I don't see why some people find holidays so difficult.

Wetterdew
Wetterdew Posts: 142 Member
in Food and Nutrition
People hype up holidays like they are the apocalypse for diets. Why not just...make sure you don't binge eat on a holiday. It's not like you have to. It's not that complicated. I think even if you go to somebody's house and they serve you a three-course meal, it's not hard to not binge. And if you do feel obligated to eat their high-calorie dessert, it doesn't matter that much if you're overboard by five hundred calories for one day.

If you're spending a week or two visiting somebody else's house, you could explain that you are limiting your food intake and you shouldn't have much trouble if they are nice people.

Seriously. Enough. About. The holidays. Or is there somebody who insists that holidays like thanksgiving or christmas really are the harbingers of ham?
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Replies

  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    OMG you've solved the holiday weight gain dilemma. Thank you.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
    OMG you've solved the holiday weight gain dilemma. Thank you.

    Phew! I thought I was doomed.
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,654 Member
    People hype up holidays like they are the apocalypse for diets. Why not just...make sure you don't binge eat on a holiday. It's not like you have to. It's not that complicated. I think even if you go to somebody's house and they serve you a three-course meal, it's not hard to not binge. And if you do feel obligated to eat their high-calorie dessert, it doesn't matter that much if you're overboard by five hundred calories for one day.

    If you're spending a week or two visiting somebody else's house, you could explain that you are limiting your food intake and you shouldn't have much trouble if they are nice people.

    Seriously. Enough. About. The holidays. Or is there somebody who insists that holidays like thanksgiving or christmas really are the harbingers of ham?

    So glad that you have this all figured out and can share your wisdom with the rest of the class! :flowerforyou:
  • endoftheside
    endoftheside Posts: 568 Member
    Learning how and when to say "no" or "I've had enough" (and sticking to it) is a big part of the learning process involved in moderating one's eating. When people equate food with love, saying no can be a big deal.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    I totally agree! I find it kind of sad that the big draw of any holiday is what there might be to eat and how much of it you can eat and whether it's ok to eat it. How about enjoying time with family and friends instead of seeing how much food you can find? It's a sad mindset when you can't have a good time unless you're eating. The same as I can't have a good time going out unless I can drink. God forbid anyone have a good time without overeating and getting drunk!
  • shscruggs82
    shscruggs82 Posts: 32
    for me, food is an addiction, and so holidays are like...throwing all this stuff at me that Im trying to stay away from..I dont keep that stuff around me for a reason, and its great if you have the self control problem down, I think thats wonderful..but I do have a problem with self control and believe me, every time I'm around that stuff and I succumb to its pull on me, I do feel like I failed...
  • aimforhealthy
    aimforhealthy Posts: 449 Member
    For me, I am literally the only person in four generations of my family who knows how to follow a recipe. I am in no way exaggerating. So every holiday I spend with my family, I spend it in the kitchen baking and cooking delicious things, and my birthday dinner is 2 weeks after Christmas and a week and a half after NYE which involves dinners and alcohol, etc. I ALWAYS put on a few pounds between Thanksgiving and my birthday.

    I'm at this point just trying to amp up my workouts to get into a more intensive exercise routine, plan on taking an hour-long walk after every holiday meal, and am looking into some low calorie holiday meal plans. I will also not be doing a huge amount of baking this year like last year when we had Christmas cookies, fudge, peppermint bark, etc. lying around for weeks.
  • alisonlynn1976
    alisonlynn1976 Posts: 929 Member
    I just eat what people serve me in reasonable portion sizes, and it works fine.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    thank god. a 21 year old male with 10lb to lose has come to save us all....
  • PennyM140
    PennyM140 Posts: 423 Member
    Its not the holiday itself that's the problem for me but everything around it. All the extra candy around Halloween, the traveling for Thanksgiving, and the 15 obligatory Christmas parties. I heard once that the average person gains up to 10 pounds during the holidays (assuming Halloween to New Years I would guess).
    I'm glad that you have absolutely no trouble getting through this period. Maybe I will do better this year too.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Or, just do a bulk... :)
  • candiceh3
    candiceh3 Posts: 379 Member
    thank god. a 21 year old male with 10lb to lose has come to save us all....

    That's what I thought!

    Seriously, OP, how do you think we got fat in the first place? We got fat because we didn't exercise the skills required to get through these kind of temptations.

    So it's easy for you. Good for you.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    I got

    'Let's stop using holidays as an excuse for our disordered eating that ultimately makes us unhappy'.

    or

    'Let's take a different view towards holiday feasting as a society that no longer needs to feast during winters, so that we don't make it difficult and emotionally upsetting for those that want to lose weight.'
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    Or, just do a bulk... :)

    Yep. Stretchy pants at the ready :)
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Or, just do a bulk... :)

    Yep. Stretchy pants at the ready :)

    Mine are always at the ready!
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    Holidays are just like any other day as far as I'm concerned. Anyone who uses the excuse to binge or whatever just cause it's a holiday has no willpower or self control at all.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    ... says the person who has lost 0 lb.

    What has that got to do with anything? Perhaps they do not register their loss on here for that reason or perhaps they had lost most of it BEFORE using here. Just cause the ticker says 0 does not mean they have not lost anything. I've lost more than mine says, I just don't bother inputting my weight here anymore.


    Who's the troll? I can only see one.
  • tlou5
    tlou5 Posts: 497 Member
    thank god. a 21 year old male with 10lb to lose has come to save us all....

    :laugh:
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
    People hype up holidays like they are the apocalypse for diets. Why not just...make sure you don't binge eat on a holiday. It's not like you have to. It's not that complicated. I think even if you go to somebody's house and they serve you a three-course meal, it's not hard to not binge. And if you do feel obligated to eat their high-calorie dessert, it doesn't matter that much if you're overboard by five hundred calories for one day.

    If you're spending a week or two visiting somebody else's house, you could explain that you are limiting your food intake and you shouldn't have much trouble if they are nice people.

    Seriously. Enough. About. The holidays. Or is there somebody who insists that holidays like thanksgiving or christmas really are the harbingers of ham?

    I didn't know Dr. Phil had an MFP account. We have a celebrity among us people!
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    I think people worry about holidays as you're out of routine. Plus, unless you're going self catering, someone else is preparing the food.

    We've pretty much always gone on self catering holidays so I've never really thought about gaining weight as we do our own shopping and cooking. I love salads anyway, especially when I'm somewhere hot.

    We went all inclusive on our honeymoon to Cuba and I just ate normally, just with a few cocktails :). The gym wasn't air conditioned so I gave that a miss, but I did windsurfing, kayaking, swimming etc. I put on one pound in 2 weeks, as that was probably from the plane food!

    I had just lost around 40lbs for my wedding so I was a bit concerned about weight gain, but more because I was worried I wouldn't be able to exercise as much, rather than being worried about overeating.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    People hype up holidays like they are the apocalypse for diets. Why not just...make sure you don't binge eat on a holiday. It's not like you have to. It's not that complicated. I think even if you go to somebody's house and they serve you a three-course meal, it's not hard to not binge. And if you do feel obligated to eat their high-calorie dessert, it doesn't matter that much if you're overboard by five hundred calories for one day.

    If you're spending a week or two visiting somebody else's house, you could explain that you are limiting your food intake and you shouldn't have much trouble if they are nice people.

    Seriously. Enough. About. The holidays. Or is there somebody who insists that holidays like thanksgiving or christmas really are the harbingers of ham?
    Congratulations on your empathy and deep understanding of disordered eating. :flowerforyou:
  • Nimnyn
    Nimnyn Posts: 69 Member
    Holidays are just like any other day as far as I'm concerned. Anyone who uses the excuse to binge or whatever just cause it's a holiday has no willpower or self control at all.

    Snarky "moral" superiority like this has no place in a forum designed to help people.

    Holidays are rife with family time which often creates massive amounts of stress for people; even if they *want* to stay on track, it can be very difficult. Add some booze in the mix, a lack of food scale, and piles of carb-intensive Xmas baking, and you could just have a very volatile situation. So, unless all the naysayers know *everyone* else's background, you can just keep the superiority bullsh*t in your own camp.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    *deleted. One should not really prod one's odd little hangers on*
  • ktsmom430
    ktsmom430 Posts: 1,100 Member
    Good for you and your will power! You will have great success.

    Unfortuately, many of us have difficulty resisting the temptation and eating sensibly and avoiding calorie laden foods that are abundant and traditional at these holidays that are centered around food and eating. We are learning to make better choices and some of us are even preparing healthier foods.

    If you dislike the topics about these subjects, why not skip reading them? Easy to do. It may help some people to read these topics and to know that it is a concern for many of us.
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
    I got

    'Let's stop using holidays as an excuse for our disordered eating that ultimately makes us unhappy'.

    or

    'Let's take a different view towards holiday feasting as a society that no longer needs to feast during winters, so that we don't make it difficult and emotionally upsetting for those that want to lose weight.'

    Yup, that's pretty much what I read. Some people do hop from one holiday feast to the next.... "oooh but it's Thanksgiving / Halloween / Christmas / Valentines / Easter / summer holidays / my birthday...."
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
    Unfortuately, many of us have difficulty resisting the temptation and eating sensibly and avoiding calorie laden foods that are abundant and traditional at these holidays that are centered around food and eating.

    Well, don't go on "one of those" holidays then...
  • candiceh3
    candiceh3 Posts: 379 Member
    Unfortuately, many of us have difficulty resisting the temptation and eating sensibly and avoiding calorie laden foods that are abundant and traditional at these holidays that are centered around food and eating.

    Well, don't go on "one of those" holidays then...

    Are you serious? You think those holidays are avoidable? They have permeated into our society.

    For freaks sake... just support each other in our weaknesses. This thread is utter BS.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    Unfortuately, many of us have difficulty resisting the temptation and eating sensibly and avoiding calorie laden foods that are abundant and traditional at these holidays that are centered around food and eating.

    Well, don't go on "one of those" holidays then...

    Are you serious? You think those holidays are avoidable? They have permeated into our society.

    For freaks sake... just support each other in our weaknesses. This thread is utter BS.

    Honestly, avoiding Christmas and New Year, and the family commitments that go with them might be a smidge challenging for most people.

    (Maybe the poster didn't understand that that is the kind of 'holiday' being referred to - American stylee use of the word?)

    Yeah, this thread is bat**** though.

    I do think Ironsmasher's point about our culture is a good one, mind you.
  • starrycarina
    starrycarina Posts: 59
    People hype up holidays like they are the apocalypse for diets. Why not just...make sure you don't binge eat on a holiday. It's not like you have to. It's not that complicated. I think even if you go to somebody's house and they serve you a three-course meal, it's not hard to not binge. And if you do feel obligated to eat their high-calorie dessert, it doesn't matter that much if you're overboard by five hundred calories for one day.

    If you're spending a week or two visiting somebody else's house, you could explain that you are limiting your food intake and you shouldn't have much trouble if they are nice people.

    Seriously. Enough. About. The holidays. Or is there somebody who insists that holidays like thanksgiving or christmas really are the harbingers of ham?

    I'm so glad you've got it all figured out. Good for you! Some of us have difficulties with restraint because of food addiction, especially around the holidays which can be incredibly stressful times.

    This is supposed to be a place of support and encouragement and your post doesn't sound like either of those two things. If anything, it's condescending and makes me believe you're a bit out of touch with how food addiction and overeating works.
  • HollisGrant
    HollisGrant Posts: 2,022 Member
    If you're spending a week or two visiting somebody else's house, you could explain that you are limiting your food intake and you shouldn't have much trouble if they are nice people.

    Well, sometimes they're not nice people. And sometimes they ARE nice, but very emotional, and they've worked for days on the meal, plus spent a lot of $$ on food for you, the guest, so it means everything to them... and they will be very hurt if you don't eat some of their stuff.

    Wait until you have a family of your own and then you'll understand. Human relationships are not that simple.

    (I edited to take out the only 21 years old... plenty of people who are 21 understand this issue and have families of their own).

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