THE Holidays!....

conniewilkins56
conniewilkins56 Posts: 3,391 Member
Halloween....we have no small children so this is not a day for me to give in to the temptation to eat candy or bribe my grand children for their goodies....in fact, I didn’t even put Halloween decorations up this year...we are planning on a scary movie night with chili for dinner and a big bowl of popcorn, sugar free hot cocoa and some Teddy Graham’s for our treat....

Thanksgiving....I am determined not to have a week long Thanksgiving “ eat whatever I want “ binge fest....my son in law has Type 2 Diabetes that he is controlling thru his diet and only our grandson can eat whatever he wants without being overweight....the rest of us need to eat less calories....I am having turkey rolls with whole wheat cranberry and sliced almonds stuffing and fat free gravy, mashed potatoes from Bob Evans, frozen green beans, Pillsbury Grands Bisquits for those that want them ( my grands who are 13 and 15 are obsessed with the miracle of canned biscuits SMH ) and crustless pumpkin pie with cool whip....also having a fresh veggie tray with low calorie Ranch Dressing.....breakfast will be scrambled eggs, fruit salad and an English Muffin, dinner will be at 3 so it will take care of lunch and dinner.....so far everyone is on board with this plan!

What are your plans and what are you serving?....are you going to eat everything? bank calories for a big meal ? going out? try to stay on plan? eat maintenance ?

Let’s get through these two holidays and the talk about Christmas and New Years!

Planning and preparation are the best ways to stay on track!
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Replies

  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,982 Member
    I don't like Halloween and don't celebrate it. I would give out candy for kids, though, when I lived in a place where kids would drop by,but I'm living in a rural location now so I don't get trick or treaters and therefore don't have to buy any candy or worry about leftovers!

    Thanksgiving is at my house and I've already told mom we're parring down as we don't need all that food. I'm choosing not to make grandma's sweet potato casserole this year because even by cutting out as much as I could, the calorie count is still high. My sister will complain bitterly but that's her problem. I plan to have turkey and stuffing, maybe some sour cream mashed potatoes, carrots and parsnips, and either green beans or brussel sprouts. Pumkpin with its crust isn't bad on calories really, and coolwhip. And of course, dinner rolls lol
  • conniewilkins56
    conniewilkins56 Posts: 3,391 Member
    Bmeadows, the first thing I took off my menu was sweet potatoe casserole....we have baked sweet potatoes a lot so we can get by without them!...I might have to make some cranberry sauce for my grandson because he loves it!....only me and him really like it!...

    ....I decided I have worked to hard to lose this weight and if I binge feast just one day, it takes me two weeks to get back where I was!...I go back to the doctors mid December and I really want to be down some more weight by then....I plan on doing another diet break from Dec. 21 until Dec. 31... only ten days this time....I promise myself I will handle my break better this time!...and then I have five months until my two year anniversary the end of May....I intend to up my exercise in the new year and really lose the last forty or so pounds....that’s the plan anyway!
  • amart4224
    amart4224 Posts: 345 Member
    I won't be celebrating Halloween this year - I have no kids and in previous years I would've dressed up and gone to a party with other childless 20 and 30 somethings, but I moved here just 3 months before the pandemic hit and haven't really had a chance to make friends here yet.

    Thanksgiving will probably be just me and my parents and I've been told my mom is making the big traditional meal. I plan to eat a light breakfast and then allow myself to go up to maintenance calories at their house. Won't be staying the night, so I really only have to worry about a meal or two and whatever leftovers they try to send me home with.
  • emmyjaykay
    emmyjaykay Posts: 83 Member
    I'm also taking a pass on Halloween this year. We already have snow on the ground and with the pandemic, I don't anticipate many trick or treaters. I'll be in the basement watching some scary movies with popcorn, too!

    For Thanksgiving, we're still figuring it out. So far, it seems like we'll be doing a bit of a remote potluck and delivering items to each others doorsteps. I always do the desserts—usually pumpkin and pecan pie—and some homemade bread rolls. That works for me. I can control what's on my plate, ship off most of the desserts I make to other homes, and leave lots of yummy leftovers for later. I'm not too worried about it, to be honest. The weight is coming off, who cares if it takes a few weeks longer because I enjoyed a the holidays with my partner and ate at or moderately over maintenance a couple of times.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    edited October 2020
    We are celebrating halloween. In fact we have already done it once with a local foster association so I get two of them this year. I am not a candy person really so there is not a big draw. I usually set it aside as a maintenance day, and I probably still will, but I usually end up in a deficit because I am so busy giving out candy I don't spend any time with the party food.

    On Thanksgiving we have our 5k charity walk which starts early. It will be virtual this year but we can still get a crew together and then do what we did last year which is have brunch instead of full feast. It allows things to be slightly lighter. Generally something baked to go with coffee, an egg dish, ham, turkey, a salad, soup, and vegetable dish. Even though there are still plenty of calories to be had it is not crazy stratospheric calories. It could probably stay at maintenance except there is snacking later as games are played and puzzles worked. After that anyone who is still here that does not want to reheat leftovers (which is generally no one) gets to make sandwiches because we are done with food. We don't care if they are still here... just no more messes please.

    Oh and Thanksgiving is a maintenance and a half day for me. Usually I just accept I won't lose as much that week but since I will be in maintenance this year I have to bank calories by creating a deficit earlier. That will be interesting.
  • southernskeeter
    southernskeeter Posts: 26 Member
    We don't really do Halloween, not many kids come through. I do have a little candy set aside incase the great nieces and nephews stop by but I made sure it was something I don't like.

    Thanksgiving will just be the 4 of us (hubby, son, mom and me). I plan on doing turkey, a small green bean casserole for son and hubby, fresh Brussel sprouts. I haven't figured out the sweet potato's yet as mom always has to have sweet potato casserole and hubby always wants candied yams and son doesn't like either. I myself don't need either with the diabetes so maybe a little of both and a baked one for me. Dessert will be a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie, easy on me as I don't like pumpkin and nuts bother my teeth. I really have to watch the sodium and fluid intake with the CHF so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Mom is 80 and for her tradition is tradition so it looks like there will be several dishes made to cover her wants and my restriction. I am not too concerned with the calories as I am usually under my 1200 daily its just the sodium, carbs and cholesterol I have to watch.
  • jjlbrick
    jjlbrick Posts: 233 Member
    No Halloween here, thanksgiving still trying to figure it out. Last year we had a large gathering. My immediate family 3 people will be easier to deal with food wise. I had a WW Leader who once said about holidays. If you only get this food once a year certainly eat it. Eat it in smaller portions. I made fudge cut it weighed it. I knew what an ounce of fudge looked like. Christmas still up in the air
  • _inHisGrace
    _inHisGrace Posts: 183 Member
    My daughter is 13 and says she’s too big for trick or treating. I’ll buy her one candy bar and a stuffed animal.

    I’m not buying candy for the neighborhood this year. With COVID I just don’t want to do it.

    Thanksgiving I’m planning to cook everything as normal but I will exercise portion control. I’m not eating the rolls and I will go light-handed with the gravy.

    I’m not planning to eat leftovers except for the turkey.

    I’m still making all the pies but I will only chose one to have for myself and only one normal sized slice.

    I will log everything and see how it goes. If I’m terribly over, I will just eat less calories the next few days.

    My MFP has me at 1370 cal now but I’m convinced I can do it!
  • eliezalot
    eliezalot Posts: 620 Member
    Ooof I'm not ready to think about this yet lol.

    I'm not super concerned about the actual holiday (I plan to eat all the things anyway), but my parents will be coming out for Thanksgiving, and staying for probably 1-2 weeks. My mom loves to cook, and will definitely cook for us many nights. And THAT will be the hard part. Since they're at my house, at least I can be on my more normal food routine, have my usual ingredients, and do plenty of cooking for them.

    We're planning on going home for Christmas (again, 1-2 weeks), which will be the hardest. I went off the rails last time I was home, and that wasn't even a holiday. I need to start thinking of a plan and mentally preparing for this. (I'm still on my way down from what I gained being home on vacation the last 2 weeks...)
  • rieraclaelin
    rieraclaelin Posts: 115 Member
    I don't think I'm going to worry too hard about Thanksgiving. When I first started my diet, I was freaking out about how I would handle Thanksgiving, but that was back in June.

    Since then, I have lost 60 pounds (holy crap, I can't believe I've lost 60 pounds since June...). I've been dealing with not being able to log food, and guessing, for the past month because I had to come stay with my mom, who broke her knee and had to have surgery. We don't have any food scales or anything here, and I've been trying to eat healthier stuff (I still have to think of my liver, so, avoiding sugar and fatty stuff), but I'm still losing weight so I think I'm doing good.

    I think I'm just gonna let myself eat what I want Thanksgiving, with some moderation and stuff. Kinda give myself a break those two days, then get back to logging everything after that. Because of Covid, we are only having a small Thanksgiving dinner, so, I'm not going to be tempted with three different days of meals like we normally do :p I think I can handle one!
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    I don't think I'm going to worry too hard about Thanksgiving. When I first started my diet, I was freaking out about how I would handle Thanksgiving, but that was back in June.

    Since then, I have lost 60 pounds (holy crap, I can't believe I've lost 60 pounds since June...). I've been dealing with not being able to log food, and guessing, for the past month because I had to come stay with my mom, who broke her knee and had to have surgery. We don't have any food scales or anything here, and I've been trying to eat healthier stuff (I still have to think of my liver, so, avoiding sugar and fatty stuff), but I'm still losing weight so I think I'm doing good.

    I think I'm just gonna let myself eat what I want Thanksgiving, with some moderation and stuff. Kinda give myself a break those two days, then get back to logging everything after that. Because of Covid, we are only having a small Thanksgiving dinner, so, I'm not going to be tempted with three different days of meals like we normally do :p I think I can handle one!

    I log my Thanksgiving and Christmas meals but they are my most generic logged food of the year.

    I search for Wegmans Thanksgiving. It is 710 calories per serving. I picked it because it had some actual macros in it where a lot of the generic entries are just calories. I just do a rough guess and log the closest half serving to what I believe I have eaten. Last year I logged 2 servings on Thanksgiving day and at an earlier in the week family get-together where we ate more of the traditional feast I logged 2.5.

    I am not going to log the individual dishes and I am not going to stress about the accuracy. I log it because a guess that is a fair amount off will still be more accurate than a zero. Since I will eventually plug that number into a spreadsheet a zero would take the longest to "smooth" out.

    I liked the Wegmans entry so much that I just used it again at Christmas.

    Anyway I am throwing it out there for anyone who wants to log something.
  • conniewilkins56
    conniewilkins56 Posts: 3,391 Member
    My best planned idea often get screwed up....I really want to eat a lot less food on the holidays for a number of reasons...I have worked so hard to get rid of this fat, some foods seem to trigger a 3 to 7 day food fest binge, I am miserable and guilt ridden after I eat too much, it takes me days or weeks to undo the damage, and I am in the last chapter of my life!....I do not want to die fat...BUT if I don’t allow myself a couple of things I like to eat, I will feel deprived and I might go crazy and end up eating more!....my husband has suggested we go out for dinner to avoid any leftovers but my daughter and grands want to have dinner at home....I have told them I am not cooking as much stuff....I wish I had the answers I need to solve all of this lol....our 45 th wedding anniversary is Nov. 15 and our daughters birthday is Nov. 24 and then Christmas Day is followed on the 26 th of Dec. with my granddaughters birthday plus New Years and our daughters anniversary Jan 2....every celebration is full of food.....all I can do is the best I can every day....it will be very interesting how this all plays out!
  • BordeauxBee
    BordeauxBee Posts: 69 Member
    Wow, nice plans everyone has. Being the hermit that I am, the pandemic just alleviates the need to come up with reasons to not attend some gatherings.

    I haven’t thought about menu. The group is so awesome! Everyone is planning how to eat, keep numbers in mind, diet, exercise.

    Usually, I donate candy to the community Halloween party for the kids. Thanksgiving, I may do immediate family get together. May make some Mac n cheese. I will end up giving it away. Otherwise, I will end up eating off it till it’s gone.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    Wow, nice plans everyone has. Being the hermit that I am, the pandemic just alleviates the need to come up with reasons to not attend some gatherings.

    I haven’t thought about menu. The group is so awesome! Everyone is planning how to eat, keep numbers in mind, diet, exercise.

    Usually, I donate candy to the community Halloween party for the kids. Thanksgiving, I may do immediate family get together. May make some Mac n cheese. I will end up giving it away. Otherwise, I will end up eating off it till it’s gone.

    Part of this is because this group tries to focus on what "balance" means to us as individuals. Balance means flexibility and trying to do away with all or nothing thinking. One of the first rules I came up with for myself (this time) is that I refuse to be sitting in the corner eating celery sticks during Thanksgiving. Of course that does not apply only to Thanksgiving but that was how the rule was worded in my head to establish a more lenient mindset for myself.

    I am good with being the "adult" most of the time. The freedom and sheer joy I get from being my new smaller size is worth monitoring what I eat. However, I still want to let the child out on occasion with a few boundaries to keep things reasonable. I want to go on vacation and have some new food experience without fretting over calories. I want to enjoy my favorite holiday. For me, at least for now, this is my idea of proper balance. There are 365 days in a year. If I am adulting 340 of them and I keep things reasonable for 25 of them I am going to be fine. These are not cheat days or rewards. They are special occasions, holidays, vacations, and every once in awhile a just-for-fun day. This gets a little more interesting for me in the near future because I will be in maintenance so if I eat more than I need on a special occasion I have to either bank calories beforehand or just plan to have a small deficit period afterwards to net it back to zero. New stuff to learn!!
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    I have candy all around me at work. And then my husband bought my FAVORITE seasonal entemanns dessert: Halloween cupcakes. One stupid cupcake is 300 calories.

    On the plus side, I used to eat 2 cupcakes for dessert before I was losing weight. Now I eat 1. Some days that still pushes me over depending on what the rest of the day was like. I would swear those cupcakes are talking to me lol
  • bobsburgersfan
    bobsburgersfan Posts: 6,276 Member
    I don't do Halloween. I don't have kids, and I'm a big fuddy-duddy who just doesn't want to hand out candy, so I don't. :#

    I hadn't really thought much about Thanksgiving, but I usually just try to exercise some moderation and enjoy the holiday. This year I'm sure I'll be at my parent's house, and it will be a traditional Thanksgiving meal. It usually ends up being more than one day of overeating out there, but my mom always makes sure to have lots of healthy foods too. So there will be lots of veggies in addition to the turkey and mashed potatoes. I associate a lot of joy with those holiday weekends and that includes the food involved. To me, it's worth loosening up for a few days and just enjoying it.

    After Thanksgiving it gets more difficult, because I usually have several events that involve food. And Christmas is my favorite holiday so I always want ALL the things. :) But as you said, we can discuss Christmas later.
  • gewel321
    gewel321 Posts: 718 Member
    I went to the candy isle this morning to get "my kid" one bag of candy. As I was going through the isle I knew I wasn't going to be able to buy him the candy and not eat it so I got out of there! I'll let him go and pick a bag of candy so that it is just for him. I decided no trick or treating and no handing out candy this year. Too many crazy germs out there.

    Thanksgiving is always a big food holiday of course. I am not one to say I can't have something because it is bad. I will eat a bite of everything I want. I am focused on moderation. I made it through last year after only being on a calorie restriction for 2 months, I should be able to do it better after 14 months.

    Not even trying to think about Christmas yet. One holiday at a time!
  • eliezalot
    eliezalot Posts: 620 Member
    Due to Covid, we decided to not pass out candy this year. Bonus, it means no tiny candy bars for me to endlessly snack on! It wasn't really a problem last year, but lately for some reason, I've really been fully back in "eat all the things" mode. Glad I don't have that temptation in the house today!