We are pleased to announce that on March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor will be introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the upcoming changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!
How do you handle Holidays while being Low-carb?
Replies
-
Here is a little "pearl" I see come up every year:
It is not what you eat between Thanksgiving and Christmas that matters. It is what you eat between Christmas and Thanksgiving.
That works as to weight - but the damage from elevated blood glucose for diabetics is a different story. I'm constantly battling my spouse and mother who adhere to this philosophy.0 -
Here is a little "pearl" I see come up every year:
It is not what you eat between Thanksgiving and Christmas that matters. It is what you eat between Christmas and Thanksgiving.
That works as to weight - but the damage from elevated blood glucose for diabetics is a different story. I'm constantly battling my spouse and mother who adhere to this philosophy.
Point well taken. Sure. I need to start prefacing my comments "for those following a specific WOE only for weight loss and without medical involvement/purpose".0 -
I was so freaking sick from eating the sugary cupcake the other day I can't imagine going off my WOE for the holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas is split up for us here - I have kids, Rowdy has kids that are married, and everyone these days has parents that are split up so there are two sets of parents all over the place...everyone is going somewhere for the holidays. To keep the guilt down and make it easy I have a get together once at my house somewhere between the two and we celebrate all. I will eat on plan but make all the typical stuff for everyone else.
There are no trick or treaters in the middle of nowhere so no worries there and my kids are about done with that phase of their life. Yay!0 -
Thanksgiving is easy for me -- lots of dark meat turkey with skin, maybe a tablespoon each of cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. Several asparagus spears or 1/2 broccoli. Lately we've been substituting mashed turnips for mashed potatoes, so I'll go up to 1/2 cup of that. And lots of butter. I stopped eating stuffing about 10 years ago when I went semi gluten free. I totally avoid all the crap that folks put out hours before the main meal -- chips, pretzels, etc. But sometimes I'll nibble on a cheese platter (or rather the stuff on the platter) or crudités.0
-
LolaDeeDaisy23 wrote: »I try not to indulge during family gatherings, only because there's a family gathering every other weekend! It's either a birthday, or a sweet 15 (quinceanera), or baptism, or just to have a BBQ with the fam.
Last weekend it was a birthday. They were serving chicharrones(fried pork skin), carnitas, grilled chicken, rice, beans, macaroni salad. I skipped all the carbs and dove into the meat. Then they brought out the cake and ice cream. I REALLY miss ice cream. I stood my ground and politely said no.. referencing I was so full from all the other food (I was the only girl who got up to get seconds) and family still shook their head and looked at me in disapproval.
I will give in during special occasions, such as extremely fancy and expensive dinners with the hubby (2 year wedding anniversary, Valentine's Day, promotion) because those restaurants are known for their handmade bread. But I try not to order any dessert. I will choose bread over creme brûlée anytime. Everything in moderation.
This thanksgiving, I might have a tamale or two..only because my mother in law makes the best tamales in the world and only on special occasions...but that's as far as I go.
For the record, every time I indulge, I wake up fine the next morning. No carb induced hangover. Back to eating LCHF like nothing happened.
Also, I'm planning on bringing mashed cauliflower, flan, and a low carb pumpkin pie cheesecake.
@LolaDeeDaisy23 daisywe must share the same heritage, parties every weekend lol0 -
@genmon00 Lol it's so hard to say no and to stick to this WOE when everyone else is eating carbs, carbs, and more carbs.0
-
LolaDeeDaisy23 wrote: »@genmon00 Lol it's so hard to say no and to stick to this WOE when everyone else is eating carbs, carbs, and more carbs.
It gets easier the longer you do it. Just like every time you walk past the cookies/donuts/cake or whatever in the grocery store. Every trip that you don't put them in your basket is a little easier because you are changing your thoughts about food.1 -
@loladeedee my family leaves me alone since they are ALL diabetics and know THEY shouldn't be eating carbs and I'm not afraid to remind them LOL0
-
@loladeedee my family leaves me alone since they are ALL diabetics and know THEY shouldn't be eating carbs and I'm not afraid to remind them LOL
Hahaha!
Family takes a while. Mine is sllllloooowly coming round. My sister used to put a sad face on stuff and say "you're killing yourself". At least I know their motivation is good even if parroting the SAD is bad.0 -
I started keto last November. I had a great keto Thanksgiving menu planned, but at the last minute DH accepted an invitation for us. I was worried about sticking to keto at someone else's house but it worked out. I ate turkey, a little gravy, brussels sprouts w/bacon, and then they had some great apps (cocktail shrimp and deviled eggs) that I also filled my plate with so it wasn't obvious that I skipped most of the Thankgiving buffet offerings.
I also made an Atkins pumpkin cheesecake recipe with a crushed nut crust that I brought with me, so I had a dessert option as well.
Christmas was similar. I am trying to remember ... oh yes, I made garlic parmesan mashed cauliflower and brussels sprouts with bacon. DH made turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, rolls and I think green beans. I was perfectly happy with the keto-friendly options from that list but he and the boys had their favorite dishes as well. Dessert was a low-carb chocolate cream pie. (I did use a regular crust but just didn't eat the crust on my piece.)1 -
Halloween isn't a thing here the way it is in America, plus we live rural, so there definitely wouldn't be any kids coming around, so there won't be any Halloween candy in our house. No more dealing with Thanksgiving anymore either since we moved to Scotland. That just leaves Christmas, which isn't a big deal. It's just me and my husband, so we'll keep it low carb like last year. I started my current weight loss journey on 11th December, specifically to avoid gaining over Christmas and I was perfectly happy to avoid all the goodies in the stores. Food will be everywhere at work and there will be lots of events I'll have to go to, but that's the norm for me anyway. I have a really hard line on carbs because I'm a diabetic, I don't mind saying no to people. It might sound callous, but I care more about my health than about hurting someone else's feelings because I don't want to eat potatoes and dessert. I also don't worry about sitting there drinking water and coffee when everyone else is eating food... that's there problem if it makes them feel awkward. It does help that people can see how much weight I've lost, so they're probably more understanding about my food habits.1
This discussion has been closed.