Black Friday

If you are reading this you probably are not braving the crowds for Black Friday shopping. Or maybe you are reading this on a smartphone while you wait in a checkout line. Or maybe you took advantage of the new trend and did your shopping at midnight last night. 

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I don’t usually shop on Black Friday. I am too exhausted from spending Thanksgiving day in the kitchen and the stress of our family gatherings. I try to sleep in, clear my head and burn off some pie with a run, and relax.

Black Friday has a different meaning for me. It is a moment of truth for the holiday season. Will it mark the beginning of the end of healthy eating, starting a long slide through family birthdays, Christmas parties, and the New Year? Or will I put the brakes on indulgent eating and let my son finish off the pecan pie?

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Even diet “experts” say that Thanksgiving is “just one day.” If you go overboard at dinner, pile on the mashed potatoes, drown your plate with gravy, slather your rolls with butter, and bury your pie under whipped cream, that one meal won’t put too much of a dent in your weight loss efforts. (Not that any one writing reading this would have done that.)

But my problem is that Thanksgiving is not “just one day” and Thanksgiving dinner is not “just one meal.” Many churches, offices and schools host Thanksgiving potlucks in the days before the actual holiday, doubling or tripling the opportunity to indulge.  Even if I dodge those bullets, I am faced with leftovers. I try to send some home with our guests, but it is hard to part with my favorites–especially my Mom’s cranberry relish and the apple pie.

I usually don’t want to cook for a few days after Thanksgiving, so we end up reheating the leftover turkey and trimmings for a few days. This scaled down meal isn’t as heavy as our big holiday dinner, but it probably has several hundred more calories than a meal we usually would have.

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So on Black Friday, I have to decide. Will I have apple pie for breakfast, or will I satisfy my taste buds with a spoonful of cranberry relish on my whole wheat toast?

Will I fix a dinner plate with turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, or will I load up my plate with leftover Brussels sprouts salad? 

Making the healthier choice isn’t easy, but it can keep Black Friday from casting a long shadow over the rest of the holiday season.

What are your favorite Thanksgiving leftovers?