Logging through the holidays challenge

tristalin

Okay, still here & logging every day. Thanksgiving I was under my calorie limit...surprisingly it was the day before (due to my being on dessert duty for the holidays) that I went over...I ate a few too many of the mini carrot cake w/cream cheese frosting cupcakes. And, Black Friday I ended up going way over my calories (1600 over, to be exact) because my hubby & I went out to dinner, then took our niece out for her 21st birthday. I had a drink, at french fries and a couple of onion rings. Even though I had pre-planned my meal from the restaraunt website, I still had issues. It seems that once I had the drink I threw all my plans out the windows & ate what I wanted the rest of the evening. I weighed the for the first time this morning & was very pleasantly surprised to find that I had not gained any weight. (Probably because I have been extra conscious about my workouts and yesterday I was back on track and didn't eat any of my exercise calories. So, overall, not too bad for my first attempt at not gaining through the Holiday experience!

efcdcdb

I'm still here and logging, although I did just use "Quick Add Calories" for yesterday. I was at a wedding and there is no way I could have actually logged everything. I didn't do too great, but I guess it could have been worse. I am kind of struggling today too - just not in a very motivated mood I guess. Tomorrow is weigh in day, so we'll see. Hopefully I can get back on track for at least a couple weeks before the NEXT holiday - ha ha ha!!

I'm glad to see those who ARE logging. I can see that we aren't perfect but if it helps us from just chucking the whole thing, then we've accomplished our purpose. Maybe it was a busy week / weekend and other members of our challenge will be back tomorrow.

charmed2570

I'm in, and man since turkey day, but man, I suck! My sodium is my issue, I prefer mine to be around 1300 it keeps my belly from being bloated.But, I will continue putting it out there for the world to see, and I will not give up, I will conquer the FAT! Good luck to all.

pamp1emousse

@charmed2570 - Congrats on the determination!
@efcdcdb - Did you enjoy the wedding? That's my plan too - to just not fall off the wagon! Am literally clinging on for dear life
@tristalin - Well done! I guess you've just hit that wonderful balance between being careful enough most of the time and enjoying yourself!

So I've changed my plan (again) - realised I'm getting fed up with trying to lose weight! The compliments are coming in and rather than motivating me theyre making me complacent! So after another chocolate binge yesterday I've decided to just up my calories over the holiday period. I figure I really couldn't care less if I lose weight or not, but I REFUSE to put on one oz of the weight I've worked really hard to lose. So I figure whatever I lose now is a plus, but no more binging!

Good luck logging away everyone

efcdcdb

HI eveyone....as I feared, I had a pretty significant gain to record when I weighted in this morning. The wedding was great - I drank quite a bit of wine but had some water and diet coke too. I danced some, but not enough to work off all the calories, I'm afraid. :sad: Yesterday, I just wasn't motivated. I stayed under my calories, but it wasn't really very healthy eating, and I didn't log the partial piece of wedding cake that my daugher gave me beause she didn't like it (after I had already completed my food diary for the day). Today is a new day...a new week. I don't have any celebrations coming up for awhile, so I have to lose what I gained, and then hopefully a couple more pounds before Christmas weekend.
Hang in there everyone! Switch it up to whatever you think might work....just keep trying..don't give up. :flowerforyou:

vasquirrel

Too late to join you guys? Just found your challenge, and I have been taking weekends "off" from posting -- want to stop that habit, as I gain weight every weekend, shock, surprise! Logged in a decent breakfast this a.m. See you tomorrow!

cardbucfan

Well, I'm still here loggin away-I even entered the rest of the pecan pie I ate! I'm actually not doing that badly on my total calories and am doing really well with working out but boy that sodium kills you! I'm not going to enter my weight this week because the scale is being so wacky. I refuse to believe that I put on 5 lbs. in 1 week when my numbers don't support that! So, I'll wait until next Sunday and see what happens. I have a brief lull before we go full swing into holiday mode and I'm going to take advantage of it! I plan to eat really healthy the rest of this week and weekend so when the following weekend comes with 5 parties in 4 days (AAUUGGHHH!) I can manage it. (It will be difficult however to go to my very good friends annual Christmas jewelry party this Friday and be good. Her husband owns a pie shop and they have the most incredible pies-I usually leave nauseous!)) Keep at it ya'll, we'll get there and this year's New Year's resolutions will be to MAINTAIN our weight loss.

efcdcdb

Cardbucfan - it sounds like you have your hands full. It is occasions like that (parties!) that are always my downfall. I'm glad I don't have much going on the next couple of weekends. :laugh: Just keep up with the logging and you'll do so much better!

Vasquirrel - sure, you can join. We have a few members who have been posting pretty regularly, even though a bunch of others have disappeared.

You know, it's funny - in all my years of dieting, incuidng Weight Watchers, I never paid too much attention to sodium. But it sure does seem to make a difference at weigh in time. I've been trying to avoid it, but it is hard!! :grumble:

vasquirrel

Finished off the Thanksgiving leftovers last night, finally. Trying to start exercising again...must...get...down... to elliptical...

pamp1emousse

@vasquirrel - welcome to the thread! I struggle with the weekends too... I tend to have this thread in the back of my mind now tho which helps guilt me into logging at least! (eventually lol). How's the getting back to exercise going? I think my gym membership's been my saviour during my time on MFP... maybe I'm just greedy (clearly the case :grumble: ) but I just can't stick to my calorie allowance otherwise!

@cardbucfan - you know, I've been hearing a lot about "pecan pie" here on MFP recently, I don't think we have it in the UK. I feel like I'm missing out tho! Sounds like you've got a really fun week coming up - enjoy it! And well done on sticking to your calories. V impressive. Scales are rubbish - you're right to ignore them. I'm pretty frustrated with mine atm. Keep giving me all sorts of scary numbers so I think I'll take a break from them for a bit.

@efcdcdb - I know what you mean! I don't actually track my sodium in my diary but I'm making a conscious effort with it anyway - I'd just never thought about it before. Even though it does all sorts of horrible things to the scale, it is nice to know that a bad weigh in isn't necessarily a sign you're gaining, or for me at least. Has it affected your weigh-in this week?
I think the best thing I've learnt on MFP is that if you're sticking to your calories and not eating too little, no matter WHAT the scale says, you have NOT gained any fat. I know it's common sense, and it was always in the back of my mind anyway, but hearing it repeated on the message boards over and over always makes me feel better. Keeps me on the wagon! (for the most part )

barty

Hello !!!, I am still here lol, had a much better week and i'm nearly back to goal weight :laugh: so will keep trying hard. Can't believe that its December 1st tomorrow :noway:

efcdcdb

Hello !!!, I am still here lol, had a much better week and i'm nearly back to goal weight :laugh: so will keep trying hard. Can't believe that its December 1st tomorrow :noway:

Yay for you. I'm so glad to hear SOMEONE had a good week. :laugh: I know what you mean about December 1st. I can't believe it either....January 1st will be a year that I have been logging on MFP (I joined in September 2009 but then had major computer problems so didn't get back to it til January.)

So far this week has been better for me. I hope I can keep it up.

efcdcdb

@efcdcdb - I know what you mean! I don't actually track my sodium in my diary but I'm making a conscious effort with it anyway - I'd just never thought about it before. Even though it does all sorts of horrible things to the scale, it is nice to know that a bad weigh in isn't necessarily a sign you're gaining, or for me at least. Has it affected your weigh-in this week?
I think the best thing I've learnt on MFP is that if you're sticking to your calories and not eating too little, no matter WHAT the scale says, you have NOT gained any fat. I know it's common sense, and it was always in the back of my mind anyway, but hearing it repeated on the message boards over and over always makes me feel better. Keeps me on the wagon! (for the most part )

I don't worry about the scale TOO much. I do worry about myself though - as good as I have been for the past year, I know I can fall back into my old habits SO easily. I LOVE food. :sad:

shreddin_mama

i've been logging everyday although there are some days i don't like the outcome. my husband is a wonderful cook and always serves too much. so i think i need to focus on portion control

efcdcdb

I usually START OUT with good portion control, but then keep picking and picking, :ohwell:

sim247

Hey all,

I'm still logging although I haven't posted on here for a while.

Really lost my motivation but I am trying to get back into the right frame of mind.

I continue logging anyway, good or bad...

Snow day today, we have about a foot of snow out there and my workplace is closed, yay me

pamp1emousse

I usually START OUT with good portion control, but then keep picking and picking, :ohwell:

lol this is me too! bad habit :grumble:

@sim247 - keep at it! I know how you feel, mine's floating away too. But remember how much hard work you've put in!! It would be a shame to let it all go to waste my starting to regain it :flowerforyou:

Happy first of the month everyone! I want to go get an advent calendar but I know I can't trust myself with one... it'll be around 20 pieces in a day

cardbucfan

Snow day today, we have about a foot of snow out there and my workplace is closed, yay me

Can I tell you how envious I am of a snow day? It is my only regret about living in Florida (and August, that's pretty brutal) that my kids will never know the joy of a snow day. Hurricane days just aren't the same!

I just logged my insanely high calorie lunch I had. I"m dying here. If I am guessing correctly (because that's really what it is-a guess) I ate half my daily calorie allotment in one meal! It was a luncheon and these ladies do NOT cook with low fat/non-fat healthy stuff. I think I'll be in the red today!

barty

Happy December Everyone!!! Well here we are December 1st ... probably the hardest month of the year and so far today so good .......1 day down :laugh: weighed in this morning at 120.5 ( I like to be 119 pounds that I reached in August ) but would be extremely happy to be 120.5 on January 1st lol.

frogmama

I'm here and I'm still logging- just haven't posted. Now I know how to do this! Wasn't too bad on Thanksgiving or the days after with leftovers. Had 2 daughters from out of town here, and of course that means some extra eating, but I did manage to stay within my calories on all but one day. Leftovers are all gone now too, including the pumpkin pie that I figured into my daily calories for 3 days! I still have some Turkey Pot Pie, but I can deal with eating just a small piece for dinner. I was up .4 pounds on my weigh in day, but hopefully that will come right back off.
Tomorrow will be my first party for the holiday season. I will be going to a buffet luncheon, so portion size will be pretty important. I am also going to have a glass of wine, but will limit myself to 1.
I truly believe that logging has been the key to my success, as I can be a real grazer. I'm hopping to knock off a few more pounds before Christmas. I know for some, that may not seem like much, but even when I exercise my butt off and stickto my 1200 calories, I am lucky to lose .5 lbs, and really thrilled if I lose 1 lb in a week.
I enjoyed reading lots of the posts and will try to keep up with this thread, as well as my logging.

LosingIt4good

Hello everyone!!!

This sounds like just the challenge I need to get me going again!

I joined MFP back in Jan 2008 and lost 40lbs. Hit that dreaded plateau around June and decided to take a break for a little bit. I maintained for about 6 more months then slowly started gaining. Decided I better get my butt in gear and while I was working out and walking a lot, I just couldnt find the motivation I once had to log. Over the last year and a half, Ive put back on 13lbs of what I had lost and I am DETERMINED now to lose it again.

Exercise had never been a problem as I love to walk, but the weather got colder suddenly here and I have sorta sluffed that off as well , even tho I have a treadmill and elliptical to use as well as several videos.

At the moment, I need people who are going to keep me accountable for logging BOTH.
I have no excuses! I can log on my iphone app and laptop. This challenge will keep me motivated to be accountable for doing it!

Thanks!!

efcdcdb

Glad to see some activity on this challenge! I had a busy day at work today so I am just logging in (8:25 pm EST). We are having a snow storm right now, so that was a good excuse not to go to the gym. I will probably go out and shovel in a little bit, but it is still snowing so hard! :noway: Well I gained about 3 pounds last week...my official weigh in day is Monday, and I am sure some of that gain was from the sodium and overall bad eating. As of this morning I was back down 2 pounds, so hopefully by next Monday I'll at least be back where I was.

I have lost almost 40 pounds and I really, really don't want to see it start to creep back up. But I have been really busy at work, and I hate the cold weather, so it is going to be extra hard to be motivated with both FOOD and EXERCISE.

Thanks for all the good words of encouragement!!

tristalin

Just checking in. Down 2 pounds since last week, despite my mom coming to stay for the weekend and making every blasted one of my favorite dishes (Swiss Almond Chicken Bake, Chocolate Elaire Torte, those stupid pretzel cookies with the hershey's kiss & m&ms...the list goes on & on!) I keep waiting for the epic fail on the scale, but so far so good. It must be the extra exercise push. I've started running again this week...very slowly in spurts with my normal speek walk...

efcdcdb

Just checking in. Down 2 pounds since last week, despite my mom coming to stay for the weekend and making every blasted one of my favorite dishes (Swiss Almond Chicken Bake, Chocolate Elaire Torte, those stupid pretzel cookies with the hershey's kiss & m&ms...the list goes on & on!) I keep waiting for the epic fail on the scale, but so far so good. It must be the extra exercise push. I've started running again this week...very slowly in spurts with my normal speek walk...

Good job! I've found that by logging food and exercise on MFP, I can eat favorite foods every now and then and still lose weight. Right now I just finished a yummy dish of Edy's Light Caramel Delight ice cream, BUT that' s because I earned over 300 calories shoveling. Ugh!! The worst part of it is that after I got back in the house, the plow came down the street and the driveway is now full of snow (looks like about 3 feet) but I am not going back out there. :sad:

pamp1emousse

Wow, so much activity here! Well done to everyone on their logging (and to tristalin for your great loss!).
My loggings going really well... I'm finding that if I plan out my whole day the day before, leaving 100-300 cals for exra snacks/changes it all works out really well! So I'm staying on track nicely now. No manic chocolate binges which is good news :drinker:
I upped my carbs quite a bit the past few days, adding rice (need to go and buy some brown rice in a bit...) or noodles to my meals... omg I'm so much fuller! I can't believe the difference it makes. And I'm eating much better as a result because I don't get carb cravings and end up wasting calories on bread.

I'm sure the snow here in London's nothing on the snow you've got in the US but it's so beautiful! I love it! ...Probably because it doesn't really get in the way here

efcdcdb

Hmmm - I'd like to come up with some things to keep me feeling fuller during the day. I have oatmeal or cereal for breakfast (at 7:30 am), then fruit for a mid-morning snack, and lunch around Noon. For lunch I usually have a sandwich (turkey) and red or yellow pepper strips. I have yogurt for a afternoon snack and dinner around 6:00. To me, that sounds like a lot, but I always feel hungry. I usualy stick to it pretty well, ebcause I am at work and there's not usually much to eat around here. I do keep a bag of rice cakes and some granola bars around for emergencies, but I manage to stay away from them most of the time because they're not yummy.

As far as the snow, the area where I live got about 19-20 inches last night. I lve east of Lake Erie, and we get what they call Lake Effect snow. That's when the cold air blows across the lake, which isn't frozen this earlier in winter, and the airs picks up all the moisture, then just dumps it when it hits land. It falls in what they call "persistent snow bands" and that's literally what they are. Areas just north or south are virtually snowless today. Right now it isn't bad out and I hope it stays this way, otherwise my 30 minute commute home will take 1-2 hours.

Well - I jsut finished my lunch and I need to go refill my water. Bye!

cardbucfan

Wow, so much activity here! Well done to everyone on their logging (and to tristalin for your great loss!).
My loggings going really well... I'm finding that if I plan out my whole day the day before, leaving 100-300 cals for exra snacks/changes it all works out really well! So I'm staying on track nicely now. No manic chocolate binges which is good news :drinker:
I upped my carbs quite a bit the past few days, adding rice (need to go and buy some brown rice in a bit...) or noodles to my meals... omg I'm so much fuller! I can't believe the difference it makes. And I'm eating much better as a result because I don't get carb cravings and end up wasting calories on bread.

I'm sure the snow here in London's nothing on the snow you've got in the US but it's so beautiful! I love it! ...Probably because it doesn't really get in the way here

OMG, that is SO why I can't do low-carb. I get so hungry I end up eating a zillion protein calories and kind of defeat the purpose! I do much better with moderation of whatever I want with some treats thrown in. I have hit a little bit of a plateau here and I know I need to back off the calories. Gonna be hard with all the parties coming up. I'm gonna have to workout like a woman possessed next week! But, I am logging everything including the 800 (!!!!!) calorie lunch I had yesterday (I'm guessing at how many, but I think it's pretty close) that put me into the red last night.

HerbieSue

I am still logging and feel like that is what is keeping me on track! I did NOT gain while out of town Thanksgiving (thank goodness for the iphone app) because I knew I had to log it! I think dieting during the holidays is the best time to do it because we are tempted so many times with good stuff and if we can stick to it now, the rest of the year should be a piece of cake!! (sorry, can't eat that)

barty

Did well and weighted in at 119.5 this morning but..............have been out for a meal and drinks tonight so don't know what damage i've done lol

efcdcdb

Did well and weighted in at 119.5 this morning but..............have been out for a meal and drinks tonight so don't know what damage i've done lol

You've still got time to exercise, to un-do the damage. :bigsmile: