What is YOUR Holiday eating strategy?

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  • midlomel1971
    midlomel1971 Posts: 1,283 Member
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    To eat what I want, enjoy the holiday foods I love and not worry about it, but absolutely make sure I hit the gym every day. It's much easier for me to stop going to the gym regularly than it is for me to stop eating healthy. So, I need to make sure I continue my workouts.
  • magster4isu
    magster4isu Posts: 632 Member
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    Halloween - I hand out non-candy items to trick or treaters (I don't want the candy in my house)

    Thanksgiving and Christmas - My family is all about tradition, so I know what will be served at every meal. Because of this, I can plan exactly what and how much I want to eat in order to fit it in my calorie goals. (I still eat everything I love, just a lot less). I used to overeat on these days because I LOVE the food. One thing I learned is that if I eat less for those meals, that means more leftovers, meaning I can enjoy that food for multiple meals.

    I also become attached to my water bottle during these holidays. First, all the water helps me feel full which keeps me from wanting to snack on the treats all the time. Most importantly, the food pushers in my family see that my hands and mouth are busy so they are less likely to continually offer me more food.
  • Sarahb29
    Sarahb29 Posts: 952 Member
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    My Holiday eating strategy - work out as much as I can the day before so I have a nice calorie budget to fill the next day, and be good the rest of the time :)
  • need2belean
    need2belean Posts: 353 Member
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    anewell28 wrote: »
    With Halloween, Thanksgiving, and winter celebrations coming up, what is your strategy when it comes to holiday eating?

    Have you used a strategy before and been happy with it after?
    Trying something new this year?
    Do you log everything still or neglect logging at all?

    I'm very interested in these answers because I haven't figured out my plan yet!

    I don't understand this. It's not a whole month of holidays. It's one day maybe 2 for each holiday. Just workout and eat as normal every day leading up to those days. Then on the days, eat mindful and don't pig out unless you want to. That's up to you. Enjoy the holidays. No need to go in with a game plan. If you're restricting so much during the year leading up to those Holiday months where you feel the need to binge or figure out a game plan, then re-think how much you're restricting during the other part of the year.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
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    fitoverfortymom wrote: »
    Halloween is my birthday so I eat a crapton of candy and yummy dinner because it's my birthday and I can.

    I'll indulge on Thanksgiving and on Christmas, but generally try and keep it "normal" and logged on all the other days. There will be some blips, I'm sure. I'm also in the throws of half marathon training through December 9 (race day), so keeping my diet on point is important to me in that regard, also.

    Happy almost birthday :) I always found it a bit sad/funny people born on halloween, Celebrating themselves as dressed as someone else hah
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
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    RachsLosses wrote: »
    Who else is dreading the new wave of resolution gymmers...

    This was me last year and I've stuck consistently ever since. I really love going to the Y for classes now and miss it when I can't go. I'm curious to see what it looks like from this side.
  • rosyone1
    rosyone1 Posts: 32 Member
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    I won't log onThanksgiving or Christmas day and will eat what I want, but only what I really want. No doubt there'll be candied sweet potatoes and probably one of those fruit salads with miniature marshmallows. Those are both things I've always been able to take or leave, and I'll be leaving them this year. But I will be eating pecan pie and probably some fudge, along with the usual turkey, dressing, giblet gravy, hot homemade dinner rolls, and veggies. There may be a few other days around the holidays when I eat at maintenance or close to it, but not over.
  • cparsons_60
    cparsons_60 Posts: 95 Member
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    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    Im with everyone on treating it as 1 day- However for my birthday i made a list of my top 5 goodies i REALLY wanted. And then over the 2 weeks surrounding my birthday i made sure to fit every single one of those 5 things into my calories surrounded by my normal food days. For me saying 1 day and 1 day only makes me binge and its rarely worth it, Ill eat things i dont even really enjoy just because the all or nothing mindset. ill eat everything there. For me sometimes it helps to be extra mindful and make sure i get what i really want - And only what i really want :p So sometimes allowing more days is helpful to. Aslong as you do it mindfully and planned. Helps me from overeating or feeling deprived because i get what i want, And i dont go off my plan.


    I really like this. Instead of calling your birthday a cheat day and going bonkers, you celebrated by having all the things you wanted in a planned and mindful two-week celebration. Wouldn't work for me for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year since I'll be a guest for both these occasions, but I'm going to remember this for birthday/4th of July, etc. It's one day, but it can be more if I want it to.

  • okjimmied
    okjimmied Posts: 10 Member
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    Great stuff WinoGelato. I needed this "perspective".
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    I use a lot of the good strategies that people have outlined above, and I continue to log everything, even on Thanksgiving. But mostly, I try to remind myself of the things in this thread which I posted a couple of years ago... it's all about perspective.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10303793/who-gained-weight-during-the-holidays-i-have-a-solution/p1

  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,575 Member
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    I just can't eat much at one sitting, so that takes care of it for me.
  • YosemiteSlamAK
    YosemiteSlamAK Posts: 1,230 Member
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    I come from a "large" family. As far back as I can remember we have always planned healthy activities during Thanksgiving & Christmas. Flag football, bowling, softball, hiking (grandparents lived in the mountains). We never tracked calories but my grandmother made sure we didn't sit around on our butts. Now as adults we still get together for Thanksgiving and we'll do a clean up of my aunt's yard & gutters, as well as group walk or bike ride.
  • caroldavison332
    caroldavison332 Posts: 864 Member
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    I studied what eating poorly costs me and preplanned my Thanksgiving and Christmas feast. I don't particularly care for apple, cherry or lemon meringue pie, so I won't spend my calories on them. However it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without pecan pie so I purchase ONE piece at the church bazaar so I don't bake and eat an entire one myself. My other favorite is stuffing so I will eat that too with gravy, turkey and turnips. I'll maybe have a tiny piece of pumpkin pie. The rest I can live without.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,676 Member
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    Holidays aren't that big a deal for me. We don't have kids around, so there are no cookies, etc. Leftover Halloween candy goes above the fridge, to be eaten one snack bar at a time over the next several months. We don't go to parties, so too much alcohol isn't a problem. There is a big family meal usually for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and there I focus on eating more plain meat and vegetables, less bread and sugar, but I don't worry if I eat too much because it's only two meals. I'm starting marathon training right after Christmas, so I'll burn it off anyway.
  • amandacalories
    amandacalories Posts: 107 Member
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    Thanksgiving and Christmas I will eat what I want and maybe log. Halloween isn't a big deal to me and I don't get trick or treaters where I live.

    It's not these two days that make a difference. The problem I think many people have is they see the whole two months as a time to indulge. My plan for the work goodies is to not eat them for the most part. We're probably going to do a thanksgiving potluck and I will log that. Not planning on purchasing anything out of the ordinary or holiday themed at the store.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited October 2017
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    cparsons_60 wrote: »
    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    Im with everyone on treating it as 1 day- However for my birthday i made a list of my top 5 goodies i REALLY wanted. And then over the 2 weeks surrounding my birthday i made sure to fit every single one of those 5 things into my calories surrounded by my normal food days. For me saying 1 day and 1 day only makes me binge and its rarely worth it, Ill eat things i dont even really enjoy just because the all or nothing mindset. ill eat everything there. For me sometimes it helps to be extra mindful and make sure i get what i really want - And only what i really want :p So sometimes allowing more days is helpful to. Aslong as you do it mindfully and planned. Helps me from overeating or feeling deprived because i get what i want, And i dont go off my plan.


    I really like this. Instead of calling your birthday a cheat day and going bonkers, you celebrated by having all the things you wanted in a planned and mindful two-week celebration. Wouldn't work for me for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year since I'll be a guest for both these occasions, but I'm going to remember this for birthday/4th of July, etc. It's one day, but it can be more if I want it to.

    You can still use it in theory, Youll be way less liekly to pig out and eat everything on the table you dont particularly even want and stick to reasonable respectable portions if you know your getting the treats you really do want later. I always try to follow it to some extent, Sometimes with 1 thing i really want or 5...1 day or 2 weeks...Good way to practice making beter choices in the moment for a more controlled and satisfying gain later. Something iv always struggled to do :p Im definatly a binge eater second i see all the options i lose my damn mind. Buffets are dangerous for me, As are dessert trays full of different things i have to try everything...twice...and then go back for all my favorites LOL. Even just with that havign some high calorie cookies of my own i know i love to reach for i can actually track and still eat since i LOVE cookies limits damage.
  • ztemommy
    ztemommy Posts: 1 Member
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    Bob Harper (Biggest Loser Trainer) says to "frame your holidays and splurges ". By this, he means workout hard and eat perfectly (or close to it) the day before and after a big eating day. The day of the splurge, eat whatever you want and don't stress it. I've followed this advice for four years around Thanksgiving and Christmas and have had barely any weight gain those years. I plan on following it again this year.
  • hydechildcare
    hydechildcare Posts: 145 Member
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    Halloween is my favorite time of year so I don't worry about calories on that party day. Though this year I have decide to make desserts I don't care for and we are having meat and mostly veggies for our meal so I think I will be okay. We only do holidays with my Husbands family and they know I am trying to be healthier (and we are trying to get his dad to eat better) so we will do all our normal items just lighter than before.

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