Happy Easter - I'm thinking 5000 calories today, and totally worth every bite

pdxwine

Normally, I do not do anything on Easter. This year, I was invited to a friends home with about 20 of her friends.

I am sure that I will be over my daily calories by the end of the day, but not by a horrible amount. The sodium is another story. I live a low sodium lifestyle, so when I have some I feel it for a day or two.

A couple of photos. I made the appetizers in the first photo. Endive filled with egg salad, cherry tomatoes, black olives, parsley and a boiled egg slice.

jenilla1

^ Wow, that looks fancy. Worth every calorie, I presume?

Francl27

I didn't count. Probably 3200 calories for me or something? I didn't really care, to be honest, and skipped dinner. Ate a very small meal actually but I had two cinnamon rolls, some cheese, and 3 (small) pieces of dessert.

midlomel1971

I was proud of myself yesterday. My family basically cooks a huge Thanksgiving-type meal which we eat twice that day! (Once at noon, then reheat everything for a dinner around 6). There were tons of desserts and little to no vegetables that weren't made with ham-hock (yuck) Pretty much nothing low-cal or healthy...turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy...you get the idea. I helped myself to most everything, but in really small portions. I did have stuffing which is my absolute favorite (I could eat an entire plate of it) but just about 1/4 of a cup. Instead of dessert I had a cup of mixed fruit but I did have one bite of cake. I did this for lunch and dinner. While I didn't log any calories, I'm pretty confident that I didn't go over my calories for the day. (Especially since I did an hour walk in the AM). I felt satisfied and full all day and not stuffed. Plus I resisted all of my kids' Easter candy! I considered the day a success.

DamieBird

panda4153 wrote: »

Hi everyone!! I love Easter and my family is going to an Easter Brunch that is known to be simply amazing!! I am one of those on that in holidays I choose to eat as much as I want of whatever I want. I plan for it ahead of time to make sure it doesn't undo all of my hard work for the month and it's always totally worth it! I'm planning on 5000 calories today when it's all said and done. What is everyone else planning on??

I used the recipe builder to figure out how many calories were ACTUALLY in my signature chocolate cake and . . . . the news was shocking, lol. Clocked in at around 700 calories for a slice (including the homemade buttercream), but considering that I wrote the recipe to serve 12, and the slices ended up being smaller than that, I guess that's good news, lol? Luckily I only pull out this cake on special occasions, because I feel zero guilt for indulging!

All total, I ended up about 400 calories over my daily goal of 1850, which wasn't too bad, and it was still within my weekly goals, as I left out bed time snacks (94 kcals each) and a bottle of wine (600 kcals) over the course of the week. I'm starting to realize that THIS is how all of my this friends and family have always enjoyed holiday feasts and special occasions and stayed thin! They enjoy time with loved ones, eat all the delicious foods, and make small adjustments in the days before and after so that it all evens out in the long run. I can totally do this

WinoGelato

DamieBird wrote: »

panda4153 wrote: »

Hi everyone!! I love Easter and my family is going to an Easter Brunch that is known to be simply amazing!! I am one of those on that in holidays I choose to eat as much as I want of whatever I want. I plan for it ahead of time to make sure it doesn't undo all of my hard work for the month and it's always totally worth it! I'm planning on 5000 calories today when it's all said and done. What is everyone else planning on??

I used the recipe builder to figure out how many calories were ACTUALLY in my signature chocolate cake and . . . . the news was shocking, lol. Clocked in at around 700 calories for a slice (including the homemade buttercream), but considering that I wrote the recipe to serve 12, and the slices ended up being smaller than that, I guess that's good news, lol? Luckily I only pull out this cake on special occasions, because I feel zero guilt for indulging!

All total, I ended up about 400 calories over my daily goal of 1850, which wasn't too bad, and it was still within my weekly goals, as I left out bed time snacks (94 kcals each) and a bottle of wine (600 kcals) over the course of the week. I'm starting to realize that THIS is how all of my this friends and family have always enjoyed holiday feasts and special occasions and stayed thin! They enjoy time with loved ones, eat all the delicious foods, and make small adjustments in the days before and after so that it all evens out in the long run. I can totally do this

It's really empowering when you figure that out, isn't it? That it's possible to still eat delicious foods, and achieve your goals - by being mindful, sensible, and pragmatic about your choices. That losing weight doesn't have to be a miserable experience. That there is room for homemade chocolate cake with buttercream frosting AND nutrient dense choices (washed down with wine!).

Good for you!

crazyycatlady1

Scale is up 2 ounces this morning, which is actually less than what I typically see on a Monday (which is normally my highest weigh-in day of the week). I ate a lot of food, but I kept things pretty controlled yet (150 calories worth of caramel chocolate bunny, instead of the whole bag etc). Most of my calories yesterday actually came from a 7-layer salad. The dressing was a calorie bomb but it was amazing! I had 2 servings at lunch and then a very large serving for supper .

WinoGelato

My Easter meal included the same breakfast my mom used to make when I was a kid:

Sara Lee Butter Streusel coffee cake
Scrambled Eggs
Link Sausage

Then we went to Mass, a neighborhood egg hunt, and I took the dog for a walk. Skipped lunch.

Evening meal at inlaws, I was in charge of appetizers. I made:
Cashew Chicken Dip (seriously one of my favorite cold dips ever)
Cheese, Crackers, Salami and Venison Summer Sausage
Proscuitto wrapped asparagus

We also had:
Spiral ham and sandwich fixings
Green Beans with Ham Hock
Salad
Pasta con broccoli (I skipped)
Dessert: chocolate bunny cake with powdered sugar
Beer and Wine
Assorted Chocolates from Kid Baskets

I topped 2000 calories but didn't get my FitBit adjustment so I think I was actually under cals for the day. I wasn't feeling well from allergies so I didn't eat as much as normal - bummer!

I also wasn't up as much on the scale as I thought from all the sodium I consumed (sausage, ham, salami oh my!).

DamieBird

WinoGelato wrote: »

DamieBird wrote: »

panda4153 wrote: »

Hi everyone!! I love Easter and my family is going to an Easter Brunch that is known to be simply amazing!! I am one of those on that in holidays I choose to eat as much as I want of whatever I want. I plan for it ahead of time to make sure it doesn't undo all of my hard work for the month and it's always totally worth it! I'm planning on 5000 calories today when it's all said and done. What is everyone else planning on??

I used the recipe builder to figure out how many calories were ACTUALLY in my signature chocolate cake and . . . . the news was shocking, lol. Clocked in at around 700 calories for a slice (including the homemade buttercream), but considering that I wrote the recipe to serve 12, and the slices ended up being smaller than that, I guess that's good news, lol? Luckily I only pull out this cake on special occasions, because I feel zero guilt for indulging!

All total, I ended up about 400 calories over my daily goal of 1850, which wasn't too bad, and it was still within my weekly goals, as I left out bed time snacks (94 kcals each) and a bottle of wine (600 kcals) over the course of the week. I'm starting to realize that THIS is how all of my this friends and family have always enjoyed holiday feasts and special occasions and stayed thin! They enjoy time with loved ones, eat all the delicious foods, and make small adjustments in the days before and after so that it all evens out in the long run. I can totally do this

It's really empowering when you figure that out, isn't it? That it's possible to still eat delicious foods, and achieve your goals - by being mindful, sensible, and pragmatic about your choices. That losing weight doesn't have to be a miserable experience. That there is room for homemade chocolate cake with buttercream frosting AND nutrient dense choices (washed down with wine!).

Good for you!

It also doesn't hurt to leave the leftover cake at the host's home for their family to indulge more in, instead of me .
Seriously, though - yes, it's VERY empowering! I think I've finally figured it out this time around. I've been losing about a 1.5/wk for the past 2+ months without feeling like I'm on a diet. I've tried in the past, and the whole idea of "lifestyle change" never clicked for me because I was trying to change into a lifestyle that didn't work for me. I would look at the people around me who were Paleo, or Low Carb, or Low something else, or This Shake or That Shake, or ultra low cal, or Vegetarians, or booze-avoiders, or yogi health nuts, or whatever, and wonder why they could do it and I couldn't. The answer was that those lifestyles weren't right FOR ME, just like 1400 calories a day isn't going to work FOR ME. I have a lot to lose, but I'm also active (fingers crossed that I can stay injury free and STAY active) and tall, so 1850 is a happy way to lose a lot and still not feel deprived of anything, as long as I'm mindful that I can't have everything everyday. If I want to have a fudge round and wine for dinner around TOM, I can and I can still lose, and it won't derail anything if I'm mindful about the rest of my week (and get those nutrients in!). That was a light-bulb moment for me. The biggest revelation is that after about a month, I stopped wanting all the junky things that I was trying to resist in the first place. That stuff just didn't satisfy me anymore. When I started meal planning, I would include a chocolate or cookie for the afternoon, because I thought that I would need a little "treat" to get through the day. Turns out that 90% of the time, I don't. When I occasionally want something sweet mid-afternoon, I can either have the candy or something like dried fruit, and I'll pick "nature's candy" at least 1/2 the time. I was conditioned to eat a certain way. I'm just now learning that I don't HAVE to keep doing that.

WinoGelato

DamieBird wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

DamieBird wrote: »

panda4153 wrote: »

Hi everyone!! I love Easter and my family is going to an Easter Brunch that is known to be simply amazing!! I am one of those on that in holidays I choose to eat as much as I want of whatever I want. I plan for it ahead of time to make sure it doesn't undo all of my hard work for the month and it's always totally worth it! I'm planning on 5000 calories today when it's all said and done. What is everyone else planning on??

I used the recipe builder to figure out how many calories were ACTUALLY in my signature chocolate cake and . . . . the news was shocking, lol. Clocked in at around 700 calories for a slice (including the homemade buttercream), but considering that I wrote the recipe to serve 12, and the slices ended up being smaller than that, I guess that's good news, lol? Luckily I only pull out this cake on special occasions, because I feel zero guilt for indulging!

All total, I ended up about 400 calories over my daily goal of 1850, which wasn't too bad, and it was still within my weekly goals, as I left out bed time snacks (94 kcals each) and a bottle of wine (600 kcals) over the course of the week. I'm starting to realize that THIS is how all of my this friends and family have always enjoyed holiday feasts and special occasions and stayed thin! They enjoy time with loved ones, eat all the delicious foods, and make small adjustments in the days before and after so that it all evens out in the long run. I can totally do this

It's really empowering when you figure that out, isn't it? That it's possible to still eat delicious foods, and achieve your goals - by being mindful, sensible, and pragmatic about your choices. That losing weight doesn't have to be a miserable experience. That there is room for homemade chocolate cake with buttercream frosting AND nutrient dense choices (washed down with wine!).

Good for you!

It also doesn't hurt to leave the leftover cake at the host's home for their family to indulge more in, instead of me .
Seriously, though - yes, it's VERY empowering! I think I've finally figured it out this time around. I've been losing about a 1.5/wk for the past 2+ months without feeling like I'm on a diet. I've tried in the past, and the whole idea of "lifestyle change" never clicked for me because I was trying to change into a lifestyle that didn't work for me. I would look at the people around me who were Paleo, or Low Carb, or Low something else, or This Shake or That Shake, or ultra low cal, or Vegetarians, or booze-avoiders, or yogi health nuts, or whatever, and wonder why they could do it and I couldn't. The answer was that those lifestyles weren't right FOR ME, just like 1400 calories a day isn't going to work FOR ME. I have a lot to lose, but I'm also active (fingers crossed that I can stay injury free and STAY active) and tall, so 1850 is a happy way to lose a lot and still not feel deprived of anything, as long as I'm mindful that I can't have everything everyday. If I want to have a fudge round and wine for dinner around TOM, I can and I can still lose, and it won't derail anything if I'm mindful about the rest of my week (and get those nutrients in!). That was a light-bulb moment for me. The biggest revelation is that after about a month, I stopped wanting all the junky things that I was trying to resist in the first place. That stuff just didn't satisfy me anymore. When I started meal planning, I would include a chocolate or cookie for the afternoon, because I thought that I would need a little "treat" to get through the day. Turns out that 90% of the time, I don't. When I occasionally want something sweet mid-afternoon, I can either have the candy or something like dried fruit, and I'll pick "nature's candy" at least 1/2 the time. I was conditioned to eat a certain way. I'm just now learning that I don't HAVE to keep doing that.

ksmommy5

Yep. No f×#ks given today haha. I've been doing good so I'm going to enjoy my ham and mashed and corn with bacon and buns with butter and the apple pie and get back to it tomorrow. Yolo? Happy Easter!

cwolfman13

MichSmish wrote: »

I had no idea people feasted so much on Easter. This is just a normal Sunday for me and my house.

Yeah, me neither...it's always been a pretty low key family affair for me ever since I was a kid...same for most people I know. At this point, it's mostly just fun for my wife and I to hide plastic eggs filled with candy the night before and spend some time in the morning watching them find them while we sip on coffee.

We had a nice family day...woke up and did the egg hunt and watched them go through their baskets...I made our typical Sunday breakfast (pancakes, scrambled eggs, and Canadian bacon)...went to the park to play with this little baking soda/vinegar powered rocket my kid received for his birthday, and then we all took a nice 10.5 mile family ride to Grandma's for a mid afternoon meal.

It was a good day...

PrincessMel72

Just another Sunday for us. We don't have little kids, nor are we religious, so it's not really a holiday. We did go to ColdStone Creamery and had a brownie and some ice cream though!

JaxxieKat

Being vegan, there isn't much I can eat in the way of traditional Easter treats or the family ham dinner, so I managed to stay within my deficit. But, hey, if a person can work a holiday blowout into their week, go for it.