Holiday Eating
SideSteel
Posts: 11,068 Member
Sometimes viewpoints on this can get polarizing with people believing that they should diet as planned, follow calorie and macronutrient goals, and skip the pie.
Others are in the YOLO camp. Anything and everything gets shoved into the face hole.
And I think there's plenty of room in between, but one piece of direction that I give my clients is to make a decision ahead of time, and execute whatever that plan is and OWN it.
For example, I have one client who has some great momentum going on her diet and fitness, down almost 20lbs and motivation is sky high. She's chosen to keep dieting through her holiday vacation but she's going to enjoy some pie on thanksgiving day and get right back on track the following day. It's not going to be a week long binge.
And she's going to rock it, and feel great about it afterwards.
I have a weight class restricted athlete very close to competition date. She's going to diet through the holiday, tracking every day and maintaining her calorie deficit.
And I even have a few people who are going to put on an eating clinic and not pay any attention to calories.
All of these are fine depending on the person. But the thing they share in common is that they have a plan, they are going to execute the plan, and they're going to accept the consequences.
There's no anxiety going into things because they've prepared themselves.
What are YOU going to do over the holidays?
Today I'll be eating quite a bit of food, but leading up to the family event I'm only having whey protein and milk and that's it, to create a bit of a buffer for the massive food I'll be eating later.
Others are in the YOLO camp. Anything and everything gets shoved into the face hole.
And I think there's plenty of room in between, but one piece of direction that I give my clients is to make a decision ahead of time, and execute whatever that plan is and OWN it.
For example, I have one client who has some great momentum going on her diet and fitness, down almost 20lbs and motivation is sky high. She's chosen to keep dieting through her holiday vacation but she's going to enjoy some pie on thanksgiving day and get right back on track the following day. It's not going to be a week long binge.
And she's going to rock it, and feel great about it afterwards.
I have a weight class restricted athlete very close to competition date. She's going to diet through the holiday, tracking every day and maintaining her calorie deficit.
And I even have a few people who are going to put on an eating clinic and not pay any attention to calories.
All of these are fine depending on the person. But the thing they share in common is that they have a plan, they are going to execute the plan, and they're going to accept the consequences.
There's no anxiety going into things because they've prepared themselves.
What are YOU going to do over the holidays?
Today I'll be eating quite a bit of food, but leading up to the family event I'm only having whey protein and milk and that's it, to create a bit of a buffer for the massive food I'll be eating later.
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Well, I've been eating at deficit for a year, so I started a diet break last week. I'll be eating a maintenance. I likely won't go over that because it's enough to eat what I'd like and feel satisfied.
I started my day with a 5K Turkey Trot, so that will make my more room in my maintenance for yumminess.0 -
Typical breakfast, Thanksgiving lunch with the family (lots of protein, a little bit of everything else that I want), generous piece of cheesecake, light dinner.0
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I'm a Brit so no Thanksgiving for me. However, my plan for Christmas would apply if I were partaking today. Eat what I want without going crazy, no tracking. Just enjoy the day knowing that one day won't ruin my work up until this point and that it's a day of celebration to be enjoyed. I will just stick to my usual training schedule which is 3-5 times per week anyway and stick to my deficit too as normal on all other days. It's rare someone else cooks for me so it would be foolish not to make the most of it!
That said, I have noticed that my capacity to just eat and eat is greatly diminished after being at this since April so I can't imagine my calorie count will be too crazy anyway and that's also satisfying in its own way.0 -
I pre logged yesterday, which I never do. I started my day with 100 minutes on the treadmill! I plan to have a green smoothie and a couple of eggs for brunch and then my main meal, a couple of glasses of wine and dessert later today. You are so right that a plan is the way to go! My goal here on MFP is to lose my last ten pounds and to learn moderation. Today I feel successful.0
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We do a thanksgiving lunch.
My plan: a morning run. A quest bar. And then thanksgiving lunch.
I plan to enjoy all the turkey, gravy, and vegetables I want. I'll have a bit of mashed potatoes, and a small bit of dressing. And skip the desserts, because they aren't a priority.
And some Prosecco.
Then an afternoon walk and a nap.
Some turkey leftovers for dinner.0 -
Personally I eat for enjoyment over Christmas, and probably over indulge.
I've smashed it for the rest of the year so a few days over Christmas isn't going to have any appreciable negative effect on long term goals.0 -
I ate a hearty low-cal breakfast of 1 scrambled egg on whole wheat toast (tiny bit of butter) with coffee & milk.
I went for a 5.5 mile fast walk.
Lunch was a cup of white rice in 1 cup of chicken broth.
Dinner is the thanksgiving feast and I'm not sure exactly what will be there (very big family with lots of dishes) so I calculated the turkey (duh), some green bean casserole, a small slice of apple pie, and a strawberry oatmeal bar (I'm bringing them so yeah I want one), then added 400 extra calories as a buffer for other things I find to eat. Besides the things listed (which are the things I would be happy indulging in) I am going to try to eat any low-cal choices only.
When we get home I will eat an apple as an end of the day snack.
All logged in and I'm right on target for my calorie goal.0 -
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I already logged dinner and increased serving sizes to account for any extras that occur. I decided that if I get a serving of something that I am meh about I don't have to eat it. I am having dessert because I made a cheesecake.
Then the goal with leftovers is to not repeat the entire dinner and dessert.0 -
All of these are fine depending on the person. But the thing they share in common is that they have a plan, they are going to execute the plan, and they're going to accept the consequences.
There's no anxiety going into things because they've prepared themselves.
Love this!
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Thanksgiving is a celebration for me. I will skip breakfast but will feast the rest of the day and night.
If I put down 10,000 cals (impossible for me I think), that will be ok. I might gain 4 lbs of food weight but probably no more than 1lb of fat weight. 3 days after, I will be at the weight I started at. Enjoy I say, enjoy!0 -
I'm going to eat foods that I don't normally eat all together (glucose). It will be a high calorie day, too! But that's OK.
As it turns out, cooking all day yesterday, I forgot to eat for most of it! I had to eat 2 hard-boiled eggs and a glass of milk to try to get in some protein. So I have some extra calories, too.0 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »We do a thanksgiving lunch.
My plan: a morning run. A quest bar. And then thanksgiving lunch.
I plan to enjoy all the turkey, gravy, and vegetables I want. I'll have a bit of mashed potatoes, and a small bit of dressing. And skip the desserts, because they aren't a priority.
And some Prosecco.
Then an afternoon walk and a nap.
Some turkey leftovers for dinner.
Happy to report this went pretty much to plan. Now time for the nap.0 -
I woke up, had my black coffee, and did my hour long workout as usual. I do Intermittent Fasting, so instead of breaking my fast at the usual time, which is around 9:30 am, I broke it at 2:45 pm when it was time to eat. I didn't log anything today, as everything would be approximated. I ate a decent amount of food without going too crazy, had a dessert sampler plate and took a bit more of what I liked, and now I won't be eating for the rest of the day. I'm going for a five mile walk in an hour or so, then I'll be in bed by my usual time of 8 pm.0
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It's a holiday. Spending time with family is a huge stressor for most people.
Forget your normal diet today and there's no way you can get any estimates that are reliable.
So, just put yourself down as eating 3000 calories or so for the main meal plus alcohol.
It's only one day, so enjoy and it's back to your normal regimen in the days following.
That doesn't mean to stuff yourself like there's no tomorrow. Eat smaller portions or at least reasonable amounts, but even moderate portions of most holiday meals will easily tip that. To me, a made up number is still better than not claiming anything.
I find I just can't eat anywhere as much now as I used to on these big meal days anyway.0 -
It's a holiday. Spending time with family is a huge stressor for most people.
Forget your normal diet today and there's no way you can get any estimates that are reliable.
So, just put yourself down as eating 3000 calories or so for the main meal plus alcohol.
It's only one day, so enjoy and it's back to your normal regimen in the days following.
That doesn't mean to stuff yourself like there's no tomorrow. Eat smaller portions or at least reasonable amounts, but even moderate portions of most holiday meals will easily tip that. To me, a made up number is still better than not claiming anything.
That's one part I agree with. Whatever Fitbit tells MFP my calorie allowance is at the end of today, I'll be doing a quick add for 500 more than that amount. I'm pretty sure I ate at maintenance today, but I'd rather pad what I ate to be safe. One thing I realized today is that because of how I eat now it was impossible for me to eat the portion sizes I used to or assumed I'd eat. Everything I took was either two spoonfuls or one piece of something. The only thing I ate a bit more of was pie and I took two smaller slices that probably ended up being a half serving each.0 -
My plan worked - sort of. I stayed under my calorie goals, but my hubs wanted to do the cooking. Bless his little heart. He learned that "saute" does not mean "boil in oil," so I went over my fat macro. We did have a good laff about it.0
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Eat, drink, Be Merry, then go work it off, pretty simple.0
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I'm simple too.
The feast days didn't make me fat; it was all the intervening days of inattention. Earlier this fall I had a very enjoyable & successful week of vacation in DC where I walked, biked, ate & drank with gusto and still lost weight.
This week was different; I took a road trip driving 500-700 miles a day to help my husband move home from an assignment in DC. It's the first time our family has been in one place since July! I set my weekly calorie budget to an active maintenance TDEE at my current weight. Loss can resume next week.
I now feel confident in my capabilities at managing this.0 -
It's a holiday. Spending time with family is a huge stressor for most people.
Forget your normal diet today and there's no way you can get any estimates that are reliable.
So, just put yourself down as eating 3000 calories or so for the main meal plus alcohol.
It's only one day, so enjoy and it's back to your normal regimen in the days following.
That doesn't mean to stuff yourself like there's no tomorrow. Eat smaller portions or at least reasonable amounts, but even moderate portions of most holiday meals will easily tip that. To me, a made up number is still better than not claiming anything.
I find I just can't eat anywhere as much now as I used to on these big meal days anyway.
This is the absolute best post I've read about holiday meals. I did exactly this for my thanksgiving.
I'm an intermittent faster and my eating window is from 3-12, 5-12 when I'm able to.
My family eats thanksgiving dinner at 3:00, so I had morning coffee just like normal, went for a beach run, and broke my fast at 3:00. I ate only the foods that mean the most to me and had small to medium portions. I had a small piece of 2 different desserts because holiday desserts are important to me. I'm ending my eating window at 9 instead of 12 because I have the day off work and usually work until 11 or 12. Next year I plan to just log 2500 calories the night before, even though I won't end up with that much today. I would never log nothing because it messes up my log average and I use/ need that data.
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I ate a hearty low-cal breakfast of 1 scrambled egg on whole wheat toast (tiny bit of butter) with coffee & milk.
I went for a 5.5 mile fast walk.
Lunch was a cup of white rice in 1 cup of chicken broth.
Dinner is the thanksgiving feast and I'm not sure exactly what will be there (very big family with lots of dishes) so I calculated the turkey (duh), some green bean casserole, a small slice of apple pie, and a strawberry oatmeal bar (I'm bringing them so yeah I want one), then added 400 extra calories as a buffer for other things I find to eat. Besides the things listed (which are the things I would be happy indulging in) I am going to try to eat any low-cal choices only.
When we get home I will eat an apple as an end of the day snack.
All logged in and I'm right on target for my calorie goal.
I am also happy to report that I stuck to this, pretty much. Definitely lacking in the holiday food choices, so no green bean casserole. Ate fewer calories than expected so instead of an apple for the end of the day I get a steak n shake frisco shooter and cottage cheese.
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I went over my goal today, but by less than I thought. I was at a dinner with lots of wine drinkers so there were a lot of liquid calories. But, this won't happen tomorrow so I'm not at all worried.0
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I adjusted my deficit for a 1 pound loss instead of the usual 2 for this week. I decided to be okay with possibly going over that goal and hitting maintenance. Today I ate my normal breakfast and lunch, worked all day, and then went to a friend's home for a wonderful dinner. I fully intended on enjoying the meal and eating as much as I liked and was pleasantly surprised to discover that I was satisfied with a lot less than what I would have eaten a year ago. Even with a 1400 calories planned for dinner I came in at a deficit. Pretty pleased with myself right now.0
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Thanks for sharing SS!0
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i ran a lower hypertrophy workout this am ..had a light breakfast and between alcohol, apps, thanksgiving dinner, and pies, I am at about 6000 calories and I am guessing that is on the low end as my logging is no way close to accurate...0
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Thanks for sharing this
In the week leading up to christmas, I am going to eat as I have been - at a very slight deficit.
Christmas eve/Christmas day/Boxing day - I am not going to log. That doesn't mean I'm going to binge but I'm certainly going to allow myself luxuries I wouldn't normally and I don't plan to feel guilty for it either! It's a time for food, family, fun and celebration. After the christmas period is over (including my birthday on Jan 3rd) - I'm going to eat at a slight deficit again. No biggie! 0 -
I set myself targets for my weight loss. Over Xmas/New Year my plan has a 5 pound weight gain. Hopefully it will be less but regardless Jan 2nd I am back to my current plan.0
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Didn't log on Thanksgiving and knew I was over- back to it today. Same thing will happen with family Christmas meal- one meal once a month is not going to derail me. On the other hand, the next three weeks at work will be hard as people will be bringing in holiday treats and it's hard not to snack on those- but if I do I will log with my best estimate. Going away this weekend too- which means eating out. Again will log with either best estimates or by looking up nutrition info online.0
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Thanksgiving is a celebration for me. I will skip breakfast but will feast the rest of the day and night.
If I put down 10,000 cals (impossible for me I think), that will be ok. I might gain 4 lbs of food weight but probably no more than 1lb of fat weight. 3 days after, I will be at the weight I started at. Enjoy I say, enjoy!
Happened just as stated. Gained 3 and have list it already.0 -
We moved the day after Thanksgiving and I was offline for a bit and couldn't log. I ate leftovers, and was sick the whole time we were getting settled in. I was also off my exercise schedule.
After tracking food for a year, I had a vague idea of what my intake was, though, and I stayed pretty close to maintenance.
I'm up .2 pounds, but I lifted yesterday. It's likely just water weight.
I ate all I wanted, including 2 slices of cheesecake some days. It all fit within my goals. My macros were off, but... meh. It was a holiday and a busy hectic time. Back to fueling workouts today. Ran again this morning. It felt good. Still recovering from the awful cold I came down with Thanksgiving Day, though.0
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