Holiday Eating Plan
NovusDies
Posts: 8,940 Member
As always I think it is important to make a plan even if you will have little to no rules so that you never feel like you are stopping.
I suggest you find a balance that works for you. Since I have bad habit in previous attempts of over-depriving myself and resenting the process I will be enjoying myself at maintenance on the actual holidays including Christmas Eve. I will go to half deficit on all the other days until New Years so I can enjoy a few extra treats. This system worked really well for me last year so I see no reason to change it.
The main reason I do not go to full maintenance the entire time is because I just indulged at Thanksgiving and a vacation so I am not interested in a lot of extra food right now. The half deficit helps control my water weight better too which I am just now getting back under control. I never mind making a little progress either.
I suggest you find a balance that works for you. Since I have bad habit in previous attempts of over-depriving myself and resenting the process I will be enjoying myself at maintenance on the actual holidays including Christmas Eve. I will go to half deficit on all the other days until New Years so I can enjoy a few extra treats. This system worked really well for me last year so I see no reason to change it.
The main reason I do not go to full maintenance the entire time is because I just indulged at Thanksgiving and a vacation so I am not interested in a lot of extra food right now. The half deficit helps control my water weight better too which I am just now getting back under control. I never mind making a little progress either.
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Good topic @NovusDies . I am pleased about my very modest loss for the week of Thanksgiving and my plan for the Christmas holiday is to repeat it. Eat at maintenance and take every opportunity to be active, even creating activities as needed.2
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I am doing another break until the first of January because I did Thanksgiving under calories, though I admit not the day after. I am loosely logging and enjoying in moderation a few of the treats that I really love this time of the year. I am very pleased and surpriesed at what things I haven't wanted and that I've enjoyed a few things without an all out binge.4
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I'm planning on shopping after a good breakfast so I'm not tempted by all the indulgent stuff.
I have rather a lot of vodka as I've been buying at sale prices all year so got a good stock of diet drinks in. I've bought posh chocolate in small quantities instead of loads of cheap stuff and pringles have been banned from the house lol
Otherwise I'm aiming for maintenance and going to the gym a few times.3 -
I am going to bank some extra calories Sat., Sun., and Mon....eating at Maintenance Christmas Eve and Day.....my granddaughters birthday is the 26 th and it’s going to be dinner at the Olive Garden followed with a birthday cake....the 27 th I know I am going to splurge on some treats because we are planning a movie fest with my daughter and grands and we are planning on snacks and cookies...( lots of cookies) ...I am going to try and not go crazy and I plan on logging everything I eat every day...after that, I am back to the business of losing weight.... 4 days surely can’t do that much damage!...happy Holidays everyone!4
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I plan Christmas Eve to be around maintenance. We have a couple of boxes of Iceland buffer food and I am amazed at how low some of the items are- I have worked out I can have a plateful of 10 for around 300 cals - that cant be bad! I am lucky that i am not attracted to alcohol so drinks will still be very low cal. That gives plenty of room for some sweet treats -my low cal trifle is fantasic!. Christmas Day? Forget it anything goes. The old gallbladder will be the ruler there (please not 2017 (pre diagnosed days)when I spent a significant amount of Christmas night in the bathroom!) Saying that, our Christmas dinner is not too bad, lean turkey (don't like skin) potatoes, sprouts, carrots. Boxing day- trying to be good-ish but allowing for a few choccies and more trifle/pavlova 3
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I am going to indulge in Christmas Eve and Day. Due to liver issues I don’t drink or eat sugar so my indulgences are more in line with savory dishes-I’m making sausage balls with almond flour, roasted pecans with butter, ambrosia herb unsweetened coconut, oranges, and pecans, my mom’s buttered biscuits and cornbread dressing. I’ve been to the gym the past two days and plan on only taking off Christmas Day and Friday this week. I feel comfortable with my plan.3
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Good thoughts. Love the planning ahead. I'm similar to most others here...banking all week, upping my exercise significantly so I can eat dessert. I've found I eat a lot less these days...I get full quickly so I'm not worried too much about over-indulging on quantity...but my mother is cooking which means rich food loaded with calories. So I'm happy to bank and do a lot of exercise to eat her food.3
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As per usual my plan went astray...I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!....one more day and back to the work of eating healthy!....merry Christmas everyone!0
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I have, unfortunately, found a new food that I have trouble moderating. I made a couple of pans of dark chocolate rice krispie treats with PB chips in them. I usually use my culinary skills for good but this time around they have been quite evil. Luckily we gave many of them away but enough remained to give me a few higher days that I would have liked.
I went back in a full deficit yesterday and today to give myself some mental relief. I can see that the "damage" was not that bad but I needed to feel in control again for some peace of mind. It normally wouldn't bother me I think because I spent all that time at maintenance after the surgery. Then Thanksgiving hit, then we went away, then right around the corner was Christmas. I don't think I have had a solid month completely in my system. It has me on edge. It is an irrational feeling because I have lost a little weight but I feel like I am not in control and a couple of sessions with the dark krispie treats has not helped.
I have learned many lessons in almost 2 years of weight loss. This latest one seems to be that the struggles will never be completely over and that I will be learning and adapting for forever. That might be slightly depressing but it is still a small price to pay for all the freedom I am enjoying now.4 -
I It is an irrational feeling because I have lost a little weight but I feel like I am not in control and a couple of sessions with the dark krispie treats has not helped.
Dude, I was trying to figure out what I was feeling and you nailed it (except the rice krispie treats). I went to spend the holidays with family and I felt like I wasn't in control. I think, for me, my routine was completely upended. I was counting on at least breakfast being normal but even that was all over the map.
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I It is an irrational feeling because I have lost a little weight but I feel like I am not in control and a couple of sessions with the dark krispie treats has not helped.
Dude, I was trying to figure out what I was feeling and you nailed it (except the rice krispie treats). I went to spend the holidays with family and I felt like I wasn't in control. I think, for me, my routine was completely upended. I was counting on at least breakfast being normal but even that was all over the map.
Ditto both of these comments, I start the day off well with coffee and a yoghurt and think I'm doing ok but actually I'm grazing all day and having a big meal in the evening, a few drinks and really late nights. There is no structure to the day and zero meal planning with 5 of us in the house and 2 of them working odd hours.
Can't wait to get back to work!1 -
True.. not being in control of what I'm eating (we are staying with my parents for three weeks and I've only managed to be allowed to cook one meal) is a total mind-kitten. I ended up buying breakfast ingredients and my mother had a meltdown but I decided I was going to eat one meal "normally". I made a lentil curry NY day as I'm trying to reduce my meat consumption and we'd had meat every day since we'd arrived. Fortunately friends of my parents came over at the last minute who are vegetarian so my mother was grateful rather than furious that I'd taken over her kitchen. (She doesn't share well!!) I think she sees my need to cook as a criticism of her cooking.... which it's not, it's just that meat and 3 veg is not what I like/want/need. I'm looking forward to being back home on Friday and getting back into my normal routine. My husband said he's missing my cooking too so I know it's not just me!3
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Some interesting ideas here about the holidays - thought I would give this post a boost too!2
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lauriekallis wrote: »Some interesting ideas here about the holidays - thought I would give this post a boost too!
It's so good to have you back contributing daily @Lauriekallis! You too @conniewilkins56 - when we're all here we can support each other!2 -
You are right Bella….thank you everyone for keeping this wonderful group going….I have wanted this group to continue although our founder Novus seems to have vanished….I only wish him well and hope he knows we are still here….PAV has done a great job helping us and contributing his posts….other leaders are also missing…..PAV how do we fix this?….I think we need to delete a couple of ghost leaders and get a couple more active ones that are willing to greet newcomers, etc….I am going to be more active again….I have to get through this slump…2
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Not sure how it works Connie other than by asking the main board moderators directly.
As you know I run into Novus a few times on the main boards and it seemed that we had fairly similar ideas and his articulation of them was, in my view, exceptional. In general I tended to agree with his core views on most of the things he wrote about, so I kept an interested eye to the group he started and suggested a visit to a few people on the main boards as opposed to attempting to re-articulate all the information that Novus had already compiled.
I think you snagged me by doing the eye batting thing in my general direction even though I had long ago stopped adding friends. and then one day you grabbed me from the neck and got my *kitten* over here... I bet you some people will be upset at you when they discovered you are the one who inflicted me on them!
I've been cutting down / telling myself to cut down on my time on MFP quite a bit as you know. Probably the wrong time to be doing so since I am also dealing with increased off-line stress; but, there is only so much time, and I've been spending a LOT of it on here!
Of course we shall see if the bike things will allow my to increase or decrease my online time! (I will still hang the good or bad result on Garfield... together with whatever clothes end up spending time on the handlebars!!!)2 -
I tried to get on my granddaughters bike this summer and almost killed myself so be careful and wear a helmet!….
I tried to delete a couple of leaders and only Novus is allowed to do this….
I am happy to know my “ come hither “ look still works lol…1 -
Stationary exercise bike Connie!
But I picked one that can do Zwift because I think Garfield mentioned it!
I am now trying to figure out a spot in the house to put it in!!!!2 -
Those damn stationary bikes can be dangerous too. Stubbing your toes. Banging your shin. Enough too many beers and you go right over to the other side. Be careful!
Glad you still spend some time here, PAV. You keep us all on our toes and thinking and smiling and curious about what in the heck you are going to share with us. Thank you for that.
Keep batting those babies, Connie.
I'm so glad to be able to post reasonably easily in the a.m...having my right arm strung up truly interferes in my cognitive abilities. Having just a bit of freedom there eases up the mental damn.3 -
I think PAV needs to wear a helmet all the time!
Glad that arm is healing, Laurie!2
