Holidays! UGH

PhreeThePharmer

HI,
I'm Allison, I'm kind of new here, I just started tracking a week and a half ago, and I've had some trouble over Thanksgiving. I find it really difficult to measure everything, especially when I'm not the one cooking! Do you find that its best to log something, even if you're not certain of the calories in it? Any other control freaks out there feel you must weigh every ingredient? I have trouble also because I'm living with my parents again, and my mom makes all these great dinners - for instance, tonight seafood chowder. Chock full of CREAM! About 4 years ago I managed to drop 40 pounds by logging everything, but I was living alone and managed every dish. Now, towards the end of graduate school I've gained it all back, and am back in my old pants.

I guess I don't really have a question, but I'm looking for some motivation...especially about what people are doing to deal with the holidays when surrounded by fudge...cookies... pies!

Thanks!
Allison

eglass64

I just kinda wing it when I dont know but I still log it in.

chacaruso

Hi and welcome! I don't weigh anything. Over time you kinda of get a handle on what portion size should be.

lesliefm

Just log everything, and do your best. In a few weeks you will know if you are being accurate. The most important thing is just to keep track of what you are eating.

MISTTIMG

Yeah I weigh everything, If I don't the portions get larger and larger.. And that's the problem to begin with.

mharriso30

Hi Allison,
I agree--the holidays are so hard! I'm scared to death that I'll gain some of my weight back. Does your Mom know that you are trying to lose weight? I think having an accountability partner is key--maybe your Mom or Dad--so that when you want to eat something you shouldn't, you have that encouragement there. (And they'll understand if you don't eat what they eat?) Also, I decided that Thanksgiving Day and yesterday were my two crazy eating days (I just quick-added calories), and I had my fun eating what I wanted, but now I'm going back to logging everything in and counting my carbs, sugars, etc.

blel0906

Some people like to weigh and meassure everything, I don't , I have a pretty good handle on what a portion size is, some times I may go over and sometimes I may be under a serving size but I'm too stressed over it.

Thanksgiving I didn't log in, was going to try too but decided against it, Yesterday I had another family gathering, I did log that food in as best I could, if anything I beleive I over estimated..ie I had a taste of dessert not even 1/2 of slice but still logged it in as 1/2.

Should also add, although I am quite positive I went WAY over on Thanksgiving and really had a bad week all together I did not gain any weight.,My husband knows I'm trying to lose but I haven't really made an annoucement...I'm hoping for them to notice :happy:

myukniewicz

hey allison,
i am pretty obsessive when it comes to weighing everything, and counting everything i eat. sometimes i wont eat something if i don't know the right calories that are in it. lol. i agree that the holidays are tough, i slipped up a little on thanksgiving myself, but all you can do is get back on track the next day.
the best advice i can give you is track everything... sometimes if i want to eat something that i know i shouldn't (like the other night when i drove past mcdonalds and wanted a mcrib), i look up the calories for it, and when i see how bad it is that usually makes me not want it any more ha ha.

StPattysGrl

Hi Allison,

When I've been in situations where I'm at a friend's house or it's a special occasion and I don't know the exact calories, I just look through the database and find the item (or item similar) and make my best estimation of how much I ate. I can pretty much tell if my portions were half a cup or a whole cup or whatever. Ounces get a little more tricky for me. But I do my best to estimate.

As for dinners at your parents house, could you take a more active role in dinners and help your mom out with planning meals and cooking? Then you could have more input in the meals and know your calories better.

Good luck!

bsexton3

Hi Allison,

I see the holidays as four or five days. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Day and the big Christmas party. You might have more. I figure those four days will not kill me on the scales. It takes 3500 to gain a pound. That is on top of the 2300 I am allowed to eat in a day and not gain any weight. Even eating that big Thanksgiving dinner, I did not eat 5800 calories. So, I didn't gain a pound.

So, I checked in, logged what I could, and moved on. I did have oatmeal for breakfast, and yogurt and an apple around noon, since dinner was at 4. That way, I wasn't as hungry. Then, I had a little of the things that had high calories, and more of the things that didn't. Today, I weigh the same I have for the past month. Hopefully, I will start losing again soon.

nubreeze33

log it in anyways, you may be off in the positive or negative but atleast you are developing the habit of writing it in. sometimes I have to just generalize like during the holidays I wasn't even about to just break it all down so I typed in what I ate and picked the closest thing to what I ate and go with it. which is why when I work out I save those calories I earned just in case I was off.

Texsox

I estimate and usually pick the choice and portions with the most calories. If I am going to be off, I want it to cause me to lose a little more, rather than a little less.

jacj46

You just hang in there ... it's gets easier as you go along ... I would try to log everything, you will get a better idea of the calories in things and then it becomes easier ... and don't get discouraged ... after all, you just started at the most eatingness time of the year ... :laugh:
also ... its not what you eat but how much ... see you on the 'slim' side ... good luck!