How to not gain the "Holiday 15"

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  • FredKing1
    FredKing1 Posts: 98 Member
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    Saw this item on-line "The average American will consume more than 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day alone, according to the Calorie Control Council." My plan is 1200 cals/day plus I eat my exercise. My BMR is about 2,000 plus I can exercise about 500 that morning - if I eat half of "average" I'll be alright - measure and weigh. Back to normal Friday, the left overs are toxic.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    FredKing1 wrote: »
    Saw this item on-line "The average American will consume more than 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day alone, according to the Calorie Control Council."

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  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited November 2015
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    I_Will_End_You wrote: »
    Do people really gain 15lbs over the holidays?! It's like, 5-7 days max, when you figure in parties.

    This^

    15 pounds is a crazy high number, I'm thinking more like 3-4 (?).

    But yes, allow yourself a snack here and there. A taste of this, a taste of that, BUT be selective. Don't treat the season like a free-for-all. Work is crazy here - all the homemade goodies plus all the stuff vendors keep sending. Last year wasn't pretty.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    Plan what you will eat and drink. A lot of holiday foods are pretty predictable. Pre-log.
    Eat reasonable portions. One plate of food, one dessert, one glass of wine. Don't mindlessly speed eat or drink. Savor it. Log it.
    Keep active. If you know you are going to eat more you can also exercise a bit more.
    Be busy talking, taking pictures, playing with kids, helping clean up, going for a walk.

    If you eat over your calorie goal 1 or 2 days you don't gain 15 lbs instantly. That would take some real effort.
  • salembambi
    salembambi Posts: 5,592 Member
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    i eat how i normally do within my calorie goal until Christmas Eve

    then i dont log for 3-4 days go back to normal for a minute then have my new years eve of no logging

    then back to normal but its not that hard for me to not over indulge in parties or whatever since i have no interest in them
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    FredKing1 wrote: »
    Saw this item on-line "The average American will consume more than 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day alone, according to the Calorie Control Council." My plan is 1200 cals/day plus I eat my exercise. My BMR is about 2,000 plus I can exercise about 500 that morning - if I eat half of "average" I'll be alright - measure and weigh. Back to normal Friday, the left overs are toxic.

    I ate around that last year... logged 4700 calories. Didn't drink any calories.

    Didn't gain any weight because I had a good deficit the rest of the week. This year there should only be two desserts though, and no pecan pie, so that's going to help a lot, and last year I had a big breakfast, which I'm going to try to avoid this year too... so it shouldn't be that bad. And if it is... *shrug*. It's just one day.
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
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    It's so easy to start esting and drinking at Thanksgiving and not stop until January. So many treats to indulge in...eggnog, liquor, chocolate, pies...have you seen Trader Joe's (West Coast) during Christmas? There are treats they don't have any other time of year, in your face for weeks. You just have to not cave into it all.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    This is not an issue. Stick to calorie goal for the days that are not Thanksgiving and Christmas. On those two days, eat whatever you want, and enjoy the special fun of the day.
    If you are someone who is eating in a deficit and find it to be a real struggle, move to maintenance level calories. You won't lose weigh during the holidays, but you won't gain. Just be mindful that it will be work to move back to a deficit after the holidays are over.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    My biggest thing is needing to feel in control. I will not just let myself gorge and then say "WHOOPS!" I either make the choice to go big, or I make the choice to stay at maintenance or a deficit.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    My biggest thing is needing to feel in control. I will not just let myself gorge and then say "WHOOPS!" I either make the choice to go big, or I make the choice to stay at maintenance or a deficit.

    This is why I always stick to my calorie goal (with the exception of the actual day of the holiday). If I allowed myself to have whatever I wanted throughout the whole season - whoa. Go BIG.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    mccindy72 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    My biggest thing is needing to feel in control. I will not just let myself gorge and then say "WHOOPS!" I either make the choice to go big, or I make the choice to stay at maintenance or a deficit.

    This is why I always stick to my calorie goal (with the exception of the actual day of the holiday). If I allowed myself to have whatever I wanted throughout the whole season - whoa. Go BIG.

    Yep.

    Actually, I'm not really around family all THAT much during the holidays and I don't really have guests, so honestly it's not that hard for me. Aw, debbie downer.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    mccindy72 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    My biggest thing is needing to feel in control. I will not just let myself gorge and then say "WHOOPS!" I either make the choice to go big, or I make the choice to stay at maintenance or a deficit.

    This is why I always stick to my calorie goal (with the exception of the actual day of the holiday). If I allowed myself to have whatever I wanted throughout the whole season - whoa. Go BIG.

    Yep.

    Actually, I'm not really around family all THAT much during the holidays and I don't really have guests, so honestly it's not that hard for me. Aw, debbie downer.

    Yeah - it was much worse for me when I used to work at a bigger hospital, and either we'd have a sales rep bring us food, a local business bring us food, or one of the people on our staff bring in food. GOOD GOD IN HEAVEN.
  • breakfasttomadness
    breakfasttomadness Posts: 5 Member
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    Some people fo have a lot of parties and holiday outings with family and friends between Thanksgiving and Christmas or travel which can wreak havoc on a diet plan. (I am not one of them this year fortunately). BUT last year I had 10 holiday parties and outings not including staying with relatives that didn't have much healthy food in the house. Other than just saying "no means no" to goodies i made my own i could say yes to. I brought a healthier dish or healthier dessert to the parties to share that i could pile on and not be too guilty. And then when i brought it home for leftovers i wasn't committing a dietary crime multiple days in a row (just don't bring too many others home with it). When we'd do things like ice skating, tree cutting, or holiday shopping, instead of eating mall food or snack shack hot chocolate and cookies, I'd bring healthy ones to share and stick to coffee (without all the sugar and creamer ) or tea. Hope this gives you some ideas
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
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    You/we have to take responsibility for ourselves and our choices. It's up to you how much you gain or lose during the holidays or any other time of year. No excuses!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,526 Member
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    The reason why people gain an average 5lbs-7lbs a year is because they "snack" on foods they don't usually consume in higher amounts from Thanksgiving all the way to New Year's!
    If you just counted Thanksgiving and Christmas days, I would think that between the 2 days, one would eat 10,000 calories at max. That'd be just under 3lb pounds if it were all fat.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
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    FredKing1 wrote: »
    Saw this item on-line "The average American will consume more than 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day alone, according to the Calorie Control Council." My plan is 1200 cals/day plus I eat my exercise. My BMR is about 2,000 plus I can exercise about 500 that morning - if I eat half of "average" I'll be alright - measure and weigh. Back to normal Friday, the left overs are toxic.

    The average American consumes 3770 calories a day on a regular basis so an extra 700 on Thanksgiving isn't anything.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2722815/Daily-calorie-intake-countries-world-revealed-surprise-U-S-tops-list-3-770.html

  • 100df
    100df Posts: 668 Member
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    I have never gained 15 but have gained 10 from Halloween to New Years in the past.

    I am still on a high from loosing between Halloween and now. I am determined to continue it through New Years.

    It isn't the holiday that messes me up but all the social events around them and the yummy gifts of food that people give. One bite so I can tell them it was delicious. Toss the rest if my family doesn't eat it.

    My plan is to be on program 95% of the time. There are many days that I won't be at a social event. If I stay on program those days and not go ballistic at the social events, I should still lose. The key for me is to get right back at it after the social event. I seem to have broken my pattern of blowing it 1 day and letting that derail me for days. Just need to continue that.

    I am going to try not to cook too much food but plan to send leftovers home with guests on Thanksgiving. Anything left besides turkey and salad will go into the trash. Hate wasting food like that but my trash can afford the calories better than I can.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
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    kristen6350 wrote: »
    The key to not gaining at the holidays? Not using the holidays as an excuse to over eat.
    Bingo!

    If you are setting yourself up as a helpless victim instead of a sentient participant who can actually make choices, you need to have a wee chat with yourself. ;)
  • samgamgee
    samgamgee Posts: 398 Member
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    Oh man, I actually did put on a stone (14 lbs) over the festive period last year!! So bad, I don't know how I managed to eat and drink that much - I'm actually kind of impressed. My birthday is on the last day of November so I had a bit of a blow out, and then December just totally spiraled out of control! My partner and I both made the decision to 'just enjoy the festive period', which turned into us basically enabling each other to be as greedy and lazy as possible (and we're pretty greedy and lazy anyway). Great fun of course, but not so good for the waistline! "I don't fancy cooking." "Hey it's Christmas, let's get a Chinese." "Wellll, it's the seventh of Decemb -" "CHRISTMAS!" I dread to think how many takeaways, bottles of Advocaat and random bits of gingerbread we got through.

    This year I've upped my activity and lowered my calories a bit to build up a bit more of a buffer for my birthday party and my birthday meal at the end of the month, then in December I'm going to stick to that bigger deficit which will hopefully mitigate the big eating and drinking days. My goal is to go into the New Year the same weight as November 27th, or maybe even a bit lighter.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I enjoy my feast days but don't treat the entire holiday season as a free for all...I still eat healthfully and I still train regularly. If I feel like a cookie, I have a cookie..just not all of the cookies and I don't feel the need to indulge in all of the office goodies all day, every day. IDK...maybe it's just time as I've been at this for over three years, but the tables full of goodies don't really phase me much.

    ^^This

    I'll eat an occasional treat if I can work it into my calories (I do this regularly anyway). I treat the feast days as feast days and don't worry. The rest of the month is business as usual.

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