Tips for not gaining over the holidays

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  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited November 2016
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Don't treat the whole damned two to three months as some reason to just eat...enjoy the actual holidays themselves. Stay active. If you're attending holiday parties, strategize just as you would for any other party...I attend some kind of party or another a couple of times a month pretty much year 'round...I eat lighter on those days so that I can enjoy myself that evening.

    Great advice.

    If you search holidays, Thanksgiving or Christmas you should find tons of different strategies people use. But I personally think the above is the best advice. If you're going to splurge and not track and just have fun, don't do it from Thanksgiving Day through New Year's Day or for a "big celebration" or two a week during this time as so many people seem to do (everything's a celebration or a food gift or an office-whatever at this time of year).

    Otherwise, many people track and stay within calorie goals; track and overeat but make a note of that; or "bank" in advance/restrict later and track. You need to know yourself really well and choose the strategy that works the best for you.

    Happy holidays!
  • Meghanebk
    Meghanebk Posts: 321 Member
    edited November 2016
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    I'm eating at a slightly higher deficit this week to "bank" some calories for Thanksgiving.

    I do treat each holiday as a DAY, not a week. Also, portion control - I won't say no to pie, but I'll have one regular size piece, not half a pie over 2 days. If I have family who want to feed me old family recipes, I take a small serving of whatever and enjoy it loudly in their direction. As long as I try some, they're much less pushy about getting me to eat more. I fill up spaces on my plate with less calorie-dense options so it looks like I have plenty of food.

    I won't log on Thanksgiving or Christmas, it's a hassle, I just try to be mindful of portions. I am not spending 20 minutes listing all the ingredients in my aunt's bacon green bean casserole and figuring out the estimated number of grams I ate.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    RebekahAnn88 wrote: »
    What if no thank you doesn't work? I have a sweet and very sensitive Mexican mother in law who will be devistated if I cut back from my used to be norm quantities of everything. She will be staying with us (along with all his family) for two full weeks and always does the cooking while in town... I've been stressing on what to do about it and figured it fits well in this thread

    You are an adult. You control what you put in your mouth.

    If you know you "need" to eat then increase your calorie deficit the week before to bank some calories.
  • lauracups
    lauracups Posts: 533 Member
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    I'm not the example of moderation and control, it's something I'm still struggling with despite 60lbs gone. My reason for overeating at the holidays aren't because of celebration, rather grief and stress (2 significant deaths at Thanksgiving and Xmas ) So my plan is exercise, which I always do, no problems there, meditation and practice moderation when I feel it's possible, otherwise avoid the treats, if I don't have the 1 I don't have the dozen. I also look at pics of me when I was obese...that does the trick.
    Enjoy the people in your life, food is the after thought.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    RebekahAnn88 wrote: »
    What if no thank you doesn't work? I have a sweet and very sensitive Mexican mother in law who will be devistated if I cut back from my used to be norm quantities of everything. She will be staying with us (along with all his family) for two full weeks and always does the cooking while in town... I've been stressing on what to do about it and figured it fits well in this thread

    How to Do Sleight-of-Hand Techniques:
    wikihow.com/Do-a-Basic-Sleight-of-Hand-Magic-Trick
    :+1:
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
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    Laurakay2012 wrote: »
    We run a 5 mile Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning, that burns off a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Holiday food should come - not with a calorie count - but with a miles per bite count.

    Seriously use the time during the holidays to focus on activity instead of eating. Take a family walk/hike, play some flag football, organize a family plank or push-up challenge.

    I'm trying to envision all my obese relatives doing any of this and I think it would end up in trips to the ER :p My grandma and one uncle can barely walk because of their obesity, though they manage to get themselves back up to the buffet table for thirds sigh....
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,022 Member
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    nowine4me wrote: »
    Easier said than done, but only eat the really good stuff that you can't get any other time of year. Pass on all the crap from gift baskets left in the break room, store bought desserts at pot lucks, etc. But, indulge in the stuff that is meaningful -- like your grandmas beautifully decorated cookies, or Mom's hot apple pie.

    This is really what I do. I am not going to worry about it too much. I really only have a couple of days that I indulge. But I do try to only eat things that I really love. I will eat as much of my mom's sweet potato casserole as I want. She only makes it 3 times a year. I will probably skip the dinner rolls and the mashed potatoes since those aren't really special. There is one lady who gives me some pecan praline stuff every year. It is ok, but I don't really like it that much so I regift it to my mother in law. I'll do the same with candies and stuff like that that I receive. If they are special once a year things then I will have a moderate portion. If not then I will pass on it.
  • lkelly0402
    lkelly0402 Posts: 11 Member
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    Thank you everyone!! These are wonderful ideas!!

    I feel like the struggle for me is we end up with 5-6 Christmas parties between family and friends. I have to make my mind up that I can only indulge on Christmas Day. Other wise it's too many days of over doing it.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
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    crzycatlady1 wrote: »
    Laurakay2012 wrote: »
    We run a 5 mile Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning, that burns off a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Holiday food should come - not with a calorie count - but with a miles per bite count.

    Seriously use the time during the holidays to focus on activity instead of eating. Take a family walk/hike, play some flag football, organize a family plank or push-up challenge.

    I'm trying to envision all my obese relatives doing any of this and I think it would end up in trips to the ER :p My grandma and one uncle can barely walk because of their obesity, though they manage to get themselves back up to the buffet table for thirds sigh....

    My MIL would be whimpering and faking a simultaneous asthma attack and spontaneous tibia stress hairline fracture within like 30 seconds, necessitating a cessation of all activity but fork-to-mouth plus looooooooooots of attention, with the added bonus of us NEVER EVER asking her to extend herself physically again.

    However, I can see my husband, the kids and me all taking a nice long walk after the meal. We will be up in the mountains this year for Thanksgiving and we love to walk up there, plus we walk daily as it is.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
    edited November 2016
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    Laurakay2012 wrote: »
    We run a 5 mile Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning, that burns off a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Holiday food should come - not with a calorie count - but with a miles per bite count.

    Seriously use the time during the holidays to focus on activity instead of eating. Take a family walk/hike, play some flag football, organize a family plank or push-up challenge.

    I don't know that this is exactly a healthy outlook on things either. I'm certainly not doing a bunch of unplanned activity just because I'm having a feast day...and I'm sure my guests would never return if I made them do push ups or whatever. Having a "miles per bite" outlook is how people get into exercise bulimia...and minimally, it can lead to a cruddy relationship with food and fitness where exercise/fitness becomes a penance or punishment for eating. There is no reason to do a bunch of unplanned and random exercise...there's no reason to deviate from your regular protocol.

    The only thing that will be any different for me is swapping out some days...Thursday is usually a lifting day, but we always do a Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving and I won't have time for both so I'll move my lifting day to Wednesday. Friday is typically a rest day and I usually lift on Saturday...but we'll be doing all of the Christmas decorating, getting the tree, etc on Saturday so I'll move my lifting day to Friday and make Saturday my rest day...Sunday will be my usual ride.

    For me and mine, we will go do our little 5K and come home and put on the parade for the boys while I get rocking in the kitchen...my guests will start arriving around 2:00 and I will have a nice spread of appetizers ready to roll. I'm very much looking forward to sipping on a bourbon and sharing a cigar with my uncle on the back patio and hearing all about this years hunts...looking forward to chatting with my aunt and giving my mom a toast. It is a day for me to be thankful for the bounty that I will put on the table and be thankful that I can provide such a bounty for my family and friends and that we can all come together and hug and talk and eat and enjoy each others company and watch some football...some of these people I only see once or twice per year...so yeah, my focus will be simply on enjoying them, not on planks and push-ups
  • ACrazyNightOwl
    ACrazyNightOwl Posts: 8 Member
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    Try to go easy on the carbs.
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
    edited November 2016
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    If you ONLY indulge on Thanksgiving and Christmas ... that's only 2 days out of a month and you should be able to eat some treat food that you normally don't have or eat more than you normally do without a problem. It's when it bcomes eating that more in abundance ... like several times a week, that weight will come on. So, my trick to not gain weight during that time frame is exactly that ... I stick with my normal food plan except for those days and on them I will have extra food but not to the point of feeling sick from overeating.

    As far as the 5 or 6 parties ... that's 3 or 4 more than the 2 days I already counted ... so on those days the way to deal with it is to eat a bit less on the days around the parties so the extra food on the party days average out to what's close to normal.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Portion control. Have a taste, not the whole thing!
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
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    I eat all the foods and drink all the drinks. :drinker:
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    ACrazyNightOwl wrote: »
    Try to go easy on the carbs.

    why?
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    edited November 2016
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    Some options are...
    Watch your calories. Eat what you want, in small portions.
    Exercise more the weeks before or after so you can afford to eat a bit extra on holidays.
    Add in extra exercise on the holidays/days you eat more.
    Lower your calories/raise your calorie deficit for the days before and/or after so you can eat more on holidays.
  • llbrixon
    llbrixon Posts: 964 Member
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    Tip: Treat the Thanksgiving Holiday as ONE day not 4-5 days. Treat Christmas as ONE day and not 2 or more days.

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