Weekend (or weeklong) trips with family potlucks

pjarellano

This is what I do. I have some friends that love to comment. Before going to the pot luck I eat my biggest meal. I keep a thing of water with me. I then make a plate of a little of several things. Going big on the fresh fruit or fresh salad I brought. Then when every one is taking big ole bites I take baby bites of my salad and in the end dump my plate. Better yet my husband discreetly puts his plate on mine and dumps both dishes.

fruitinstead

Thank you pjarellano, shrcpr, Sal, lafilledelaru, ajfuelling, Cycle4Life99, chrisdavey, and nxd10! And best wishes to you all and Joseph236, too! I really appreciate learning what has worked for you.

Yesterday I ordered a divided plate in an 8 1/2" size Cycle4Life 99 - I think that will be a great help! I didn't have time to write back until now, though. I did decide that except for sweets I should eat at least a little something of foods that people have made, so that they won't feel badly. As long as I can portion/calorie control, I shouldn't gain weight. My relationships have to ultimately take priority over my struggle to maintain weight. And I have an idea of what will be served so I have already looked on MyFitnessPal for dishes that sound similar. I think I may bring out my measuring cups and scale, since I am already kind of known as the health "nut" anyway. Since some of the meals that will be served won't have enough protein to make me feel full, I will bring protein (perhaps canned salmon, Greek yogurt, or protein powder) and chia seeds to supplement. Tiny amounts of carbs for me - you are right, Sal! My cravings shouldn't get out of control if I don't touch sweets. Those are really my downfall. I think I will eat a salad - perhaps with chicken - at the pizza place - thank you, nxd10! I checked out their menu today.

Bringing my own food last weekend didn't work since I had decided to eat dinner with everyone and my mother-in-law, who is a fantastic cook, provided several Thanksgiving-style feasts. I ended up eating too much, probably because I didn't log or measure. That is going to be the major difference this weekend. I will log and measure. I felt odd bringing out the scale (I did have it with me) last weekend, but this next weekend we will be with "my" side of the family, so I think I will feel more comfortable getting the scale out with them.

Chrisdavey - I'm not sure how to answer your question. Our family enjoys our conversations together - but everyone plans their meals so carefully that our get-togethers are a lot about the food, too. It seems to heighten the enjoyment of the conversations. I think sweets may contribute to that, especially chocolate or wheat-based desserts, with the release of serotonin. I'm a registered nurse, so forgive me if I'm breaking this down too much into chemicals! Analyzing this is hopefully helping to counter my reaching unthinkingly for a dessert! Something else I learned that may help someone - I read there is a hormone released in the afternoon and evening that encourages us to pack on calories, especially fat. Knowing that my afternoon drive to eat is hormone-based has helped me fight it by planning a protein snack in the mid-afternoon. That has worked really well for me.

Our family is planning activities, too - not just meals! The weekend should be really fun.

Thank you, so very much, everyone! I will report back next week! Bless you all!

fruitinstead

Hello everyone!

Thank you again so much for your help! I'm reporting back because I said I would, but I don't have an amazing "success" story. I did gain weight (some is water, some is not) but not as much as the weekend before. For the first 48 hours I avoided all cookies, popcorn, chips, nuts (even though these are healthy I wanted to just eat the meals and not snacks). I portion-controlled and ate plenty of protein. (I logged everything for 72 hours) After 48 hours my daughter had a minor emergency on Saturday afternoon (she is okay now) and I didn't eat my 20 gram protein snack or do the hiking I was planning. By dinnertime I was ravenous. So I ate two helpings of dinner (after waiting probably only 5 minutes for the dinner to settle - should have waited 20 minutes). I realized I was probably over my calories (I was logging), gave up, and ate more. Minor victory, though - even then I did not have any s'mores! Afterward I felt awful both physically and emotionally. In the future I probably need to have a protein bar in my purse for these unplanned events. I used to carry them but have been trying to eat more natural food, and homemade protein bars would spoil quickly.

Sunday I felt good about what I ate at breakfast (did not eat the cinnamon roll French toast - no one seemed to notice, either) but instead ate turkey sausage, bacon, an egg, and about 3/4 cup of fruit. For lunch we ate at a picnic place and my sweet cousin had provided a yummy chicken salad which could only be eaten on the provided croissants (there were no forks or knives or plates). She had also made chocolate coconut oatmeal cookies because she said that she knew I liked them. So I ate some of those (more than one, since hardly anyone else was eating them - they were going for the packaged cookies also provided). I gave up again at that point - for the day. At this point I stopped logging. I didn't stuff myself, though, like the night before.

I am choosing to focus on my successes instead of berating myself. I could have eaten a lot more than I did. And I am getting back on track. This morning (one day after returning) I am 5 pounds above maintenance. I know I can lose those - I've done it before and I have my plan in place. Perhaps some is still water/glycogen storage. And there are no more weekend get-togethers for a while! Just a few single meals (one in a day) with family. I love my family! They are a lot of fun and this weekend was worth it. We played games, did zip-lining, rode bikes (the kids), jogged, hiked, and went through a drive-through zoo. It was nice to relax with my own kids and husband, too - even though I live with them we are often busy at home.

Anyway - best wishes to all of you. I hope those seeking advice with family get-togethers will find this post helpful - if not from my own experience then from all the great ideas people gave. Thank you everyone!!!! Have a fun and relaxing summer!

nxd10

Sounds like a better start than the week before. It gets easier all the time.

Two thoughts . . . besides congratulating you for focusing on the gains.

Nuts in your purse don't spoil and really help.
Don't stop logging. Even if you just decide to eat what you want to, don't stop logging. It will help you figure out where your big calorie sinks are so you can find out that you can have a cookie or two, but probably should skip the (fill in the blank here).

Have a wonderful summer.

fruitinstead

Thank you nxd10! All your tips have really helped. Great idea about the nuts! Thank you!

Yes - I shouldn't have stopped logging - myfitnesspal really does make logging easy. I am back to faithfully logging!

Wishing you a fantastic summer too