Christmas parties? What to do?

Annamarie3404

Do you attend Christmas parties? If so, how do you get out of eating all of the goodies? Rarely is there anything healthy to eat or drink.

meganepauli

Don't be a grazer, ALWAYS get a little plate. If I don't eat off a plate, I tend to grab a snack every time I'm around the food. Just smaller portions really and avoid the heavy food. Stick to the veggie tray, cheese and sometimes wheat crackers.

60muffin

You could take your own food if it has a buffet. Otherwise, eat beforehand so you only have to nibble on something small. Steer clear of the pastries and cakes. TBH most parties I've been to provide some sort of salad, plain meats like ham and chicken and fruit options. If you know the organiser perhaps you could have a word about what will be available.

Annamarie3404

I try to do that and avoid temptation.

jgnatca

I have some Rules.

If it is a buffet, I fill up half my plate with salad. Meat is the size of a deck of cards, and carbs are about 1/2 cup. I pick if I want the bun or the potato.

As much fruit as I want and one sweet dessert choice only.

Keep a cup of sparkling water in hand to ward off any "topping up".

Annamarie3404

It's usually friend or family. Not wanting to offend them, I tend to be the one who looks "picky".

JenAndSome

Eat, drink and be merry :drinker:

Also, trying to fill up my plate with mostly veggies seems to help a little.
I don't go to a lot of parties though, so it's not as much of a concern for me as it would be more social people.

AskTracyAnnK28

I went to a lot of parties last year while I was losing and did just fine. I ate loads of shrimp cocktail (shrimp is very very low in calories). I stayed away from fried stuff and dessert - but only because I wanted to have a few adult beverages. Just take it easy, don't over indulge but enjoy yourself.

noclady1995

I have 2 to attend tonight. I plan to eat before I leave, bring a bottle of water in my purse and stick to cheese, meats and veggies if I feel like it would be uncomfortable to not eat.

Rachel0778

If it's a friend or family I always offer to bring a side, as in "I just learned how to make this amazing brussell sprout salad, I'd love to bring some to contribute to the party this Friday". That way you have at least 1 green thing available. After that I follow the same rules as jgnatca, but substitute the roll for red wine

Ninkyou

I enjoy them to their fullest and then get back to the grind the next day. A few days out of the year of excess and merrymaking isn't what made me fat... it was treating everyday like that that did.

I went to a Christmas Party yesterday. I had a little bit of everything (except the cake with coconut, cause I hate coconut... and the shrimp dish that was there cause I don't eat seafood). It was wonderfully delicious and I enjoyed the company.

fiddletime

I find that I still derail for a few days after an over indulging evert so I try to guess what foods will be there and log my calories before hand. That worked really well for the party two nights ago. I have 3 more to go to. It keeps me from grazing. I might log wine, or avoid it. It just depends. I also might over do my calories somewhat as I know that one day won't make or break things....as long as I'm in control and don't go into binge land and have prelogged it.

ald783

Pick and choose which goodies you want to have in which quantities, or which parties/food it's worth indulging in more than others. This time of year, there are always some days I'm going to just enjoy myself and not worry about calories. Other times I'd rather just try to eat less or stick to healthier options. As you get the hang of it, it's not that hard to blend in while still making healthy choices.

OyGeeBiv

Annamarie3404 wrote: »

It's usually friend or family. Not wanting to offend them, I tend to be the one who looks "picky".

If you're eating just so you don't offend someone, you might want to really examine that. Would they really be offended? Would YOU be offended if your friends and family didn't eat a bunch of stuff they shouldn't when they're at your house? It's very possible that nobody really wants most of what's being served and everyone's serving it and eating it because they think everyone else will be offended.

And so what if you look "picky"? They're your friends and family and they love you whether you're picky or not!

It's hard to tell people you're not eating their food because you're trying to be healthier without sounding like you're being judgmental of their choices. Plenty of times I've used the excuse "my doctor said I need to cut back", or something like that. But mostly if you don't make a show of it, people won't even notice.

So take a small plate, put some good choices on there (mostly veggies, as others have said) and then eat it slowly. And don't let anyone make you feel bad for making the right choices for yourself.

You can do this!

Kathamo

Moderation and portion control - focus on the veggie plate or offer to bring one, but if not, (1) drink water beforehand (it makes you less hungry and battles the sweet tooth) and keep drinking sparkling water during the event, as ignatca mentioned, (2) if you like to drink, have a glass of wine or two but decide your limit in advance, and (3) make sure to have one cookie or dessert and/or one portion of the unhealthier items (cheese?) so you don't feel deprived; it is a holiday party after all. The key is to fill up on the healthy stuff (water, vegetables) so you don't overload on the unhealthy stuff.

100df

This strategy has been working for me. I become extremely picky. I look at what's available and pick the best thing. This way I am not eating stuff like chips and dip. I can have that anytime.

If there is a veggie and cheese tray I fill my plate there first.

I am enjoying the parties but I will be glad when all these extra eating opportunities are over for a few months.

jemhh

Portion control.

I usually look at the food. 80% of it is food that I either do not like or I could have any time I want it. I eat some of the 20% that looks tasty and/or is a special treat and ignore the 80%.

pondee629

Like with Thanksgiving, one day, one meal, one party is not going to significantly screw up you weekly averages. Be an adult, eat the best things available, control your portions, quit the alcohol and exercise some self control.

WinoGelato

Annamarie3404 wrote: »

Do you attend Christmas parties? If so, how do you get out of eating all of the goodies? Rarely is there anything healthy to eat or drink.

Why would I want to get out of eating all the goodies? That doesn't sound very enjoyable. I don't eat bad food, so I don't know why you would purposely try to avoid good food...

Annamarie3404

Thanks everyone. I've got some ideas now

Machka9

Annamarie3404 wrote: »

Do you attend Christmas parties? If so, how do you get out of eating all of the goodies? Rarely is there anything healthy to eat or drink.

I don't attend many Christmas parties. But I've got my work lunch coming up and there will likely be a morning tea a day or two before Christmas.

One thing I do is to exercise more. On the day of the most recent morning tea (someone's farewell), I climbed the 5 flights of stairs to my office 8 times rather than my usual 5 times, plus I went on a longer walk at lunch.

Another thing I do is to aim for the fruit and veg. I can get a decent plate of fruit and veg, and look like I'm eating quite a bit, but I'm not consuming huge amounts of calories.

My husband and I went to a friend's party back in November (not a Christmas party, but similar), and we brought a huge veggie tray and a smaller cold-cuts and cheese platter ... made up in the deli department of our local grocery store. I hardly ate anything that day because I had a massive final exam earlier in the day, so I was hoping to "pig out" just a little bit at the party. I was going to eat lots of veggies, but I told my husband that if they had cake, I was having cake. Sadly, everyone came with healthy choices! There were other veggie and fruit platters, salads, little chicken sandwiches on whole wheat, etc. etc. And no cake!! The "worst" I could do was a small slice of quiche.

But yes, if you can bring something, get a veggie platter made up at your local deli counter ... or make one yourself.

arditarose

I'll go to one or two. Next Saturday I think I'm going to make butterfingers cheesecake brownies for a party. I'm just going to save a whole bunch of calories for the party. Honestly I don't really mind over eating a day or two for the holidays...but I actually get really sore when I consume a lot of sugar. Like my body hurts to the touch. I might try to be carefully strictly because that has been bothering me lately.

Machka9

arditarose wrote: »

but I actually get really sore when I consume a lot of sugar. Like my body hurts to the touch. I might try to be carefully strictly because that has been bothering me lately.

I get a whopping headache. Never used to! But a couple weekends ago, I had fudge ... and wow, that headache was not expected!

arditarose

Machka9 wrote: »

arditarose wrote: »

but I actually get really sore when I consume a lot of sugar. Like my body hurts to the touch. I might try to be carefully strictly because that has been bothering me lately.

I get a whopping headache. Never used to! But a couple weekends ago, I had fudge ... and wow, that headache was not expected!

I know a few people who get headaches from eating chocolate. Strange that it just started happening for you though.

I'm still trying to figure the soreness thing. It happens when I eat in excess. When I eat in excess it's usually carbs/sugar. Really sucks. It's very painful.

Machka9

arditarose wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

arditarose wrote: »

but I actually get really sore when I consume a lot of sugar. Like my body hurts to the touch. I might try to be carefully strictly because that has been bothering me lately.

I get a whopping headache. Never used to! But a couple weekends ago, I had fudge ... and wow, that headache was not expected!

I know a few people who get headaches from eating chocolate. Strange that it just started happening for you though.

I'm still trying to figure the soreness thing. It happens when I eat in excess. When I eat in excess it's usually carbs/sugar. Really sucks. It's very painful.

It wasn't just one small piece of fudge ...

Up till a year ago, my body was used to eating a decent-sized package of fudge in one go. Then, this past year (almost a year) I have been watching what I'm eating, and I haven't eaten a lot of sweet stuff. I haven't been craving it either ... it was actually surprisingly easy to drop from my diet.

So I suspect that knocking back that quantity of super-sweet stuff all in one go was a bit startling to my system. I also went rather jittery at the same time.

summerkissed

Annamarie3404 wrote: »

Do you attend Christmas parties? If so, how do you get out of eating all of the goodies? Rarely is there anything healthy to eat or drink.

I don't Christmas happens once a year!! Enjoy it!!

dubird

I don't worry about it. I do tend to eat dinner beforehand so I'm not loading up because I'm hungry, but that's the only thing I do. One night isn't going to wreck everything I've worked for, and if I'm concerned, I'll cut down a little bit for the next couple of days. If you're going to the party and worrying the whole time about your calories, why go?

AbbottJames

Could always try to grab something healthy and filling before the party and then just grab a small plate and some light things at the party?

OyGeeBiv

Last night was my first sweet dessert in a month. I had 2 small bites of cheesecake and half a jelly donut. Even before my guests left I had a migraine. I used to suffer from migraines all the time, and realized I hadn't had one in almost a month. I'm not saying it's necessarily cause and effect, but it's something I'll be aware of going forward.

cwolfman13

I've been to a few Christmas parties this year...i'm no worse for the ware.

If I know I'm going to be attending a party (whether it's Christmas or just some random Saturday BBQ) I will usually adjust my breakfast and/or lunch to be lighter to compensate...i also just naturally tend to eat lighter the following day.

I fairly regularly celebrate life with my friends and family and this often entails food and good drink...It's not had an impact on any aspect of weight management for me which I think has more to do with what I do on all those other days of the year than what I'm actually doing at said celebration.

scorpcookie

Between a couple of weekends baking treats that required sampling of the product and having gone to 3 parties already, I've not forced myself to push anything away. I've over indulged several times but have still managed to lose a little bit of weight along the way.

My resolve was to simply up my cardio for December and it seems to be working for now. But the true calorie bombs still await as we get closer to Christmas and New Year's and I only hope that the added exercise pays off.