Dealing with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and other special occasions
Replies
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traditional Thanksgiving trimmings are a delicious annual indulgence, the Calorie Control Council estimates the typical holiday meal potentially packs 4,500 calories
If 3500 calories = one pound of weight gained; and
If you keep to your deficit for the week, save for Thanksgiving; and
Discounting all the calories you have saved during that week;
Thanksgiving dinner will cost you one and one quarter pound for that week.
We can make that up the week following, or while shopping on Black Friday.
REMEMBER, NO SHOPPING ON THANKSGIVING1 Store clerks have a right to enjoy their families also.
Not everyone gets to spend the day with their families. I'll gladly take the extra money I earn on Thanksgiving morning for a small-ish dinner with my parents.0 -
traditional Thanksgiving trimmings are a delicious annual indulgence, the Calorie Control Council estimates the typical holiday meal potentially packs 4,500 calories
If 3500 calories = one pound of weight gained; and
If you keep to your deficit for the week, save for Thanksgiving; and
Discounting all the calories you have saved during that week;
Thanksgiving dinner will cost you one and one quarter pound for that week.
We can make that up the week following, or while shopping on Black Friday.
REMEMBER, NO SHOPPING ON THANKSGIVING1 Store clerks have a right to enjoy their families also.
Not everyone gets to spend the day with their families. I'll gladly take the extra money I earn on Thanksgiving morning for a small-ish dinner with my parents.
If the reason they don't spend the day with their families is because of ranpant consumer consumption, that was my point. No shopping= time with family or friends on this American Holiday. Surely you have something better to do on Thanksgiving than selling TVs and such.
But I have a problem with your point, not spending the day with family and having a small dinner with parents.0 -
traditional Thanksgiving trimmings are a delicious annual indulgence, the Calorie Control Council estimates the typical holiday meal potentially packs 4,500 calories
If 3500 calories = one pound of weight gained; and
If you keep to your deficit for the week, save for Thanksgiving; and
Discounting all the calories you have saved during that week;
Thanksgiving dinner will cost you one and one quarter pound for that week.
We can make that up the week following, or while shopping on Black Friday.
REMEMBER, NO SHOPPING ON THANKSGIVING1 Store clerks have a right to enjoy their families also.
Not everyone gets to spend the day with their families. I'll gladly take the extra money I earn on Thanksgiving morning for a small-ish dinner with my parents.
If the reason they don't spend the day with their families is because of ranpant consumer consumption, that was my point. No shopping= time with family or friends on this American Holiday. Surely you have something better to do on Thanksgiving than selling TVs and such.
But I have a problem with your point, not spending the day with family and having a small dinner with parents.
I have never worked retail, but I have worked in a warehouse that shipped direct-to-guest orders. The holidays were a very busy time for us -- I have worked lots of Thanksgivings, as well as many extra hours during the holiday season. This is the time of year that pays the bills. It's like how tax firms work extra hours during tax season or how people who work in restaurants never get to spend Valentine's Day with their SO. Different jobs have different demands. If you have a problem with consumer consumption, retail may not be the career for you.0 -
My kids are grown and I'm in a gated community, so no trick-or-treaters for us this years, so there's that down! I have been solid as a rock with abstaining from treats at work, so I'm not worried about candy there.
As for Thanksgiving, we're having it at our house. We're making a vegetarian stuffing, with turkey and all the rest. We will switch real gravy for package gravy, opting for higher sodium but way less fat. We'll keep our portions smaller, and have small allowances of pumpkin pie
My hubby thought we would have to just say no to everything, but why? If you can't indulge once or twice a YEAR, you're setting yourself up for failure. Just watch portions - don't have 2 plates of everything and load up on greasy gravy. Try to find some healthier versions of recipes if your grandma's recipe is too loaded with fat and calories.
Enjoy yourself above all
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traditional Thanksgiving trimmings are a delicious annual indulgence, the Calorie Control Council estimates the typical holiday meal potentially packs 4,500 calories
If 3500 calories = one pound of weight gained; and
If you keep to your deficit for the week, save for Thanksgiving; and
Discounting all the calories you have saved during that week;
Thanksgiving dinner will cost you one and one quarter pound for that week.
We can make that up the week following, or while shopping on Black Friday.
REMEMBER, NO SHOPPING ON THANKSGIVING1 Store clerks have a right to enjoy their families also.
Not everyone gets to spend the day with their families. I'll gladly take the extra money I earn on Thanksgiving morning for a small-ish dinner with my parents.
If the reason they don't spend the day with their families is because of ranpant consumer consumption, that was my point. No shopping= time with family or friends on this American Holiday. Surely you have something better to do on Thanksgiving than selling TVs and such.
But I have a problem with your point, not spending the day with family and having a small dinner with parents.
My extended family hasn't gotten together for holidays in 5+ years due to jobs and in-laws, so spending my time earning money is better than sitting around all day. But I will leave it there, as this is getting off-topic.0 -
Hi! Something that has helped me is to load my plate with what I want to eat, and when I am done with that follow it up with a big cup of tea or coffee. That way I am much less tempted to follow my food with more food. Also, don't let things sit out to be picked at. As soon as dinner is done, wrap it up and put it away. This is less about restraint (which relates to willpower, which is totally overrated) then it is about removing temptation.
Bravo! Bravo! This is just the kind of "hack" I was looking for! I don't know why I didn't think about it myself since I do it at work. When I am tempted, I drink a mug of green tea. If the craving doesn't go away after that (which it usually does because it usually turns out that I'm thirsty and not hungry) then I let myself get sweetened coffee, or a "Cadillac" (apparently in some jails, half hot chocolate and half coffee is referred to as such).
I love the holiday type creamers and will make sure to bring a bottle of that instead of the normal eggnog that I bring along to sweeten my coffee.
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My plan for now.
Halloween: 5 pieces of candy.
Thanksgiving: A little bit of everything (small portions)
Christmas: I'm not absolutely sure, but similar to thanksgiving only with more workouts cause sugar is eeeeeeevil. 0 -
My plan for now.
Halloween: 5 pieces of candy.
Thanksgiving: A little bit of everything (small portions)
Christmas: I'm not absolutely sure, but similar to thanksgiving only with more workouts cause sugar is eeeeeeevil.
Ahaha, sugar is indeed the devil! It's the hardest thing I'm having trouble with right now.
In fact, I think I'll go look up some info on curbing sugar cravings. It's really the sweets that do it for me around the holiday seasons. (Cookies, and cakes, and pies, oh my!) In addition to being an OM NOM NOMnivore, I also turn into a hardcore dessertivore sometimes.
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Hey! I was presented with my choice of candy from a giant tub of halloween handy and only took 3 pieces. NSV!
This moderation thing tastes so yummy!
Thanks for all the advice and support, all. It's incredibly helpful and encouraging!
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Last year I lost throughout the holidays. I indulged in candy but just Halloween night and then 1 fun-sized small piece on days I worked out for about a week after. In general I also upped my exercise to allow more wiggle room.
After the pie was done and turkey was in the oven I hit the cardio machines to get an extra burn in.
I ate whatever I wanted on Thanksgiving day (including french toast caserole in my big breakfast) but did not eat leftovers the next day. I cooked everything so I put all recipes in MFP.
I went right back on plan until the week before Christmas. During Christmas week I still logged everything and exercised most days but I made my goal to be maintence not deficit. Adjusting my goal to just "not gain" allowed me to not overeat or binge and led to an overall loss.0 -
Last year I lost throughout the holidays. I indulged in candy but just Halloween night and then 1 fun-sized small piece on days I worked out for about a week after. In general I also upped my exercise to allow more wiggle room.
After the pie was done and turkey was in the oven I hit the cardio machines to get an extra burn in.
I ate whatever I wanted on Thanksgiving day (including french toast caserole in my big breakfast) but did not eat leftovers the next day. I cooked everything so I put all recipes in MFP.
I went right back on plan until the week before Christmas. During Christmas week I still logged everything and exercised most days but I made my goal to be maintence not deficit. Adjusting my goal to just "not gain" allowed me to not overeat or binge and led to an overall loss.
That sounds like a solid, dedicated plan! This is what I was hoping to achieve this year, but it sounds like in general a lot of people have success with just letting loose once or twice a year. I'm hoping that I can stick to something like what you described, but I also do want to be realistic, and the reality is that I'll only have a couple of months of logging under my belt, and I'm still learning stuff as I go, so I may not be mentally prepared for a more strict (than past years) plan.
Thanks for your input! This is what I was hoping to hear-- that at least some people have success with being a bit more strict. 0 -
Restraint and special events are not words I put together in a sentence. Thanksgiving I will enjoy as last Thanksgiving I was just being released from the hospital and was barely able to eat as much as a 2 year old. :P0
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After years of going to the same places for thanksgiving and Christmas, I can make a good guess as to what will be served (I'm sure most of us can!). So I might take a guess and pre-log so I can see how much turkey, stuffing, sweet potato, and apple pie will cost me. If it's way too much, I'll decide beforehand what I'll skip or I'll make it work by saving calories at other meals and exercising more.
Also, I'm willing to reduce my deficit for one day. BUT I don't like that super stuffed and bloated feeling and am less willing to eat to that point (way over maintenance ). I don't enjoy being stuffed to the brim when I'm
A guest in someone else's home!0
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