Special occasions. How do you handle?

keithf1138

Curious how others handle this.

I try to get a really big workout in usually with extra Cardio and then eat light until and after the event.

For instance last week my son graduated from High School and we took him to Lawry's Prime Rib in Chicago. I didn't deny myself. Had a 12 ounce Prime Rib, sides and desert. So during the day before the dinner I had consumed just 600 calories and between MFP and FitBit had me at over 4000 calories burned during the day.

AmykinsCatfood

That's what I do... eat light and then allow myself whatever I want within moderation. Works for me!

Mguilmot

I eat. And I don't care. 6 more days in that week.
I had our anniversary yesterday, 5 years. We had BBQ. I ate, I did not count or think too much about it.
You have to enjoy special occasions, don't think too much about how much calories it is, as long as you're not eating 10.000 you'll be ok ;-)

juliegrey1

How many special occasions do you have?if you are like me its not alot,so I enjoy!:flowerforyou:

leebesstoad

For me, I think the appropriate phrase is "don't sweat the small stuff". It's one day, one meal. In the grand scheme of things, over the course of time, can one meal really affect things THAT much? Go out, enjoy, live, celebrate. And don't sweat it.

LongIsland27itl

Say I had to eat 700 calories over my daily allotment bc I went to the Cheesecake Factory and my gf was mad at me for making her look fat by not eating appetizers and stuff.

I'd simply subtract 117 cals from my daily allotment for the next 6 days to make up for it (it sucks) but just over 100 cals isn't too much, it's a half serving of peanut butter or something

gogoyubarino

I eat small portions of the meal but don't bother with dessert as sugar is a really bad trigger for me when it comes to over-eating.

Tarantula920

I've just started with MFP but plan on allowing myself to "cheat" on ocation. I think it's healthy for the mind to indulge every now and then! Eat! Enjoy the meal! And if you can throw in some extra bit of exercise during the week, go for it! If not... Oh well...

iecreamheadaches

I stuff my fat face with whatever i like then make sure I work a little bit harder at the gym during the week

I love food, and refuse to deny myself of the deliciousness that comes with family gatherings. Its just one day every now and then, wont kill ya. (:

Fitiny

@longisland27itl
Never thought of that.
Clever.

Alexandra289

If it's a one off I eat and don't care. However, I sometimes go through phases where I have a lot of social events (like now, I've just finished this year's exams and about to go abroad so a lot of celebrating and saying goodbye to people) so I just have to try and limit myself slightly - well, try to anyway! Also make sure I do exercise and eat healthily when I'm by myself.

dianeb613

To be honest I just enjoy the occasion. Dance a lot and go back to my regular eating the next day. Odd, I have never experienced a weight gain in any of those weeks...LMAO Most times I lose.

ItsCasey

I usually fast for about 24 hours prior to a "special occasion" meal. I don't do any extra workouts because it interferes with my training program.

cwolfman13

I just enjoy myself and don't worry about it. I don't change my workout or anything like that...I just carry on. It's a special occasion...it's not routine...it's an outlier. You don't get unhealthy or fat with one day and a special occasion...just like someone who eats vegetables once in awhile isn't all of a sudden healthy and fit because they ate broccoli on Monday.

LongIsland27itl

But it will hinder your goal if you're trying to lose weight, so while trying to lose weight, there's nothing wrong with/fanatical about adjusting calories or workouts to make up for a speed bump, but if I was just trying to maintain weight, I probably wouldn't adjust anything and call it a refeed

LorinaLynn

I eat. And I don't care. 6 more days in that week.

This. One "bad" day isn't going to undo all the other work you do, no more than one day of eating right would undo several days of overeating.

Athena53

Fortunately, I don't have so many special occasions that overdoing it will derail my weight loss. It's also easy for me to pass up a lot of the "feasting" choices: steak, BBQ, fried stuff, etc. I go heavy on vegetables and take very small portions of whatever protein is available if it's fried, or in a heavy sauce, or topped with cheese.

My one weakness is cake frosting; if there's cake, brownies or cupcakes with a thick layer of frosting, I thoroughly enjoy a serving, then back away from the table.

I've also found that at a lot of these occasions, I tend to walk around and talk with people and I don't actually overeat that much because I'm busy.

ETA: I almost never miss a workout day. So far this year I think I've missed one (had a horrendous cold), if you can count 5-miles walking around airports on a few transatlantic travel days as workouts, too. Whether it's the hotel pool or gym, or just a run around the area, I manage to get exercise. I think that helps, too, because I haven't dropped the exercise routine AND stepped up my eating.

khall86790

I usually eat light for my other meals that day or if I know it's going to be a huge lunch, I will skip breakfast for example because I know I will more than make up for it.
I also try to get a big burn on the day before/of/after.

Mich4871

I just enjoy and don't sweat it. I MIGHT add in an extra work out during the week, or work out an extra 30 minutes, but normally I don't. We just spent the holiday weekend away at a destination wedding and I didn't think twice about what I was eating and drinking.

amandamurdaugh

The worst is dessert for me. Every month there's some sort of "special occasion" going on in my family! Sometimes it's hard to fight temptation, sometimes it's not. If there's pizza & dessert, I'll eat the pizza & not the dessert because I know I lose control over sweets & not savory. It's easier for me if I've got a race coming up, or I'm training for something. Then I just know I can't have the sweets & I'm ok with that. For me, there is no occasion more special to me than a race. How I feel physically while running is more important to me than the sweet goodness of sugar.

AllonsYtotheTardis

I make time for my scheduled workout that day, and when I'm at the event I try to be mindful of how I'm eating - ie - I try to eat until I'm satisfied, not until I'm stuffed.

Other than that, it's one day - I enjoy the food and the good company.

SutapaMukherji

You have to enjoy special occasions, don't think too much about how much calories it is, as long as you're not eating 10,000 you'll be ok ;-)

This

rwc4912

Curious how others handle this.

I try to get a really big workout in usually with extra Cardio and then eat light until and after the event.

For instance last week my son graduated from High School and we took him to Lawry's Prime Rib in Chicago. I didn't deny myself. Had a 12 ounce Prime Rib, sides and desert. So during the day before the dinner I had consumed just 600 calories and between MFP and FitBit had me at over 4000 calories burned during the day.

Pretty much spot on to what Ihave been doing.
I just make sure that the next couple of days as well as the prior days are light calorie days.
I think the random (but rare) uptick in intake helps to keep the metabolism guessing.
I just try to not go over by a whole lot.

Another thing I do is log the food first in my iPhone and think about what I am putting in once I start getting close to exceeding norms.
Helps to see what a certain choice might do to my plan or goal.

HollisGrant

I admire all these well balanced, sensible, smart answers.

Me, I freak out. I've been on my weight loss adventure for two months, have lost almost 20 pounds, and don't trust myself around the kind of food at these events. I'm a food addict, like an alcoholic. I'm still shaky in these settings.

What I do: eat beforehand so I am absolutely not hungry at all. I fill up on one of my regular meals (lentils, brown rice, steamed broccoli). When I go to the event, I have something small to be polite and eat as slowly as possible so the stuff is on my plate as long as possible. I go for the veggies and drink water with lemon. So far this has worked for me, including restaurant outings. Most people are so busy talking and enjoying themselves they don't watch my plate.

Francl27

I don't overdo it. I get dessert OR a fatty meal, but not both, and eat lighter the rest of the day. I had prime rib last week, but it was only 10oz, and I had veggies with it and no dessert.

RobynLB83

I've never overeaten to celebrate things. Probably because I was a vegan most of my life, so when I showed up at holidays and birthdays, there was simply nothing for me to eat. So overeating isn't a part of celebration in my mind. I just show up and celebrate the special occasion by being present, talking to people, being joyful... etc... Still usually don't eat much.

barbaratrollman

Curious how others handle this.

I try to get a really big workout in usually with extra Cardio and then eat light until and after the event.

For instance last week my son graduated from High School and we took him to Lawry's Prime Rib in Chicago. I didn't deny myself. Had a 12 ounce Prime Rib, sides and desert. So during the day before the dinner I had consumed just 600 calories and between MFP and FitBit had me at over 4000 calories burned during the day.

I do pretty much the same. I eat a bit lighter throughout the week leading up to whatever event I know I'm going to be attending. I still eat healthy while I'm out, but I don't get too concerned about going over once in a while. My weekly average is still always below my net calorie goal and my weekly average macros percentages always come out very close too.

I also take foods that are in keeping with my food lifestyle choices with me, so that I always have something handy to munch.

Also, I've been known to do extra workout sometimes, if I know I want to eat something extra that will put me over my net calorie goal.

Fuzzipeg

the last big family event we had I took my own meal to match theirs and wore a mask. Not even a sip of champagne just sparkling water. I had to. I am sensitive to salicylates and this rules out so very much. I don' t go out to concerts, school plays, etc because of the perfume on other people too.

Enjoy everything because I found the cause of all my many and various problems after many many years of trying.

MysticRealm

I eat less during the week (1500 cals) so I can eat more on the weekends (1800-2500 cals), and still intake what would average 1800 cals a day for the week. I do this every week so I can eat almost however I want on the weekend, when friends and family want to go eat out at restaurants or have popcorn at the movies or something.

toutmonpossible

If it's just a day I try to eat less before and after and get in some exercise. There is always the fear that I won't make up for it. A fitness expert recommended losing a few pounds before the start of the winter holiday season in the U.S. The average American gains something like 8 pounds.

I'm going to attend an important, multi-day family event this summer and my family are serious foodies, some of them are professionals. I'm trying to lose a few pounds in anticipation of that. Not that I'm planning on binging, but there will be huge amounts of food and drink around all the time and I'll be in a strange city, meeting lots of new people, so I'll be eating much more than I'm accustomed to. I will try to exercise, but don't know what opportunities I'll have.

__Di__

Curious how others handle this.

I try to get a really big workout in usually with extra Cardio and then eat light until and after the event.

For instance last week my son graduated from High School and we took him to Lawry's Prime Rib in Chicago. I didn't deny myself. Had a 12 ounce Prime Rib, sides and desert. So during the day before the dinner I had consumed just 600 calories and between MFP and FitBit had me at over 4000 calories burned during the day.

I accept that my calories count will be over for that day and just enjoy the event.

However, there is one thing I really have to do, that is mentally prepare myself that come the following day I am straight back into the swing of things, otherwise I will just go back to stuffing myself again. I know this because I always did just that, fell off the wagon and it used to be doubly hard to get back into it all.