How to enjoy your FEAST and stay lean
HAPPY THANKSGIVING Everyone and I hope you all have a safe, joy filled & fulfilling weekend.
JUST KIDDING Folks…But seriously It seems that Thanksgiving week every year, all I keep seeing everywhere in the media and in online fitness articles is how you need to control yourself this Thanksgiving so you don’t pack on the pounds from the feasting.
These articles and news stories tell you how you need to “control your portions”, or eat “low-fat gravy” (and other garbage fitness advice) and be disciplined on this holiday where you’ll be tempted to stuff your face with stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, yams, and all of the pies and desserts.
Well, I have a WAY different opinion on this. In fact, why should we restrict at all? After all, it’s only 1 day per year that you have this enormous Thanksgiving feast. Why not just eat as much as you want?
Seriously, 1 day of feasting out of a full year is NOT going to make or break the results you’re getting with your fitness routine, as long as you make sure a massive feast like this is a VERY rare occasion.
As a matter of fact, even if you decide to feast on every holiday that you celebrate throughout the year, this is still only going to be 5 or 6 feasts per year.
That’s only about 1 feast every 2 months… certainly nothing that is worth worrying about in terms of your fitness results.
So I say… go right ahead and eat as much as you want… Just be sure you make it to the gym the day after Thanksgiving for a SUPER high intensity resistance training workout.
In fact, training hard with weights the day after Thanksgiving will give you the best feeling of your muscles being PRIMED that you’ll feel all year long from the super-saturated muscle glycogen in your muscle cells.
I’ll be sending out a few more tips to offset the weekend feasting next week.
Feast hard, train harder!
Try these treats this weekend.
Cranberry Granita
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 cups cranberries
- 1/2 cup sugar
- Finely grated zest of 1 orange
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
- Sweetened whipped cream, for serving
DIRECTIONS:
- In a saucepan, combine the water, cranberries, sugar and orange zest and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the cranberries pop and soften, about 15 minutes.
- Transfer the cranberry mixture to a blender and puree at high speed for 2 minutes. Strain the puree through a fine sieve into a bowl and let cool completely.
- Stir the orange juice into the puree and pour it into a 9-by-13-inch metal baking dish. Freeze the granita for 1 hour. Scrape the frozen edges into the center and freeze for about 3 hours longer, scraping hourly, until the granita is icy and flaky. Freeze for at least 2 hours longer, or preferably overnight.
- Scrape the granita into glasses and serve topped with sweetened whipped cream.
Make Ahead The granita can be frozen for up to 3 days.
Quick Apple Crumble with Lebneh
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 large Granny Smith apples—peeled, halved, cored and thinly sliced (see Notes)
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 cups lebneh (16 ounces)
- 1 cup granola
DIRECTIONS
- Heat the butter in a large skillet. Add the apple slices and cook them over high heat, stirring occasionally, until they are just tender and lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice and cook, stirring and shaking the skillet, until the sugar is melted and the apples are lightly caramelized, about 5 minutes longer. Add the water and stir gently until a sauce forms.
- Spoon the lebneh into bowls and scrape the apples and sauce on top. Sprinkle the apples with the granola and serve.
Make Ahead The recipe can be prepared through Step 1 up to 6 hours ahead. Rewarm before assembling.
Notes: Firm, ripe peaches, nectarines and plums, cut into wedges, would be delicious in place of the apples.
Instead of Lebneh Fromage blanc, Greek yogurt or quark.
ENJOY !