The holiday season is officially here. One of the local radio stations has started playing non-stop Christmas music, the stores have their Christmas decorations and sales out… we even saw a Christmas tree in the neighbors window. And, Thanksgiving Day hasn’t even happened yet!

We love the holidays and understand people want to kick off the season early and certainly businesses want the extra sales days. The holiday season can be brutal on a diet though… and making that longer doesn’t help when it comes to pounds. There is no more delaying though, Thanksgiving is here. We picked up the last few things for the big meal today.

It is a BIG meal too. The average American will consume almost 5,000 calories this coming Thursday and over 230 grams of fat. It’s that massive pigging out that makes people tired btw, and not the tryptophan. Where do all those calories come from? Here is a partial list:

Drinks
Glass of cider or sparkling grape juice: 120
Cup of eggnog: 343

Snacks
½ cup mixed nuts: 440
½ cup fresh fruit: 60
1 ounce tortilla or potato chips 150
1 tablespoon dip for chips: 75

Salads
3 cups salad with diet dressing: 100
1 tablespoon ranch dressing: 75
½ cup waldorf salad: 110

Main Course
6 ounces cured ham: 300
6 ounces white and dark turkey: 340
6 ounces prime rib: 330
½ cup stuffing: 180
½ cup cranberry sauce: 190
½ cup mashed potatoes: 150
½ cup gravy: 150
½ cup green bean casserole: 225
½ cup candied sweet potatoes: 150
1 dinner roll: 110
1 pat butter: 45

Dessert
1 piece apple pie (1/8 of 9-in pie): 410
1 piece pecan pie (1/8 of 9-in pie): 480
1 piece pumpkin pie (1/8 of 9-in pie): 180
½ cup whipped cream: 75
½ cup ice cream: 145

Leftovers
1 turkey sandwich with mayo and cranberry sauce: 450
1 open-face turkey sandwich with stuffing and gravy: 290

An average holiday meal might look like this…

A glass of cider, Half a cup of fresh fruit, Three cups salad with diet dressing, Six ounces of white and dark turkey, Half a cup of stuffing, Half a cup of cranberry sauce, Half a cup of mashed potatoes, Half a cup of gravy, Half a cup of green bean casserole, dinner roll (with butter), slice of pumpkin pie.

…that comes to 1850 calories. Obviously that’s a LOT, but when compared to 5,000 calories it’s not bad. Throw in a few hundred calories to cover the rest of the day, and it’s about half the average. The key isn’t avoiding the actual holiday meal or even certain foods… it’s not grazing the rest of the day.

So, that is our goal. We’re doubling our calorie range for that day. Plenty enough to enjoy Thanksgiving… but not enough to snack on pie and turkey sandwiches the entire day. Then beyond that, we’re not going to have 10 pounds of leftovers. We’re buying just two pies for example… which is plenty for 8 people, but not so much that there will be pie leftovers.

Really HAVE to attack the holiday season with goals too. The average American gains 7 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. That’s pretty stunning… and would damage a lot of the hard earned progress we have made in 2009.

How about you… do you have a diet plan for Thanksgiving and the holiday season? Can you share any tips?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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Friends Update

Carye: Carye has been off of medical steroids for two weeks now, and for the second week in a row she was down at the scales. 0.7 pounds this week, and she tells us it feels great being back on track. Better than that though, she’s thrilled to feel healthy.

This coming week figures to be a challenge for Carye. She’ll be going out of state to have Thanksgiving with family. Tough to control what food is around in that environment. Usually there are some healthy Thanksgiving options… like fruit and veggies. We’re wishing Carye lots of luck!

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Jean: Jean has mostly been doing well with her diet and testing rules. There have been some struggled with cussing, but that’s not too much of a focus right now. Main thing is staying healthy, and she’s been doing good there.

Jean is off of work this week, which is nice. Will allow her to rest a bit. She does need to avoid pushing herself too hard with the holiday meal though… she can do that sometimes. So we’re wishing her a Happy… and relaxing… Thanksgiving.

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Courtney: Didn’t get an update from Courtney, but we’ll be sure to catch everyone up next week.

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N~ (from Living Domestic Discipline): N~ had a solid week. She was down a pound, and now has lost half of the 7 pounds she gained on vacation. Great job!

The holidays will be another challenge, but N~ figures to be pretty busy during the season which should help. She’s not sure if the “no gain” rule will apply yet though.

We hope the rule will stay. Relaxing a bit and not working on LOSING makes some sense… but it’s too easy to gain without goals. Don’t want an “anything goes” approach. Like N~ said on her blog… it’s far easier to put it on than it is taking it off.

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Iggy (from Perceptions From the Edge): Iggy has been getting better. Her severe cold has subsided and her ankle injury has made some real progress. Not quite 100% yet, but she’s getting there. We’re glad to hear it too.

On the diet front Iggy was the same at the scale. Given her health situation she’s plenty happy with that.

Since Canada has already had its Thanksgiving, Iggy doesn’t face that challenge. As we’ve said though, Christmas season is basically already here… so she’s got that to deal with. We’re hoping for a happy… and healthy… Christmas for our friend.

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Korey Johnson (from Spank Notes): We’re thrilled to welcome Korey to the Diet Update group. Korey has a wonderful blog that we both enjoy and she’s a successful writer (you can find her latest HERE).

Korey recently started a diet. Her goal is to lose a touch over 20 pounds, with an eye towards a cruise she and her husband James will be going on this coming Spring. The spanking part of her diet has a simple approach. There are two things she accountable for… she must keep an up to date daily food journal and exercise at least 5 times a week. The consequence for missing a goal will be a discipline spanking.

This first week hasn’t gone very well either. Korey is at her parents house for the holidays, and the privacy situation means no spankings. While Korey has actually lost a little, she’s come up short with her rules… so she has a spanking tab to pay in the near future. Will share how that goes next week.

Really happy to have Korey join us… and again… a big welcome to her!

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Good luck to everyone in the coming week.

If you’re interested in the Spanking Diet, we’d like to invite you to check out the Yahoo Spanking Diet Group. It’s a great group. Over 200 members now… lively discussions with lots of encouragement and idea sharing. We’d love to have you!

All you need is a free Yahoo account that lists your ~adult age~ in your *public profile*.

Always feel fee to Email us at ToddnSuzy@yahoo.com too… we always enjoy talking with new like-minded friends.