Machiavellian thoughts.
“I’ve already written about eating lean cuts of meat here. Our bodies need fat. Every cell membrane in our bodies is made of fat. Eating fat helps us absorb specific vitamins and has many other benefits.”
Subconscious Fat at 10,000 feet
The above was my second serving of food. I’ll admit I like cranberry sauce.
Mr. Skeptical yells, “You like cranberry sauce?!! But that isn’t carnivore?” He dramatically raises his hands, doing air quotes for the word carnivore.
I now pout my lips. “In case you were wondering, there is no carnivore police. It’s Thanksgiving, and I can afford to splurge a little with my eating. The point is that I’m still eating a lot of nutrient-dense food–turkey with skin and fat.”
“But you still weren’t done, were you?”
“Nope, I still had another plate of food, the one shown below.”
Mr. Skeptical folds his arms. “You ate a lot of food. How many calories was all of that food?”
“I don’t know how many calories it was, and I don’t care. That doesn’t matter.”
Mr. Skeptical stands up. “But too many calories are never good for you.”
“That’s misinformation. If you eat good food like fatty turkey meat, then the amount of calories doesn’t matter. Eat till you’re full. I ate beyond being full, and my stomach was about to explode. I likely had between 150-200 grams of protein or more, and I keep track of protein count because that helps build muscle.”
“You weren’t tempted to have dessert? Pumpkin pie?”
“Honestly, no. I was too full. I’d avoid the pumpkin pie anyway unless it’s gluten-free. But you don't crave anything else when you get as full as I did.”
Mr. Skeptical points at me. “But many people crave something sweet even after eating so much.”
“Perhaps, but since my body is fat-adopted since during the week I almost always eat meat and have no dessert, I’m used to it. It’s easy for me. The body adapts to the rhythm and ways that you feed it. And then something very predictable happened.”
“What was that?”
“My kids got into the common sleep coma after a large meal. And even though they ate a lot of turkey meat, they also had all the other stuff like stuffing, mashed potatoes, a few vegetables, and pie. I felt full but energized and didn’t have the desire to take a nap.”
Subconscious Fat at Eye-Level
But I wasn’t done eating for the day. I had Thanksgiving dinner early, around 1 p.m., and a few hours later, as shown below, I ate vanilla ice cream.
I then did a push workout, as shown in the video Fit Tip, published on Monday at 11:57 AM. After the workout, I had what is shown below.
Mr. Skeptical leans into the computer to look at the image. “More vanilla ice cream, and are those sardines?”
“Yep.”
“Sardines and vanilla ice cream just don’t seem to go well.”
“It does for me. Some sugar and carbs can be beneficial after a workout to help absorb the protein faster into your muscles. Lots of bodybuilders do this.”
Mr. Skeptical shakes his head and walks out, commenting as he goes, “You’re weird. I’d never eat sardines and vanilla ice cream together.”
I shake my head. I want to tell him, but he walks out quickly. It doesn’t have to be sardines and ice cream. It can be dark chocolate and a few slices of turkey. Any sugar and carbs mixed with a protein will do after a workout.
Practical Suggestions and Conclusions
Here are a few tips if you need help eating unhealthy foods during the holidays.
Eat the nutrient-dense food first. Eat a lot of animal products so that even if you want to try a dessert at the end, you will be so full that you only have a little bit.
Don’t avoid the fat. If you’ve been reading my newsletter for a while, you know that animal fat is key for health. If you want to understand why, look at this post.
Be aware that as you do a carnivore diet, your body will learn to crave more fatty meat instead of sugar and carbs. Your body is brilliant, and it has an innate intelligence, and it will adapt and make you crave what you feed it most. But if you keep thinking you could never eat this way, then you will create that reality, and that then becomes an obesity spell. Learn what that is here.
If going carnivore or mostly carnivore is too difficult, let me know, and we can talk. There is no question about it: some find it much more challenging to go on this journey alone, and sometimes an online coach is invaluable. I know this from experience, for I hired an online coach to go carnivore.
Be aware.
PS Links on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Chat GPT was used to research and enhance this post.
PSS Online event: Carnivore Q & A next Wednesday, Dec 18, at 8 PM