Like it or loathe it, Thanksgiving is coming. For many of us in the US of A, that means travel, family, food—pros and cons. It’s completely normal to start stressing about the toll more frequent indulgent meals can take on our body. Having a plan in place can help you feel calmer. To give you a few ideas, here’s a piece I wrote for the Rise blog about how to maintain your weight this Thanksgiving. My personal favorites on the list are the morning workout and the protein-rich breakfast. Endorphins + stable blood sugar = happier you/better equipped to deal with stressors.
I like to schedule a yoga class or some other physical activity on Thanksgiving morning and always, always, always start my day with protein. That could be eggs, oats with peanut butter, or yogurt. I’m digging the Siggi’s whole milk variety lately, though my heart still belongs to the original plain. I generally hate flavored yogurt, but Siggi’s is the one exception. It’s flavorful without being like, “Hello, I’m a sweetened yogurt!”
You can also do a healthier take on a breakfast sandwich: Start with a sprouted-grain or whole wheat English muffin, maybe a little cheese, an egg, and whatever veggies do it for you. Some of my favorites are sautéed spinach, roasted eggplant, and caramelized onion.
Wake up on Black Friday feeling like you want to get on a weight-loss plan before the holiday madness sets in? Cheers to that! Tracking what you eat using an app can be helpful as well. I recently commented for this Women’s Health article on how to get the most out of your experience.
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Another sort of game plan is also on my mind this weekend. My mom texted me the other day to talk about my plan regarding the recent terror threats against NYC. I have to hand it to my parents for being calm about it, even though my DNA makes me very much in touch with the anxiety they’re probably dealing with. Living the past 7-plus years in a post-9/11 New York, I’ve gotten used to a certain level of low-grade “what-if” with the Don’t Be Stupid switch turned on most of the time. There’s probably tons of stuff going on we never even hear about. Obviously, it’s very scary to hear about it on the news, but there’s really nothing most of us can really do besides, well, keep calm and carry on.
My mom did ask if I had enough canned goods “just in case.” Maybe she’s thinking ahead to nuclear war? I had to laugh because, well, I have too many for any one person without even thinking about any “just in case”-ness. Here’s a small sampling of my shelf-stable protein options. At least the culinary part of my disaster preparedness plan is strong. I’m that girl you want on your apocalypse team. 
The sad/hilarious thing, is that I tend to use these things in my day-to-day life. I guess it’s handy that I like beans and tinned fish. I must have been an Englishman or something in a former life.
Anyway, hope your weekend gets off to a good start. I’m working Saturday and then going to a gathering at one of my lady-friends’—hopefully getting to a yoga or pilates class too. I also need to do a test-run of my Thanksgiving side.
What are you up to this weekend? How do you tend to respond to news about terror threats? Favorite shelf-stable foods?