If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the abundance of food choices during holiday meal, stick around for today's episode.

If you're listening in the US when the episode comes out, happy Thanksgiving. And if you're not, it's okay. This is still relevant to you when it comes to those big holiday meals, those big parties. So stick around for today's episode of Quick Wits. Welcome to the Wits and Weights podcast. I'm your host, phillip Pape, and this twice a week podcast is dedicated to helping you achieve physical self-mastery by getting stronger, optimizing your nutrition and upgrading your body composition. We'll uncover science-backed strategies for movement, metabolism, muscle and mindset, with a skeptical eye on the fitness industry, so you can look and feel your absolute best. Let's dive right in Again. If you're listening on Thursday and it is Thanksgiving in the United States, I wish you the best, the most enjoyable holiday. Wherever you're listening, whenever you're listening, this episode is still highly relevant.

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by all those food choices, by the big holiday meal For Thanksgiving in the US, this can include so many foods, from the turkey and stuffing to the sides, to the mashed potatoes and gravy, desserts, baked goods, pie, you name it. It is a feast and what we want to do is have a stress-free, flexible approach. I don't want to keep this short, but it really comes down to this one meal is not going to break or make make or break your nutrition goals. When we have a flexible approach, it means you can enjoy a meal or two meals or a week of meals, and always continue from the next meal on track with whatever your plan was as for the meal itself, unless you've done some advanced planning or you've shifted your calories or protein and some of those other advanced strategies we often talk about. Let's say it's here, you're listening to this podcast, you're driving over to your relatives' house for the Thanksgiving dinner. What do you do? Well, first you could just enjoy yourself. Do nothing, track it if you want. Later on, it doesn't matter so much. Based on the first thing I just said, you can always start again tomorrow. But if you want to have a little bit more control over your choices for the dinner, start with protein, start with protein-rich foods, and there's nothing more protein-rich than turkey.

Turkey's a wonderful aspect of Thanksgiving when you are trying to keep protein high. It's delicious. I personally love the dark meat and I love the skin as well. But whatever it is, prioritize protein. You can sample a bunch of different foods, so you get a little of everything and I'm sure you'll easily fill up your plate that way, rather than having giant portions of different things. And always stay hydrated. Just drink water before, drink water during, drink water after. It's up to you if you're going to enjoy alcohol or not, but avoiding the alcohol would allow you to enjoy more other things. So it's a little trade-offs like that that go a long way.

The last thing is the psychological aspect. This is a special occasion. It's okay to indulge a little bit. The key here is enjoy the meal without guilt and then just get back to it the next day.

Be present Thanksgiving especially for those familiar with the holiday, it's really not just about the food, is it? It's about the quality time with loved ones. It's about being present in the moment, expressing gratitude, and all of that can reduce your stress. It's about the experience of being with people. You might find that the eating really isn't that big a portion of it.

The older I get, I find that a lot of the time at Thanksgiving is really spent talking with family, hanging out, maybe watching football, maybe playing outside, going for a walk, and then, yeah, we have our meal, but it's just one meal. There's only so much you can eat in one meal. So Thanksgiving in these big holidays, they don't have to be stressful, they don't have to derail your goals. If you have a flexible and a mindful approach, you can enjoy these feasts without guilt. Your time is what matters, not just one meal. So go out and enjoy a stress-free holiday. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Wits and Weights. If you found value in today's episode and know someone else who's looking to level up their wits or weights, please take a moment to share this episode with them and make sure to hit the follow button in your podcast platform right now to catch the next episode. Until then, stay strong.