Thanksgiving is a great American tradition which means so much to us. The tradition is to overeat and swear off food in the foreseeable future.
Does the Food and Drug Administration raise our obesity statistics on the day after Thanksgiving? No, but it feels that way, doesn’t it? On Thanksgiving Day, the average American consumes between 3,000 and 4,500 calories, which is about twice the daily average but feels like 5 times the amount. With all the yummy foods on the table, you have to force down a portion of green bean casserole because Aunt Charlotte brought the only dish she can make, and she’ll look at you funny if you pass it up.
An average human stomach comfortably holds roughly 4 to 8 cups of food in a single sitting but can stretch out to the size of a regulation basketball and blow those pants right off your hips if you’re not careful when pushing back from the table.
The original Pilgrims did not have a thanksgiving diet for their daily meal. legume-based porridge, pea pottage and bean stews were the norm. (Pea pottage was originally called ‘mush’. They hung the guy who named it)
Is it true the English colonists crossed an ocean just to get away from British food? I wonder if it were the Chinese who inhabited America instead of the Indians, we’d enjoy a feast and then be hungry an hour later? Indians introduced the settlers to turkey but what if they couldn’t catch them (The turkeys, not the settlers) and they offered rabbit instead? The ‘stuffing’ industry would suffer, wouldn’t it?
These are questions that need answers, but first would you pass just a sliver of each of the 7 pies everyone brought that we’ve all been ogling throughout the meal. Oh, and by the way, would you also pass some of that fat free Reddi-Wip®? (5 calories per serving and absolutely no food value at all) If you can completely cover that pie with Reddi-Wip® you’ll be the envy of everyone one who can’t push themselves away from the table. Let’s reflect on the fact that if a ‘dollop’ of Reddi-Wip® is only 5 calories and that the mere act of opening the can, shaking it up and aiming it at the pie takes 8 calories of energy to accomplish, you’re actually losing weight and treating your taste buds at the same time.
It’s the holiday that keeps on giving; especially our pants. Sansabelt slacks are the pant of choice in my home during the holidays. We wouldn’t have it any other way. Eating in a bathrobe would be a lot easier, but the family picture would either look like we’re getting ready for bed or posing for the loony bin family picnic.
We seat 12 people at a table meant for 8 and then urge them to eat so much they can’t get up move around the chairs and out of the room.
It’s the day tryptophan replaces melatonin as your sleep aid of choice. If we walk away from a Thanksgiving dinner and could still find room we haven’t fulfilled our mission.
The Indians never had these problems. They grew what they needed and ate until full.
