Christmas: What's your strategy?

amymaria91

Well I'm going to an all you can eat buffet with my brother for Christmas dinner - what a great idea that was! I probably won't count my calories for Christmas day but every other day I will and I'll make sure to exercise extra hard

CathiAnne

We can all do this. We have new mindsets and I bet it's not going to be as difficult as we may be thinking. I think we have all learned about balance in life by being on MFP. Let's give ourselves credit for what we have learned and know that we can do. Three years ago I was diagnosed with diabetes and I lost 7 lbs. between Thanksgiving through Christmas. That's some serious motivation, yes, but we all have different forms of motivation. We can be successful. Yes, we can.

eliz_in_pink

my family has decided to work around Christmas for me.. which is beyond fantastic! they usually decorate the whole house and take out my treadmill & stationary bike for the whole month of december. mom said that this year we would have to move the tree (it usually goes where my equipment goes) so i can work out. i'll probably get up on Christmas morning (waaaay early) and get a super workout in so i dont have to stress too much that day. i'll do the same thing for Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. there is too much yumminess to have to skip out on, lol!

for example: this weekend ALL the ladies over 21 in my family go on a huge shopping trip for Christmas and we always carry in a spread of food to our hotel room when we get done for the day.. it's not healthy at all (except i brought a fruit tray for me! lol)... so both saturday and sunday i worked out for 2 hours prior to starting my day (no matter what time i had to get up) to make sure i could enjoy the food..

hope this helps and happy Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years! ** and here is to weighing less at the end of the season! :flowerforyou:

LuciaLongIsland

It is a double edged sword for me as I have little family and will probably be alone as I was last year. Therefore, a bit sad, but no food issues.

Sidesteal

My strategy will be as follows:

Thanksgiving, Christmas (and eve): Absolutely destroy everything in my path in such a way that FuriousPete would applaud.

Then resume my diet like nothing ever happened.

curlyclo

My strategy will be as follows:

Thanksgiving, Christmas (and eve): Absolutely destroy everything in my path in such a way that FuriousPete would applaud.

Then resume my diet like nothing ever happened.

Haha love it. That's basically my plan.

gp79

This year my wife is working Christmas so there will be fewer parties / temptations about the house. No complaints here, just time with the kids.

Should there be a big meal incoming my plan is to fast a little extra and then eat whatever I want. I expect to miss a couple of workouts, but once 3 Jan comes back around I'll be back on track.

angela828

I have my mom's side Christmas party on 12/17, then Christmas eve with my dad's side, and then Christmas day with my fiance's family. My plan is to eat what I want and what I like, but small portions and take it easy on dessert - I don't need a slice of pie AND a slice of cake.. I'll just pick one. I'm going to log all those days like normal and if I'm over, I'm over. I also plan on exercising at least 2 of out of those 3 days. I really don't think 3 days is going to make me gain 10 pounds or throw my weight loss out the window. It's all about self-control and not going crazy with sweets. And I always stick to water on holidays!

mhotch

I lost a lot of weight 4 yrs ago and have been maintaining for over 3 years now. I have learned that holiday celebrations are all about the people. The person sitting across the table is more important to me than what is on the plate on the table. You can still stay on track and lose weight. Eat before parties so you do not go there hungry. Drink seltzer with a lime or lemon twist. {you will be glad the morning after!} I indulge in the veggie platters and will allow a taste only, of other indulgences. Eating out is just healthy choices and portion control.

As far as Aunt Millie's special pie or cake: I go by the 3 bite rule. You get all the decadence and flavor from the first 3 bites. After that you are eating it because it is in front of you. Push it away and go for a walk.

Exercise is a dieter's best friend! Get out and move!

annemckee

I do big meals on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, then I visit my sister from 27th to after New Year. No chance of going to the gym at all for a fortnight. We all love to cook, eat and drink, but I will be trying a few alterations to the usual meals and know my sister will choose healthy options. I imagine I will be over calories on a few days but this is my first season while trying seriously to lose weight so I'll use it as part of the learning curve.

nsblue

I will be having surgery the first of december and will be on liquids for 4 weeks...so no turkey dinner for me lol... and i will do just fine..because I KNOW I WILL!! with focus and committment i will sail through it, n have my turkey in the new year a new woman

i_love_vinegar

Im just gonna enjoy myself. It is Christmas -- the most wonderful time of the year. There are plenty of days to makeup for it :flowerforyou:

stephyy4632

I`m not worried at all

I don`t drink adult beverages
only have one Christmas party to atend , Onc Christmas dinner to attend and only one Thanksgiving dinner to attend so 3 cheat days in two months isn`t bad (4 if you count new years eve party). Plus I have an eliptcal at home so I will still get my full workout in on those days and will mostlikly still fit the cal count in but not going to stress if I don`t because as listed above its only 3/4 days out of 2months so planning to enjoy those days with the family and relax about the food

Purecity

Not only do I have Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, my birthday is on December 22nd!

I plan on enjoying myself* on those days (not weeks or month or weekends.... only on Nov 24. Dec 22. & Dec. 25)
This is a life change for me, not a diet. So its just not possible for me to deprive myself during my favorite time of the year.




*enjoying myself also does not mean over-indulging. It means I will eat what I want, in moderation.

melsinct

My strategy will be as follows:

Thanksgiving, Christmas (and eve): Absolutely destroy everything in my path in such a way that FuriousPete would applaud.

Then resume my diet like nothing ever happened.

Same here. A few meals with no calorie counting won't hurt anything. The danger is when people give themselves the license to gorge at every single event/gathering from Thanksgiving through New Years. I have decided to pick a few days where I have the license to eat whatever I want. For me, that is Thanksgiving day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve. Other than that, it will be business as usual.

MommyLyssa

Between divorces and in-laws and such- we actually end up celebrating each holiday a minimum of 5x- and all five of those times it is a different person going all out. SO, I can't do the whole have one day enjoy it thing. I think I will just try to maintain those weeks! Yikes

Hellbent_Heidi

My plan is just to treat it like any other month...and will be declining the extra cookies and crap around the office, just like I've declined the recent birthday cakes, and other junk. I guess I was never a big holiday-food person (aside from cookies & candy) to begin with, so I don't expect it to be too difficult most of the time.

There's always going to be SOME occasion to eat badly....the holidays, Halloween candy, Easter, grad parties, summer bbq's, birthdays..... I just remind myself that this is a lifestyle change for me, and after eating healthy for a while, my stomach can't handle all the junk anyway.

beccalucy

I inted to enjoy it. Running will still have to occur as I have a goal (London Marathon) which everyone is aware of. I'm really lucky in that part of our xmas is to walk the dogs after dinner so we'll all have a good walk together. Also vegetables are a huge part of our christmas dinner so I pile those on my plate then only put a roast potato etc on meaning I get a taste but not much in the way of calories!

jillj333

Here's what I do: I stick to it and then I eat anything I want on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. So basically I take those days
off entirely and just eat anything I want.

Christmas season itself can be a bit tough, but back when I was doing weight watchers, if I wanted a cookie or something, I just made sure to count it. And in some cases, if there was a fancy dinner or party to go to, I would try to eat as little as possible during the day and then do my best to count at the event itself. For me though, I only have maybe one or two events during the season that aren't on the actual holidays so even if I would over eat at them I'd be fine as long as I would get back to my regular routine the next day.

iuew

Ok, we're halfway through November so it's hard to avoid the 'C' word. It's that time of year when overindulgence is practically the LAW - the booze, cakes, FOOD... I swear, between Christmas socials at work (of which there were several), at home and with my friends (on top of my already unhealthy diet) I put on a clean 7 pounds last Christmas.

This year, I plan to stick to my diet but I know the temptation will be intense! Any strategies? I don't want to start 2012 a half-stone heavier!!

i will do it the same way that i do Thanksgiving : calorie budget the day of and the day before. i usually have breakfast and save most of the other calories of the day for a big dinner. i do some extra exercise to give me a bit of a buffer. sometimes i go over on Thanksgiving or Christmas, but it's just one day.