The holidays: it doesn't have to be like last year.

Domicinator

This is my first "holiday season" as a not-fat person since before high school, and I have to admit that I went into Thanksgiving a little bit concerned that I would fall off the wagon and go back to my old self. I usually do a cheat dinner on Saturday nights, but I figured I would replace that with Thanksgiving last week. And I did. In spades. And I did it again the next day, possibly even worse. I'm sure all those little bites of snacks and dips and cookies all added up to a calorie total I don't even want to know about.

I was talking to my family about how I was worried about how much I was overeating for Thanksgiving, and my wife said, "Don't worry about it--you're not going to fail at this. The fact that you're still thinking about what you're eating and still care about your weight will ensure that. You'll be fine."

And she was right. I had a good time with my family for a couple of days, I ate some things I normally wouldn't eat, I drank a little more beer and wine than I normally allow myself, and my portions were a bit bigger than they've been for the last few months. By Saturday morning, I was thinking, "Ok, that felt good to overdo it a little bit on the food, but time to get back down to business."

I went back on my 1900 calorie a day limit, and for the next couple of days, I stayed far away from the scale. When I finally did weigh myself again, I had gained a pound. (The couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, I was consistently 183 every single morning, and now I was 184). By this morning, I had lost my Thanksgiving pound and then another one. I was at a new all time low of 182.

This was an important lesson for me. In the past I have always blamed my weight gain on "the holidays". Well, the holidays doesn't have to be like that. You don't have to eat twelve cookies and a pound of candy a day from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day. You can still enjoy the three major holidays in that time period and overdo it a little bit, but not ruin all your hard work by making the holidays into an excuse to go crazy with sweets and junk food.

In a couple of weeks, we're driving to Florida and doing "The Disney Thing". We are on a meal plan while we're there, and it will be incredibly difficult to accurately log. I'm not sure what options I will have at the restaurants on our plan, but I'm assuming they will not be accurately represented in MFP. In other words, I may not even bother logging. I will still open MFP to see how much calorie burn I'm getting credit for from all the walking, but that's probably about it. I will be careful about what I eat, but the food scale is staying at home. I will snack as little as possible, but will try to avoid being "hangry". (Nobody needs me crabby on vacation.) When we get back home, I may find that I gained a pound or two, and I will be mentally prepared for that to be the case. I will also be able to say that I got through "the holidays" this year without falling off the wagon.

I have this in the bag.

jemhh

Good work!

We went to Disney for a week last December. I gained 4 pounds per the scale when I got home on Saturday. By Tuesday morning, it was gone. My notes from that trip:

- The first couple of days I took major advantage of the dining plan's inclusion of dessert with each sitdown meal, large portions, etc. By the afternoon of the third day I just wanted a salad and some chicken because I was feeling overstuffed.
- For the rest of the trip I pretty much tried everything I wanted, food-wise, but I didn't necessarily eat it all. We'd already paid for the dining plan so, IMO, it made sense to take the food and eat a bit if I wanted to taste it.
- Disney = a ton of walking. So much more than in my every day sit-behind-a-desk-at-work life. It's not necessarily at a fast pace but you will be walking and standing for hours and hours every day.
- I started off logging and then forgot one day and said forget it for the rest of the trip.
- Take a bottle of water with you to the park. If you're on the dining plan and have the refillable mug, you can drink out of the mug at the resort (assuming you're staying at the resort) but still get a bottle of water from the dining area whenever you get a meal there. It is included in your meal ticket. We always got the bottled water and took it with us to the park (I carried a small backpack with the water, sunscreen, etc.) Having water will help you to resist the urge to spend more calories on a cool beverage to cool down.

shadowfax_c11

quiksylver296

I was the same way at Thanksgiving. I considered the day a free-for-all and ate anything and everything I wanted. Then I went back to counting on Friday. I'm down 2 pounds since Thanksgiving. I plan on doing the same for Christmas. We got this!!!

Remoth

When Christmas comes around, I plan on eating everything I want, but just smaller portions. plus, there are always healthier options(salads, veggies) at my family meals than just corn meal, cheese rolls and cream, haha. I'm sure I am going to get some funny looks by my oversized family, but I would like this to be one christmas where I dont stuff myself until I almost burst.

Domicinator

jemhh wrote: »

Good work!

We went to Disney for a week last December. I gained 4 pounds per the scale when I got home on Saturday. By Tuesday morning, it was gone. My notes from that trip:

- The first couple of days I took major advantage of the dining plan's inclusion of dessert with each sitdown meal, large portions, etc. By the afternoon of the third day I just wanted a salad and some chicken because I was feeling overstuffed.
- For the rest of the trip I pretty much tried everything I wanted, food-wise, but I didn't necessarily eat it all. We'd already paid for the dining plan so, IMO, it made sense to take the food and eat a bit if I wanted to taste it.
- Disney = a ton of walking. So much more than in my every day sit-behind-a-desk-at-work life. It's not necessarily at a fast pace but you will be walking and standing for hours and hours every day.
- I started off logging and then forgot one day and said forget it for the rest of the trip.
- Take a bottle of water with you to the park. If you're on the dining plan and have the refillable mug, you can drink out of the mug at the resort (assuming you're staying at the resort) but still get a bottle of water from the dining area whenever you get a meal there. It is included in your meal ticket. We always got the bottled water and took it with us to the park (I carried a small backpack with the water, sunscreen, etc.) Having water will help you to resist the urge to spend more calories on a cool beverage to cool down.

Thanks!! I'm bookmarking this reply for sure! I have been to both Disney parks, but not while trying to maintain/lose weight, so this will be an adventure for sure.

Domicinator

quiksylver296 wrote: »

I was the same way at Thanksgiving. I considered the day a free-for-all and ate anything and everything I wanted. Then I went back to counting on Friday. I'm down 2 pounds since Thanksgiving. I plan on doing the same for Christmas. We got this!!!

My sister in law made this thing that was basically a huge block of brie cheese wrapped in some kind of dough with a bunch of other stuff all over it. As I was reaching for my second piece of it, I remember thinking, "Oh my god, I've now officially blown it and I can't stop myself."

mccraee

know too that Disney is fine with you sharing dishes. And, they are fine with you bringing snacks and your own water bottle into the parks. In fact, they were happy to refill our bottles at all the food stands that we asked.