Logging at Christmas

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NattyJayne1991
NattyJayne1991 Posts: 25 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Okay, so I know there is a long time yet until it's Christmas! But with all the sweets, cakes being shelved in stores at the moment you can't help thinking it's only around the corner!

I've never really been on MFP long enough to be logging at Christmas, wanted to know if you log at Christmas or whether you decide to go crazy and get back to it after the festive season has passed!

I know that come every Christmas I always struggle so I'm curious as to whether how many of you continue logging and being good or decide not to for a few weeks.

Natty
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Replies

  • summer8it
    summer8it Posts: 433 Member
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    I keep logging, personally. On a few major food holidays I might just add a generous amount of quick add calories rather than logging everything, so I may do that on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On those specific days I don't worry about going over my calorie goal, but I keep myself to it throughout the rest of the festive season. At a maintenance calorie level, I can fit in a few Christmas cookies without going over!

    One of my pals did a bulk last year that happened to fall during the holiday season from Thanksgiving through New Year's, and then she started a cut in January. She said it worked so well to do the bulk during the traditional overeating season that she might make it an annual thing!
  • ZenInTexas
    ZenInTexas Posts: 781 Member
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    Christmas day and Thanksgiving day I don't worry about it. All the other days, yes. I keep on logging.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    I know that come every Christmas I always struggle so I'm curious as to whether how many of you continue logging and being good or decide not to for a few weeks.

    To break it down in honest terms, you aren't talking about letting loose on Christmas itself (aka 1 day), you are talking about "going crazy" for 3 weeks. That is a recipe for disaster, IMO.

    I started MFP in early 2011, lost 30 pounds and have been maintaining for close to 2 years, so this will be my 3rd holiday season coming up. What I have found is that kind of mentality will be exactly what will do you in. You have to eat healthfully and mindfully the bulk of the time or you will gain weight, period. When I was actively losing weight, what I did was instead of reducing calories, I ate at maintenance. This gave me some extra calories in that danger period of Thanksgiving to New year's, but I didn't undo all of my hard work. I also do not count calories on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day. One day off once in a while won't set you back. Eating whatever you want, whenever you want for a month's time will.

    Don't undo what you have worked hard for.
  • palmerar
    palmerar Posts: 489 Member
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    With all of the homemade foods around the Holidays I find it almost impossible to log accurately. However, I will log as best I can. Yes I go over on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve, but having a rough estimate of how much we eat on Holidays is interesting to me. Also, you can do some damage control by eating light before the main meal of the Holiday. I think that you will find it harder to eat as much as you have at past Holidays if you have been calorie restricting up to the Holiday. Another thing, take your time to eat...make sure you let your body realize when you are starting to get stuffed.
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,065 Member
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    This will be my first Christmas on MFP and I am not planning on logging on Christmas Day. It comes once a year and I plan on enjoying every minute of it :bigsmile: I'll be back on track the next day!
  • dunnodunno
    dunnodunno Posts: 2,290 Member
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    This will be my first Christmas too on myfitnesspal & I plan on logging Breakfast, but it will be hard to log some of the other foods. I might make a guesstimate & add that for my lunch.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    I only log occasionally now at maintenance. I won't bother logging at Christmas. I also won't be going "crazy" with everything either. I will enjoy my Christmas dinner and what not and I'm sure a few holiday parties...but I'm not one to just sit around and eat Christmas cookies all day long during the entire holiday season. That's simply glutenous and you're looking for trouble. Nothing really changes for me that much...yes, I will most likely over indulge on Christmas day, but I'm not spending a whole month or two just sitting around gorging myself...that just seems stupid.
  • happysherri
    happysherri Posts: 1,360 Member
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    I've always been bad around the holidays too. I vow this year to keep on logging through those months (I usually tapper off end of October through December -on healthy choices and exercise). I probably will not log food on Thanksgiving day nor Christmas day.
  • bex4health
    bex4health Posts: 45 Member
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    Christmas time will be hard for me also, and my first one while one MFP! I love baking and cooking and I know I won't stop, just hoping I won't consume too much of it!! My husband is a firefighter so I'm planning on still baking and cooking, just sending it to the firehouse after I taste it lol
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
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    I usually do not log except every now and then I log a day or series of days to get a sense for some specific things I have added to my diet. I tend to eat from pretty much the same set of breakfast and lunch selections nearly every day. IOW, I don't eat the same thing for lunch every day but most days it will be one of about 6 different things. Same for breakfast. So I have these building blocks that I know will keep me under or near goal. When the scale starts to move, I make sure there are more "under" blocks than "near goal" ones. I won't let myself go crazy just because I plan to offset any damage but I won't worry over the content of every little thing either. I really don't get how people can eat at a deficit to lose weight for several months and then can't put together a few deficit days without measuring everything using meals you had plenty of times before while dieting and know they have good macros and low calories.
  • kirkor
    kirkor Posts: 2,530 Member
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    > festive season

    > few weeks

    tread carefully, that's dangerous
  • jen4relient22
    jen4relient22 Posts: 46
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    this will be my first christmas logging too! i know i always gain at least 5-10lbs at christmas time (and i too view christmas as a wonderful few weeks to eat, enjoy family, and just be happy) so i'm hoping that continuing to log with help eliminate that from happening! i usually stop exercising in the winter (was previously just an outdoor runner and could never handle running in 20 degree, snowy weather), but now that i've joined a gym i hope that will help as well since i don't plan on stopping working out ANYTIME soon. i think i'll probably try not to log on thanksgiving and christmas (i'm a compulsive logger and have to either pre-log or log immediately after i eat something or i feel out of control), so i'll try to give myself those days off. otherwise i'll keep logging.
  • nikkylyn
    nikkylyn Posts: 325 Member
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    I might skip logging on two Days. Thanksgiving and christmas day, not the entire season. But still make healthier choices on those days. I will have my treats one piece of pie maybe a few cookies but Im not gonna pig out...ya know. I still will log the rest of the time. Just because stores are selling the sweets.doesnt mean i have to eat it.
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
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    I keep logging good or bad. I fully expect to be eating at maintenance levels over the holiday... maybe a bulk? lol
  • gabrielleroberts3
    gabrielleroberts3 Posts: 15
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    I haven't been on here long enough for Christmas, but I plan on logging even if I go over. It's all about accountability for me!
  • Ldbg289
    Ldbg289 Posts: 236 Member
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    Last Christmas and Thanksgiving, although I was not on mfp at that point(I was using another program)I took the day off and figured I'd get back to it. Also I am not gonna worry so much about logging accurately on my birthday(coming up in 2 weeks).
  • nicholawelch
    nicholawelch Posts: 74 Member
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    I Logged at christmas and new year and found it helped to keep me accountable but at the same time I did eat what I wanted to, I did not go without but found ny self being ore sensible. This paid off for me as I only put on 2lb over the whole festive period, even with cake, chocolate and buffets
  • sobriquet84
    sobriquet84 Posts: 607 Member
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    i just think about it this day--- Christmas is a DAY, not a season. Personally, its really hard for me to screw up my numbers in one day so bad that its absolutely catastrophic. I've logged before on Thanksgiving/Christmas and the most I've gotten to was 3,500. With that being said, I just put 3,500 calories for Thanksgiving/Christmas, I don't log specific foods, just put down 3,500 calories for the day. I have a good idea of calorie counts in the foods typically eaten in our home on holidays and at 3,500 calories I made myself sick. So, I "over shoot", just put 3,500 calories for Thanksgiving/Christmas, and go at it.

    Enjoy the day, log if you want, don't if you don't, just keep it to that one day and don't make an entire season out of it.
  • Deipneus
    Deipneus Posts: 1,862 Member
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    I know that come every Christmas I always struggle so I'm curious as to whether how many of you continue logging and being good or decide not to for a few weeks.
    We've said it so often it's a cliche': It's a lifestyle change. But it's true. I don't change my behavior for Christmas. But when I'm at a party, whether or not it's Christmas, I either avoid the buffet table altogether or eat just a little and log a calories-only estimate.

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