These holidays! OMG

carolyng66
carolyng66 Posts: 18 Member
edited November 23 in Health and Weight Loss
Every where I go there's sweets and everything else I should not be eating. How is everyone coping with this. Me? Not so well.
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Replies

  • HellYeahItsKriss
    HellYeahItsKriss Posts: 906 Member
    Should not? why not?
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I don't believe there is anything that I "shouldn't" be eating (not sure what medical issues you may be dealing with though). When I encounter holiday foods I want to eat, I just make room for them within my calorie goal. If I can't make room for it comfortably then I will just turn it down.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    I usually eat treats like chocolate, cookies, pretzels within my calorie goal every day anyway, so now they are just more festive and there's more peppermint involved.

    There is nothing wrong with eating treats as long as they don't crowd out nutritious foods and fit in your calorie goal. I second the tips to pre-log and to consciously choose treats that are worth the calories.

    I have also always switched to maintenance calories around major holidays where food is a central part of the celebration. It might have delayed me getting to goal by a week, but ultimately I knew I would be playing around with this balancing act for the rest of my life, so one week here and there was no big deal as long as it didn't get out of hand.

    Good luck!

    My personal concession to the holidays is that I relax a bit about meeting my nutritional goals for a week or two. Like one day last weekend, I had a big piece of fruitcake for lunch. I was still at my calorie goal for the day, but wound up being pretty low in protein overall. Like you said, for a week here or there where I'm a bit off is acceptable for me.
  • wanzik
    wanzik Posts: 326 Member
    When I'm in the heat of the moment I just think to myself how I feel after I give in and eat the stuff vs. how I feel when I stay strong and don't eat the stuff. I'm like a food-aholic and have a real problem stopping at one donut or whatever. Then I feel bad physically from eating too much and mentally from thinking I messed up/failed. When I pass on all the garbage I feel great physically and mentally.

    With that in mind, I'm better able to pass on all of the "goodies." Go eat a few baby carrots instead. :wink:
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    I usually eat treats like chocolate, cookies, pretzels within my calorie goal every day anyway, so now they are just more festive and there's more peppermint involved.

    There is nothing wrong with eating treats as long as they don't crowd out nutritious foods and fit in your calorie goal. I second the tips to pre-log and to consciously choose treats that are worth the calories.

    I have also always switched to maintenance calories around major holidays where food is a central part of the celebration. It might have delayed me getting to goal by a week, but ultimately I knew I would be playing around with this balancing act for the rest of my life, so one week here and there was no big deal as long as it didn't get out of hand.

    Good luck!

    My personal concession to the holidays is that I relax a bit about meeting my nutritional goals for a week or two. Like one day last weekend, I had a big piece of fruitcake for lunch. I was still at my calorie goal for the day, but wound up being pretty low in protein overall. Like you said, for a week here or there where I'm a bit off is acceptable for me.

    Oh yeah, I meant that part generally - treats are fine as long as they don't crowd out nutritious food. But do I use 70% of my maintenance calories on New Year's Eve on beer, cake, and fried cheese? Mmmm hmmm.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I really don't have a problem with stuff that comes into the office and whatnot...a lot of it is commercial baked goods which are never worth it IMO. Beyond that, it would seem that only a handful of people can bake well...I had a ginger bread cookie the other day at work and it was as hard as a hockey puck...just spit it out and through it away. I also have a thing about not knowing the kitchen conditions of colleagues and strangers.

    I also have a very narrow range of type of cookie and whatnot that I actually like...pretty much ginger bread, biscochitos, and fudge...but they all have to be done well or they aren't worth the bother.

    For the most part, the holiday season is pretty much business as usual save for the actual holidays themselves. We usually host or attend one or two holiday parties as well...but it's pretty normal for us to host or attend social gatherings with friends and/or family once or twice per month throughout the year.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    My goal for December is to maintain. There are too many unplanned variables with eating to guarantee my deficit every week, so I keep it tight on the food I can control and enjoy myself a bit with the stuff I can't and just don't worry about it. I don't have a ton of social engagements throughout the month, but the ones I do have are often not cooked by me and very decadent, so I choose to enjoy them for what they are.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I don't eat anything that isn't worth the delicious points (aka calories), like WalMart cookies, etc.

    This is my big thing, but I'm also not even trying to stay within my calories right now. I usually put on a bit in December and lose a bit in January.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Temptation is the price we pay for easy access. When I stopped thinking I "shouldn't" have this and that, it stopped having power over me. (It doesn't happen overnight, it's an ongoing process.)
  • Blythmag
    Blythmag Posts: 252 Member
    This question has been asked so many times over the last week......just do what you want but get back on it when the hols are over, its christmas be happy.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    I usually have dessert every day and it often as not is a totally non-glamorous, kid-like dessert (Three Musketeers, for instance) so a few cookies within my calorie goals, or chocolates or whatever, are totally fine. It's all the same stuff, really, just in holiday flavors. Plus a few things I was never that crazy about anyway, like fruitcake and jelly rolls and, I don't know...holiday breads (like spice breads) and that sort of thing. If I really wanted them, though, I'd have those too.
  • kbrown49
    kbrown49 Posts: 15 Member
    I have done absolutely horrible!! But I tend to overdo it around the holidays every year. Its one time of year I let myself enjoy the snacks I love because they're around me all the time. Just yesterday a coworker gave me four giant bars of chocolate and tomorrow's snack day at work. I can't get away and desserts are my weakness. I plan to try to get on track after Christmas better than before.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    I've been a dieters worst nightmare over the last week and used baking as therapy to deal with the huge stress I am under. I've made 3 different types of biscuits, coconut ice, white Christmas, lemon slice, chocolate caramel slice, chocolate crackles, mint slice and hedgehog. All I've eaten from it is 1 biscuit as the rest of it is too sweet for me to really enjoy anymore. I went a month or so without sugar a year and a half ago when I had pretty much no appetite and from that no longer crave it. Makes this time of the year so much easier to deal with calorie wise.
  • rockyhi512
    rockyhi512 Posts: 42 Member
    I had two bad days (office parties)last weekend and I paid for them dearly. It had taken me 10 days to lose 6 lbs and now they are back. I thought it was funny how the program projected that if I ate that badly every day that it would take me 5 weeks to gain that weight back... yeah right. I am putting myself on strict regimen over the next 7 days. My body gives me no leeway. I will enjoy xmas day, and thats it. I do plan to count all of my points and use it as a whipping stick when I whine about about gaining again. Other than that I have been pretty good about staying within my count. I work my treat into my count. I too did some xmas baking, and other than having one piece if each, I gave almost all of it away. I kept a few for visitors. Its near the bottom of the freezer, and a pain to get at. I try to avoid easy access.
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,281 Member
    1. I don't eat anything that isn't worth the delicious points (aka calories), like WalMart cookies, etc.
    2. I don't eat anything with walnuts - allergic.
    3. I pre-log (as well as possible) to see what it's going to do to the rest of my day.
    4. I ask myself if I can ONLY get this item at Christmas time. If that's true, I'll probably have some. If not, I'll have it a different time.
    5. If I take a bite and find out it isn't worth the delicious points, I don't finish it.

    QFT.
    OP, only you can decide if something is worth it or not. If people are bringing in extra sweets to work, why would you eat them just because "it's the holidays"? If it's something that is worth it, then have some, but be mindful of how much. This sounds easier said than done, but it does get easier over time. The more I walk away from stuff at work, the easier it is for me to keep doing just that.
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