You have committed. You have grocery shopped, meal-prepped, and you have even battled the keto flu without crumbling or caving.
You are starting to see the results you were hoping for. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can stop you now. You are a gym shark, a carb narc, a fat-a-holic LARDvark! Nope, nothing can get in the way of your keto mission and your new pants-
“-Did you say stuffing? Sweet potato casserole? Garlic mashed potatoes? Glazed carrots with fresh dill? Pumpkin pie? Ohhhh no, this is going to be bad.
NuTrail— Keto Granola, Biscuits, Bread and Baking Mixes
Let’s face it. Thanksgiving is the holy grail of temptation!
Every delicious item on the menu represents the quintessential comfort food of your childhood.
Are you even American without French fried onions atop a green bean casserole?
Are you even a legit member of your family if you don’t share a bottle of wine with your crazy Aunt Sally??
Will Grandma Betty disown you if you don’t eat her sweet potato casserole with brown sugar and walnuts on top?
Okay, relax! Don’t panic! Take a deep breath and read on. In this article, we will reveal our top five rules for surviving Thanksgiving on the keto diet.
Don’t worry, not one of the rules involves missing out on any of your favorites.
The holidays tend to be a challenging time for anyone who is watching their weight and waistline, never mind those who adhere to restrictive diets.
Nearly everything served at holiday parties seems to be laced with sugar, carbs, and alcohol.
Whether you are counting calories, avoiding dairy, or dieting with keto, Thanksgiving can be the biggest challenge to navigate, since it is such a food-centric holiday.
This year, since the biggest food holiday of the year will be amidst a pandemic, temptation will likely be running higher than ever.
The keto diet (or ketogenic diet) is one in which you consume mostly fat, some protein, and very few carbohydrates.
By doing so, your body will switch from consuming glucose for energy to consuming fat. Initially you may feel a bit sick. (This is known as the keto flu, which can somewhat be mitigated.)
After the fog of the flu clears, you will likely find that you have seemingly endless amounts of energy and that you are losing more weight than you ever thought possible. Here’s the kicker: You won’t feel hungry or deprived, because fats take longer to digest and keep you feeling full for a long time.
Plus, you won’t be cutting out the goodies, like bacon and cheese.
NuTrail — Keto Granola, Biscuits, Bread and Baking Mixes
Related:
How to Avoid the Keto Flu
It does, of course, take a bit of getting used to. But since the keto diet has taken the mainstream media by storm, there are “alternative” and low carb recipes out there for just about anything you can imagine. (If you don’t believe me, go ahead and Google anything you like to eat with the word, “keto” in front of it.)
Seriously…keto pizza, pasta, and breadsticks, are all a thing. Keto cakes, cookies, and brownies all exist. And guess what?! They are DELICIOUS!
Just like any other day in the life of a keto dieter, staying on course at Thanksgiving dinner is going to take a bit of advanced planning.
But you are already a meal prepper, right? So, you are a pro at this! If you are wondering how to eat keto on Thanksgiving, you must learn to play by the rules.
5 Rules for a Keto Thanksgiving
Rule #1: Cauliflower instead of potatoes
Chances are, if you aren’t a total newbie to the keto game, you already know this rule.
Any Thanksgiving side dish that you can make with potatoes can easily be made with cauliflower instead. Not only that, but many recipes can be made to taste even better with cauliflower than they can with potatoes.
Yes, you read that correctly. If you want to wow the fam, consider making our favorite keto Thanksgiving recipe, cauliflower bacon casserole, to share.
You will mix cauliflower with sour cream, cheese, and crispy bacon. Top it with more cheese (you are aiming for a daily 70% fat intake) and then bake it in the oven.
Add pork rinds on top and broil for 2 minutes on high for a crispy texture. You can also add in some of your favorite herbs and veggies. (We love it with chives, broccoli, and mushrooms.) We are willing to bet that your family will be favoring this dish over the traditional garlic mashed potatoes!
The biggest challenge you may have is hiding it so that it isn’t all gone by the time you get to the table.
NuTrail — Keto Granola, Biscuits, Bread and Baking Mixes
Rule #2: NuTrail Keto Butter Biscuits instead of dinner rolls
With the ketogenic diet taking the health and fitness industries by storm, many amazing products have hit the market that won’t interrupt your fat burning mission.
No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without a warm dinner roll drenched in butter. Luckily, these NuTrail— Keto Butter Biscuits contain 6 grams of fat and a mere 2 grams of (net) carbs. The package makes 10 biscuits, so there will be plenty to share. Not to mention that they are super-fast and easy to whip up.
You literally only have to add water and heavy cream before baking. Cha cha cha! That is what we are talking about! You don’t need to miss out. These biscuits have earned a well-deserved space on the keto Thanksgiving menu!
Rule #3: Go ahead and drink, but do it the right way
Rules, rules, rules! Restrictive diets are full of them. Earlier this year, we outlined The 3 Rules of Drinking Alcohol on the Keto Diet.
In essence, you can basically stick to either tequila soda cocktails or hard seltzers (like Truly or White Claw). Avoid all sugary mixers, chasers, and additives. If tequila sounds like too much of a turn up around Grandma Betty, and hard seltzers just really aren’t your thang-a-lang, check out Fitvine.
They are the ingenious makers of paleo, gluten free, and keto wine varietals. Their products are lower in sugar, tannins, calories, and carbs than other wines. One thing that they do not lack is flavor. You will never know that you are drinking something “less than” the usual.
Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT, break THE CARDINAL rule of both dieting and adulting! Do not go overboard with the alcohol.
Rule #4: Stevia or Swerve instead of sugar
You can obviously have your fill of turkey at Thanksgiving dinner without breaking the macro bank, if you save up your protein “allowance” throughout the day. (Consuming too much protein can actually kick you out of ketosis. You are really striving for the perfect macro ratio every single day.)
But is it even turkey on Thanksgiving without the cranberry sauce?? Our answer: no. Thankfully, you can easily make your own serving of cranberry sauce without using sugar.
Stevia can be a wonderful substitute! The aftertaste can be a bit of a hang up for some folks.
Not to worry, as we mentioned above, the growing popularity of the keto diet has saturated the market with plenty of amazing keto friendly products. If you aren’t a fan of stevia, you can also replace sugar with Swerve.
With Swerve, you can basically follow any cranberry sauce recipe and replace the sugar with equal parts. Adding walnuts can help create a fantastic texture and flavor to the mix!
If you are cooking for the whole fam, you don’t even need to make a separate “regular” batch. They won’t be able to taste the difference with Swerve at all. Scouts honor!
NuTrail — Keto Granola, Biscuits, Bread and Baking Mixes
Related:
The Definitive Guide to Tracking Macros on Keto
Rule #5: Chayote squash instead of apples.
Nothing screams Thanksgiving more than apple pie. (Except for maybe pumpkin pie, but pumpkins are basically all carbs and are therefore inherently and entirely out of the question.)
In order to make this delicious keto Thanksgiving dessert, you can basically follow any standard apple pie recipe but you will replace the apples with chayote squash, and the sugar with stevia or Swerve (read the back of the bag if you are using stevia as the proportions will be different than those of sugar or Swerve).
Lastly, you will make an almond flour crust instead of using your standard wheat flour. The major difference we noticed with this recipe is that chayote squash takes notably longer to soften in a sauté pan than apples do.
The result is nothing short of mouth-watering. Once again, you don’t need to make a second “normal” apple pie here. Your friends and family will not be able to taste the difference.
So, there you have it! Thanksgiving need not be a tragic case of FOMO nor a guilt trip for eating all the things you aren’t supposed to. You can enjoy modified (read: improved) versions of the classics without ruining your keto diet efforts. Happy Keto Thanksgiving!
NuTrail — Keto Granola, Biscuits, Bread and Baking Mixes
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