Holiday Temptations ...

slashkiss

How are we all handling or planning to handle the Holiday temptations?!

I know I have 3 family Christmas dinners to attend not to mention the couple work and other Christmas parties coming up and I am starting to worry. I did pretty good for my Thanksgiving trip and ended up losing 1.5 pounds without really sticking to my diet - I still made healthy choices even if I wasn't logging everything. But see Thanksgiving is all about the pie and I am not much of a pie eater so it was easy for me to avoid the sweets all week but Christmas is about COOKIES! And if there is one thing in this world I could literally stuff myself with it would be COOKIES! I love every kind of cookie including the unbaked dough! I am kind of an amazing baker so I am known around work and friends for my "crack cookies" as they call them because they are addicting. And with only 10 days left until Christmas everyone has already been asking me where all my plates of cookies are. Usually I would start baking a batch weekly the whole month and bring in huge platters to work for everyone and this year I haven't baked even 1 batch!!! I do have it in my plans to bake this weekend to give as gifts for co-workers and the daycare staff where my daughter goes so I am so nervous! I am trying to come up with a plan so I can enjoy these evil little things without gaining too much weight! So far my plan is the night I am baking I will not eat any cookies and only enjoy the left over batter in the bowl. This should only be about a cookie or two worth of calories. I will then pack up all the freshly baked cookies and get them out of my house as quick as possible. I of course will save a batch for the house but I will take some ziplock backs and put 2 or 3 cookies in them and put them in the freezer so I can pull out 1 bag at a time and so even if I eat all the cookies in the bag it won't be more than like 300 calories and I won't be tempted to eat more because the others will be frozen and I would have to really be trying to sabatoge my diet to take them out and wait for them to dethaw to eat more!

ironband

Hey Courtney,

Excellent idea for a thread, btw!

We're all in the same boat. I have a holiday party tonight, holiday luncheon on Friday, daughter's birthday on Sunday, another holiday party next Wednesday, and then of course Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Day After Christmas Leftover day, My 15th wedding Anniversary on the 28th, and then of course the New Year's craziness.

So at least 8-10 celebratory feasts coming up in the next few weeks, and for many of them I have no control over the food that will be served.

My guiding principles:

1. It is better to indulge moderately on my terms than to binge at some point because I've been denying myself.

2. It is a time of celebration and feasting. Our culture celebrates with food. Food is not bad...but too much of a good thing...you know. But we shouldn't feel left out because we're "being good."

3. It is a short period of time, relatively speaking. Whatever happens over the next two weeks, I will not undo everything I've done over the last six months, and it has no bearing over what will happen over the new year.

That said, here is my strategy:

1. I will give myself a 100-300 calorie "treat allotment" at each party. I'd rather distribute my indulgences through the various parties than deny myself at most and binge at one or two. This way I get to experience many different treats, and ultimately will do less damage.

2. I am tempering my goals over these weeks. Currently have MFP set to 1 lb loss per week (500 calorie deficit per day). I'm not changing the setting, but I know in my mind that if I go over my calories by up to 500, I'm still operating at maintenence. I will still try to stay under, but if I don't it isn't the end of the world.

3. I'm finding time to work out. It is hard because it is a busy time of year, but exercise calories are a godsend that can help offset the indulgences. It might be early in the morning, at lunch at work, or late at night. But I'm going to do it.

4. When I see the treats, I will weigh my options. I will split treats with my wife. Less is more (ever notice that the third cookie is never as good as the second and the second is never as good as the first?) I will eat the treats slowly and savor each bite.

5. RIch foods can be offset with smaller portions. If I know that the foods are going to be unhealthy and that smaller portions may not satisfy, I will preload before the party with carrots and other filling low calorie foods so that I will be satisfied with less. If I am bringing something to the party, I'll be the guy who brings the veggie tray

6. When going out, I will pre-divide my meal if it is huge. I will cut off/set aside what I will eat, and the rest will go home with me for lunch the next day.

Cookies are a "red-light" food for me as well, so I know where you're coming from. We can do this...

Andre