Greek yogurt mashed potatoes
Mash 2 lb cooked potatoes with 1 cup plain Greek yogurt, 2 tbsp butter, garlic and salt. Same creamy potatoes, more protein.
The Holiday Plate Guide
5 simple steps to enjoy every holiday meal, keep your favorites, and skip the Monday restart.
By Tori Dunaway
Every year it’s the same story. You go into Thanksgiving telling yourself you’ll be good, you end up eating everything, and then you spend the weekend feeling guilty and promising to start over on Monday. Sound familiar?
Here’s the thing: one meal was never the problem. The guilt and the restart are. That cycle is what keeps you stuck, not the mashed potatoes.
This is exactly how I build my plate at every holiday meal. No cutting carbs, no skipping the food you look forward to all year, no “working it off” the next day. Just five steps so you can enjoy the day and wake up feeling good.
Your holiday plate
- A quarter protein: turkey, ham or chicken
- A quarter color: veggies or salad
- Half your favorites: the sides you really love
- One planned dessert, enjoyed slowly
The 5 steps
Start with protein
Fill about a quarter of your plate with turkey, ham or chicken first. Protein keeps you full and satisfied, so you’re not still hungry and grazing an hour later.
Do this: go to the protein first and serve yourself a palm-sized portion, or two if you’re hungry.
Add color
Fill another quarter with veggies or salad. Green beans, roasted veggies, a side salad, whatever’s on the table. It adds volume and fiber, so the meal feels bigger without you thinking about it.
Do this: grab the veggies before the heavier sides.
Keep your favorites
This is the step most people skip, and it’s the most important one. Carbs aren’t the enemy. Pick the one or two sides you really love and actually enjoy them. Skip the ones you only eat because they’re there.
Do this: look at the whole table first, then choose. The mashed potatoes you’ve been thinking about all week go on the plate.
Plan your dessert
Decide on your dessert ahead of time instead of picking at the dessert table all night. If it stresses you out, log it the night before so it’s already part of your day.
Do this: pick one dessert, sit down, and enjoy it. No guilt.
Skip the Monday restart
Tomorrow is a normal day. No skipping breakfast, no extra-long workout to make up for it. One meal doesn’t undo your progress. What you do most days is what counts.
Do this: make your next meal a normal meal. That’s it.
3 easy high-protein swaps
Bringing a dish? These are small changes nobody at the table will notice. For the protein, I use 1UP Nutrition, and you can use my code TORIFIT.
Cottage cheese veggie dip
Blend 1 cup cottage cheese with 1 tbsp ranch seasoning and a squeeze of lemon until smooth. Serve with carrots, cucumbers and peppers.
Protein pumpkin pie
Make your usual pumpkin pie, but swap the evaporated milk for 1 cup Greek yogurt whisked with 1 scoop 1UP Vanilla ISO (Pumpkin Spice Latte works too).
From my clients
After our week on macros, a client told me so many people in her life said she needed to cut carbs. Learning what carbs actually do for her body changed how she eats.
Another client hit her goal weight right before her wedding, the smallest she’s ever been, without cutting out the foods she loves.
Want this built for your goals?
This guide is the simple version. In my 1:1 coaching I tell you exactly how much you need for your goals, build your training around your schedule, and check in with you along the way. All with recipes you’ll actually want to eat.
Apply for coaching
Hi, I’m Tori
I share the high-protein recipes, meal preps and What I Eat in a Day videos you see on my page. I coach women who are tired of hearing carbs are bad and want a plan that fits real life, holidays included.