What's your plan to stay on track through the holidays?

Molly_Maguire

I think it's imperative to have a set plan of action through the holidays to circumvent overeating and excessive splurging.

Because face it, we all know the season of pumpkin pie, gingerbread, eggnog, cookie-decorating, assorted nuts, stuffing, fudge, hot chocolate, candy canes, crispy turkey skin, pumpkin bars, wine, cream cheese frosting, champagne, candied ham, chocolate, and scads of other saddlebag-inducing confectionery delights are just around the corner.

And I'll be d*mned if I'm going to get caught with my pants down! I won't let 6 weeks of everyone else's splurges undo my months and months of hard work and self-control! Who's with me??!?

What are YOU doing to make sure you stay on track, while still enjoying the holiday season? Are you planning more workouts? A set number of cheat meals/splurges? Temporarily upping you calories? No change at all, maybe? Anyone who has advice/stories on plans that have worked in the past would also be greatly appreciated.

Discuss!

Heather_Rider

Eat my thanksgiving supper.. its one meal! Enjoy it, then take my dog out to poop like i always do! :laugh:

Same with Christmas. lol!

efokken

My bf and I are running in a 10K race Thanksgiving morning... and then plan on going to the gym Friday morning and a Cross Fit session on Saturday, I plan on splurging but in moderation so I don't feel like complete crap all day long... it's just a mind set. you can't get down on yourself if you eat something naughty, enjoy it, it's the holidays, just don't over do it...

Chief_Rocka

My plan is to make it 2 bad days, rather than a "season."

testease

I already eat copious amounts of junk food everyday, so it will probably just be an average day for me.

tomcat941

Christmas isn't a major thing for me, i only celebrate it on the day itself. However, we may celebate it but i very rarely enjoy it completly, so i often turn to food during that time. As i am trying to be binge free i don't want to binge on christmas at all but that might be hard. It's worth a time. I've decided if i do binge on christmas, i need another week of p90x.

Krys_140

My plan is to make it 2 bad days, rather than a "season."

^^this

lizziebeth1028

I eat and drink whatever I want on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. And I don't log anything. It's 3 days.....it's what you do on the other 362 days a year that matter. I can't wait to dig in, get silly drunk and have fun with family and friends:drinker:

drmerc

My plan is to make it 2 bad days, rather than a "season."

This is my plan as well

santini1975

Last year I gained 7 pounds over the holidays. I don't know why I seem to think that the month of December I need to have so many baked goodies around! This year on Thanksgiving I will enjoy the feast, but only eat the same portion of food I eat every other day of the year. For Christmas I will wait until Christmas Eve to make my fudge and pizzelles, and send the leftovers home with my guests!

kimika23

Good question! I planned to enjoy Thanksgiving, but am going to try to stick to the healthier food options. I will definitely up my exercise too as long as my knees and shoulder cooperate! I was never big into Christmas cookies, so I will avoid those. Pumpkin pie - I'll will enjoy, just not the crust.

cmcollins001

On the days where I go to my mom's or my in-laws, I'm simply going to enjoy and not think about tracking. I know I won't completely go insane with eating food...I can't even hold as much food as I used to, but I'm going to eat what I want and enjoy it.

When my friend and I go out of state for fun, we have a lot of buffet food which doesn't get tracked either and I do fine on those days as well.

I'm "good" about 98% of the time, that other 2% is just as much for mental health as it is for physical health. If I'm 100% obsessed with logging and more focused on that then I am on having a good time and enjoying the company, then I'm doing something wrong...at least for me.

kenazfehu

I plan to pretty much keep doing what I'm doing. I'm not going to log on Thanksgiving day or Christmas day, but I know I won't go hog wild.

I need to increase my exercise though, like right this minute!

EnchantedEvening

On the days where I go to my mom's or my in-laws, I'm simply going to enjoy and not think about tracking. I know I won't completely go insane with eating food...I can't even hold as much food as I used to, but I'm going to eat what I want and enjoy it.

When my friend and I go out of state for fun, we have a lot of buffet food which doesn't get tracked either and I do fine on those days as well.

I'm "good" about 98% of the time, that other 2% is just as much for mental health as it is for physical health. If I'm 100% obsessed with logging and more focused on that then I am on having a good time and enjoying the company, then I'm doing something wrong...at least for me.

This. Exactly. It's two days out of the year, and we don't see our families that often, so I'm going to be as careful as I am any other day but also enjoy the good food and company.

I'll log it before bed that night and make up the calories/exercise throughout the week if I need to. I trust myself, though. I haven't overeaten in months, and I couldn't even if I wanted to.

deb3129

I just plan to keep doing what I am doing now, eating healthy and finding time to exercise.

magerum

I plan on eating all the damn food. Seriously, I'm giving myself 10k calories a day for a couple days. If I get that far I'd be impressed. Although I could easily eat more than my current 3300 so I'm not sure how much of a challenge it will be.

Jeanlk4

The gym I go to has a biggest loser competition right now. Every time you come in, you earn a point, every time you lose a pound or a percent of body fat you get a point, Meet with a trainer to get your weight and measurements, get a point, Take a group class and get a point. For every 10 points you get a free one on one training session with a personal trainer, and I think the winner gets like 10 free personal training sessions on top of the other they earned? It's pretty cool motivation, especially knowing i have to go in every two weeks and get measured by my trainer!

Restybaby2012

the more time I spend on MFP reading, studying and learning......and the more time I spend on practicing(??wrong term maybe) on eating "right" and eating healthy, the less inclined I am to eat too much or way wrong or unhealthy.

GOOD HEAVENS I CANT EVEN USE THE CORRECT WORDS TONIGHT!!!!!!

I just dont feel the need much anymore to eat what I shouldnt or how I shouldnt. ('cept for my cinnamon rolls) I absolutely detest that over stuffed over full feeling now.

I'll probably log that day but only for a guess-timate.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

My plan is to make it 2 bad days, rather than a "season."

^^this

This x 2

Rhia55

Thanksgiving is a "free" day for me.. no logging.. I eat what I want.

However, the next day a hard workout is going to be done and Christmas I will be eating my normal diet, so no Christmas dinner.

dutchman24

I just plan on enjoying the day, but limiting the damage. Am only going enjoy the ONE day.

sobriquet84

My plan is to make it 2 bad days, rather than a "season."

yup.

pixiestick

1) I am vowing to avoid drinking cals during Christmas (a week with my folks and a week with my DH's family). My love-affair with eggnog is very costly... and cals accumulate so quickly between hot-chocolate, mulled wine, cider, and specialty coffee drinks.

2) I am also thinking that I will try and get at least a 30min workout in every day. I figure if I get myself off on the right foot first thing in the morning, then the rest of the day should be easier.

3) I will be on my "maintenance" cals. The goal for the two weeks with family and non-stop food is not to lose... I just don't want to gain anything.

midnight333

Very easy answer: married no children, and both sets of parents dead.

At least we don't have any issues over in-laws.:laugh:

Rebane1

I will visit my family a bit longer than just the holiday and the plan is to increase the calorie limit so that the weight will not increase, but I really don't expect to see no new and exciting numbers either. If the scales will show red light... happens but no sulking about it. As a dog owner I can also increase the exercise time with no strange questions or comments. Big family dinner will be total exception - I will just enjoy the evening and if it involves extra food then it does.

We can't put too strong walls around us. Yes - we can get rid of some weight then but it comes back sooner or later. If you want to maintain your weight one day, it must become a part of your natural well-being. Part of my well-being is keeping some traditions and one of them is a meal that is tradition for years in my home and for centuries in this country.

AggieFan2011

My plan is to make it 2 bad days, rather than a "season."

^^this

This x 2

This x 3!!
Thanksgiving day is going to be a splurge day as will the day my family all gets together for Christmas. I might even throw New Years Eve in there too, but other than that I plan on sticking to my goals and either exercising a ton or saying no to the delicious Christmas cookies and pie that I will for certain be surrounded by during that time of year.

SanteMulberry

I will eat like I always do during the Christmas "season". The one exception that I will make is for Christmas day and I will eat whatever I want that day---although, my tastes have changed since I started my "no sugar, no wheat" plan. I can't stand most sweets now (way too sweet---nauseatingly so). I do like dinner rolls, mashed potatoes and stuffing though, so I will eat a small amount of each (I can't eat that much at one sitting anymore anyway). I might have a piece of chocolate, a shortbread cookie and/or some egg nog, for a snack, on Christmas day--because they are favorites. I am really not tempted to binge anymore since I got sugar out of my life. I run high blood sugar levels so it really isn't a good idea anyway. I will take a long walk to compensate for the extra calories. The day after, I will get right back on my program. In the past, the whole month of December was a problem for me because we would go to so many Christmas parties. Now, when I'm offered sweets, I just tell people that I cannot eat wheat and that eliminates most of the problem. :happy:

claritarejoice

This is a good reminder to plan ahead. We are spending Thanksgiving with my husband's family and Christmas with my family. For Thanksgiving we all share in the cooking, so I will bring healthy stuff that I will eat - the salad, veggies and roasted sweet potatoes (no added sugar). I will eat normal portion sizes - my mother-in-law makes jollof rice and I will just have a half cup instead of 3 cups like in the past. For Christmas, my parents are health freaks so I don't have any concern about food at their house. They never have baked goods around. I am going to take my workout dvds with me to visit them so I can make sure I have a chance to work out every day.

bluefrog_2001

My plan is to make it 2 bad days, rather than a "season."

Me too!

almalaurathomas

This is from my blog-

With the holidays approaching..

So, I have been doing some serious thinking about the upcoming holiday season and how it is going to affect my diet. I decided that I will NOT let it! For Halloween, my boyfriend and I have already decided the night after trick or treating, HE will sit down and fill up two medium zip lock baggies of the kid's favorites and put them away for safe keeping. The rest is either going to my parents to munch on or in the garbage! I was thinking of maybe even letting the kids have a little "lemonade stand" where they could sell their candy to other people for a penny. It would be fun for them and teach them how to share, make money, and be creative!

For Thanksgiving... well, that's simple. We decided to make our own Thanksgiving dinner instead of eating at a family member's house. That way, I can track every calorie and know exactly what I am eating. I plan on portioning out my meal to where it is under at least 500 calories. I am going to continue with my usual breakfast and snacks throughout the day. I think I am also going to do a little bit of exercise that day, just because all my meals are normally less than 400 calories. Actually, a lot of my food and snacks are anywhere from 60 calories to 300. I usually don't go over that for a meal unless we are at a restaurant. I was worried about this day in particular because I was worried of how people would judge me. "It's Thanksgiving and you aren't going to eat the same meal as us?", or "why are you eating so little?"... Then, I realized this is about ME. Those people are not the ones who carry this weight, I AM. So let them judge me, but I refuse to gain a few pounds over a holiday!

Christmas isn't usually too hard for me to begin with, so I am hoping it remains that way this year. I do bake a lot of cookies and treats for the kids, so we will probably resort to baking some more healthy choice food items instead of cookies. For the kid's stockings, we will do the same thing we did at Halloween. As a matter of fact, I will probably stock their stockings with more gadgets and fun stuff versus food. I am changing my lifestyle, so I might as well teach them good habits in the process. Why reward them with food on a holiday? Not everything is about food.

For every holiday or event where there will be food, I am going to try to prepare a "healthy option" for myself. When we go out to things such as "trunk or treat" and "Christmas light watching", I am going to trade in the hot cocoa and snacking on candy for munching on a banana or maybe even trying peanuts. Who knows, I may like them! These may sound like simple changes, but as much baking, cooking, and events we attend during the holiday season, all those small things will add up pretty quickly!

I am not going to fall into the typical trend of failure around the holiday season just to make my New Year goal to get on track again. I don't plan on getting off track to begin with!

secrets_out

Will power?...nah stretch pants!!