So the Holidays.....And Eating

jgsparks89

I'm Southern. We do Thanksgiving and Christmas food in a BIG way down here. Also, I read a few articles (via livestrong.com) that estimate people average anywhere from 3000 to 4500 calories at Thanksgiving dinner (WOAH!).

Out of curiosity, how do you plan on dealing with food on these holidays? Are you taking a 100% free day (no counting, no logging)? Or are you going to "cheat" (hate that term) and just log it? Anyone sticking to your goals and not indulging?

Long term MFPers: how have you managed these holidays in the past?

Personally, I think I'm going to try to indulge in moderation (if that's a thing? lol)....and log as best I can. :drinker:

amann1976

if you invite me over for dinner i will personally show you how to eat all those southern goodies through the holidays...


i plan on dealing with it just like i deal with parties or bbq's or any other outing... i will probaby just have a small taste of everything i like leave a little room for dessert and stay away from the empty calories of punch and cider and any other sweetened beverage.

then the next day i will wake up and hit the gym hard like i do any other day.

plus to be honest my stomach can't pack it away like it use to when i was younger or when i had poorer eating habits. 2 beers and i am bloated and anything more than one plate of food and my stomach is knocking for the bathroom

saw something on tv the other day that said the average person eat a 3300 calorie meal on thanksgiving...

crazybookworm

I just typed a blog post about this topic this morning! Because here in Canada we already had Thanksgiving, I posted some of my tips and how to recover from the holidays. Feel free to check it out!

BadgerSensei

Personally? I just relax and enjoy myself most of the time at these things. It's a day for guilt free indulgence, imo-- but even, then, I find there are a lot of things, like pop, that I used to crave and now don't care about.
Your mileage may vary here, but I find whatever weight I put on over one or two days of holiday eating (Holidays are typically three hours from here, so there's a day or two where I'm off diet) comes off really quite easily afterwards.

smantha32

I'm going to mostly eat what I want through the holidays but I'm going to keep logging.
From October to February every stinking year I gain about 20 pounds and spend all summer trying to get it off.
That is NOT happening this year. Or ever again for that matter if I have to log every bite I eat for the rest of my life.

I am so sick of it.

moreORless50

i deff wont be counting cals on christmas day i been realy good with my eating and i really dont think a day or 2 will hurt to much as long as i dont go over board and carry on eating when i am full

jmc0806

Thanksgiving and Christmas I'm eating whatever I want. At this point it doesn't take much for me to be full so I doubt it will even be close to what I used to eat anyways

julieh391

My plan is to get my butt to the gym every day the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas and get in serious workouts. I generally eat back most of my exercise calories, but I may take it easy those days. Then I won't feel guilty at all eating a big fabulous Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. I'm also running a 5k Thanksgiving morning.

Rogiefreida

Thanksgiving and Christmas I'm eating whatever I want. At this point it doesn't take much for me to be full so I doubt it will even be close to what I used to eat anyways

This. Even when I tell myself "self, you can eat whatever you want and as much as you want", I can't eat like I used to. It makes me happy and sad at the same time.

bluered3038

I won't be counting Between Thanksgiving and the New Year. I am going to try to hold my own on weight or allow myself to gain a couple of pounds. Not only will there be big dinners, but it is candy making and bread baking time.
I learned at Weight Watchers once that you need to choose what you want to do during the holidays---lose, stay the same or allow a gain and then not stress over it.
I also know that I don't eat as much as I used to and will only choose my favorited. I personally can't wait till thanksgiving for dressing and noodles----YUM

julieh391

Thanksgiving and Christmas I'm eating whatever I want. At this point it doesn't take much for me to be full so I doubt it will even be close to what I used to eat anyways

And this. Even if I let myself go crazy, I'm pretty much just unable to eat like I used to.

beckyboop712

I'm probably going to ramp up my running during the holiday season in preparation for all the holiday eating. As far as Thanksgiving, there's always Turkey Trots. Great way to burn some of the calories before you even consume them.

I'll be on vacation over Christmas anyways so I'll be away from all the sweets but I will have to contend with restaurant food for almost two weeks.

LiqueLique89

I log everything so the holidays are no different, however since i know what I will be eating I try to eat lightly in the morning and have a small snack for lunch. I drink a lot of water too.

On Easter [this year] I samlped a little bit of everything [in a circle on my plate] once it was filled i stopped and ate that. If there was something i didn't get to eat, I had planned to put it on my next plate, but since I was full after the first one, I put it on a to go plate for the next day. I waited two hours before having dessert, I put one scoop of my fav desserts on one plate [3 different cakes] and ate one each day. For the firsr time I left my aunt's house feeling satisfied, not stuffed :happy:

I plan to do the same at Thanksgiving and Christmas.....Christmas will be a little tougher because I split the holiday and eat twice [with my dad's side of the family at about 4pm PST then my mom's side of the family later, around 8pm]. Plus I have family dinner Christmas Eve with my dad's in-laws.

If I go over, I'm just going to look past it because I only eat like that 4-5 times a year, not everyday

jilliew

I usually don't log simply because I'm with my family and there are more important things to do during the holidays. However, I try not to eat a ton. Personally, I try to eat just one helping of dinner (no going back for seconds!!) and I try to eat more turkey and veggies than I do potatoes and other high-carb food. I try not to snack on junk (although this is ridiculously hard as my mother makes the BEST Christmas baking - yes, even better than your mom's!!). What really kills me on the holidays is all the alcohol, but I don't worry about it too much. When I get back home and back into the routine I might have lost a week or two in my goal, but I know that the good times I had during my stay with my family is weeelllll worth it.

daniellealys

"holidays" will be difficult for me in a different way. This year I just stopped eating dairy, gluten, and wheat and only grassfeed, organic meats. So, I probably wont be able to eat anything at these dinners except off the vegie tray. So, I will have to pack my own meals and bring them or I will starve (plus we travel all thanksgiving week all over to visit family). my husband just found that he is allergic to gluten, wheat, dairy and eggs so I know I will stay away from these things (because he has to as well).

In the years past (pre-allergy issues) I would only allow myself certain treats. Like I can either eat some of the cheesy, bad for me casserole or a big piece of pie, but not both. or if I want all of it, I can only have a few bites (share a piece of pie, two bites of casserole) I think you have to figure out what works for you. You need to enjoy your day but that doesnt mean it needs to "undo" your entire week

Good luck everyone!

mtdubree

I'm just going to have a couple of bites of all my favorite stuff thats about it.

jeme3

More exercise around the big eating days is my plan.

And not over eating on the days leading up to the holiday itself.

natalovesmusic

I'm planning on eating with my family WITHOUT going diary-log nuts
I am going to give myself reasonable portions as to not stuff myself like the bird [like I have done every year]

Ronngie

For Thanksgiving, we always go for a walk which is one of my favorite times that day.
We are omitting some side dishes, and tweaking others.
I'm going to log everything I eat, and try to have more turkey & less everything else. I don't want to set myself up for a failed day, I would rather plan ahead & have a little of everything instead of an oink fest.

mamalopez12

My family is Mexican so we dnt do thanksgiving. thank gawd!

lwagnitz

My family always has a crap load of appetizers...and a crap load of alcohol...hello, Wisconsin here. So that's probably the biggest challenge I have to deal with.

This year I think I'm going to eat some veggies and fruit before I go, avoid the appetizers, stick with water, MAYBE ONE drink, clear liquor, though. And I will moderate my ONE portion. Avoid more starchy foods. I think I"ll probably load my plate with veggies, and a little meat and I'll be good. That's my taste preferences anyway.

saraann4

I'm going buck wild and enjoying myself. If I gain a few pounds, no biggy.

truddy6647

me personally I am such a picky eater that during holiday time I don't eat that many things. My issue is family reuions, which are usually during the summer and many grilled items ect.

nenacakesxo

Girl i know exactly what you mean! I'm Mexican and from the south so yeah, we go big for holiday meals. I plan on ENJOYING the food. Maybe not over eating... My biggest weakness is dessert. i do plan on logging my meals even on Christmas and new years because i'm curious on what my sodium/sugar intake is going to be.

notmac

Well, I had not started to think about it yet. We will only have immediate family here, husband, son, and daughter (also doing MFP) and the in-laws. this year my son's girlfriend and her sister will join us for Thanksgiving. Our Thanksgiving is non-traditional, in that we go the the local American Legion, and help our church, with a community feed. During the day we don't get much time to eat at all. Then we come home and have a meal, so i will have moved/walked a lot by the time my day is done.
Christmas....we'll see. I am hoping that I will be at or near my goal weight. Over all, I am going to eat healthy, and not stress if I am over the calories for the day.

justal313

I'm running a 5K Thanksgiving morning. My breakfast that day will probably be a little bit of granola so I can actually manage the 5K. After that.. I'm eating, I'll try to make better choices (not necessarilly good choices) and then get on with my life the next day.

Christmas eve wont be a big problem, I don't know for sure about christmas but it's the same thing all over again, I'll keep on with everything I'm doing the next day. Plus I have two races on new years day, a 5K and a one mile.

FitFabFlirty92

My strategy is always to eat a little bit of everything. I make one small plate with all the things I really want in small portions. Generally I get full of just that since I eat a lot less now than I did in the past, so unless I'm really hungry I STOP at that one plate. Then have a small portion of whatever dessert is there. If I've eaten a bunch of different things and can't even fathom the idea of logging it, I don't bother. But if I can log it, I try to, just to see how far over I went out of curiosity. I never feel any guilt because I don't pig out like I used to and it is, after all, a holiday.

coolraul07

My strategy is always to eat a little bit of everything. I make one small plate with all the things I really want in small portions. Generally I get full of just that since I eat a lot less now than I did in the past, so unless I'm really hungry I STOP at that one plate. Then have a small portion of whatever dessert is there. If I've eaten a bunch of different things and can't even fathom the idea of logging it, I don't bother. But if I can log it, I try to, just to see how far over I went out of curiosity. I never feel any guilt because I don't pig out like I used to and it is, after all, a holiday.

*this*... except that it will be a standard size plate (10-12"?) for me. I just joined MFP in Sept, so this will be my first food holiday trial-by-fire.
Breakfast and lunch will be almost entirely raw fruits and veggies to minimize sodium intake before the 'big meal'. I will log where reasonable, but I won't be my usual "pre-logging, macro Nazi" self.
I will probably exercise a little more during those weeks, but won't beat myself up if I don't. For more than a decade I used to be a Black Friday warrior, up at the crack of dawn, loving the crowds, and shopping the whole weekend; I imagine that I used to get a serious calorie burn from the all-weekend madness. However, last year was the first year that I did most of my shopping online. The Cyber Monday deals were so good that I don't know if I can go back to shopping the ol'-fashioned way. So I'll have to factor that in to my exercise plans.
My Stage 2 goal (see profile) was to get below 260lb by Turkey Day and maintain until after X-Mas before losing again. I've already built-in a 5 lb "fudge" factor (both figuratively and literally), so as long as I stay below 265 lb for T-Day, I'm good.

lizziebeth1028

It's a free day for me! No logging and I'll eat and drink whatever I want. I do this for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I think the most important thing in regards to holidays is to not make one day of fun foods into an entire week. The day after you'll find me at the gym and eating healthy again!

LauraDotts

Unfortunately, diabetes doesn't take a holiday.

ChristyRunStarr

Anyone sticking to your goals and not indulging?

That's me! I'll log what I have and stay within my calories. I am doing a 5K earlier that day so that will help plus my family goes out for Thanksgiving dinner so it's easier since there are no leftovers Although we do have Thanksgiving dinner at work the week before but I'm not a huge turkey fan so I fill up on veggies and healthy yummy stuff, which I know we'll have since I'm the one that orders the dinner :bigsmile: