Maintenace mode proactively lose pre-holiday?

I plan to do all of that.
I'll keep logging, be as accurate as possible, exercise as much as I can to keep some semblance of calorie balance, and recognize I may have a few lbs to work back off come January. If I can keep it to 3-ish pounds gained, I'll be fine with that. Thanksgiving remains my favorite holiday of the year, and I plan to enjoy it. Forthcoming gluttony is fully acknowledged and embraced. That one day only. I may not even log that day.

Ironically, I've already unintentionally pre-cut...My goal weight was 148, but somehow I've ended up at more like 144 and maintaining pretty easily with 2000 cal/day.


I still log religiously, but I'm actually excited for the Holiday season as a chance to test my new portion control and management skills learned over the last year. I fully expect to succeed and be around 145 come Jan 1.

Use MFP to 'look up' the calories and macro-nutrients of the holiday foods that will be the greatest temptations for you.
"Forewarned is forearmed": you'll see how those foods will affect all the hard work you did to get your new body.
Another strategy is to remember: "Nothing tastes as good as 'thin' feels.
Best Wishes!

"Forewarned is forearmed": you'll see how those foods will affect all the hard work you did to get your new body.
Another strategy is to remember: "Nothing tastes as good as 'thin' feels.

First of all, it's totally possible to indulge in amazing foods without undoing hard work. I do it all the time, and my "new" body actually looks better than it did when I hit my goal weight. Moderation for me is key; deprivation of foods I love wouldn't work out.

Second, I've gotta disagree that nothing tastes as good as thin feels. Some food tastes pretty damn amazing. There's nothing wrong with loving food; it's not shameful to think it tastes wonderful. Sayings like "nothing tastes as good as thin feels" are part of the reason I waited to so long to lose weight; I was not willing to give up one of life's pleasures, good food and drink.

How happy I was to learn that I didn't have to

If it works for you, that's awesome. But it doesn't work for everyone

One of my favorite quotes from a friend, "I'll never eat a bad french fry again." She realized that enjoying the foods she loved was well worth it to her, but she stopped eating the cold, soggy, greasy not so enjoyable ones that were just empty calories.

YES!!! That was such an important lesson for me to learn.

Some foods are worth it. When a coworker brings in a heavenly homemade dessert or donuts from the best bakery in town? Absolutely worth the splurge.

Supermarket cake with frosting made from shortening? Donuts from the gas station? Absolutely not worth it.

I used to eat crap because it was there. Now I hold off until something that's absolutely worth the calories comes along

I swear, a prix fixe multi-course meal from a chef-driven, four-star restaurant paired with microbrews (which I love far more than wine)? The pleasure that brings is about comparable to the pleasure I get from running a longer distance, fitting into smaller clothes, weighing in at a healthy weight for my doctor's appointment for the first time in more than a decade.

I am so glad I learned that these can all co-exist

PS: sorry for derailing your thread!

I have been trying to figure out a similar plan for the next couple of months. I have been setting smaller intermediate goals since beginning in February last year, 10 lbs at a time, and I am at my second goal weight now of 130, having lost 20 lbs. I'm within normal range, and could probably stop here but I wanted to lose another 5 or so lbs just to give myself a buffer.

I also (somewhat unintentionally) switched to maintenance mode in September/October because there was a lot going on and I was a little less active, thus I gained and re-lost the same couple of pounds. What that did help me with though was figuring out really what my TDEE is and where my mainenance calories are. So now I feel pretty well informed going into the next 8 weeks of where I need to be on average to either minimize gains, stay flat, or lose a couple of pounds before all the holiday nonsense begins.

I also agree that as far as overeating goes, the days where this will happen really are limited to just a few days with parties and family gatherings. For me though, the challenge will be that life in general is busier, it is harder to fit in exercise, it is colder which makes getting in some walks during lunch breaks at work more difficult - so paying attention to the calories consumed on the regular days is going to be more important since there may be less exercise to offset the excess.

What I decided to do was drop my daily goal by 100 calories (not much at all) to 1600 in order to keep the day to day calories down and afford a few hundred extra on the special occasions on the weekends.

I don't intend to overdo it throughout the holiday season, but I am watching my weight/measurements as winter approaches. It's not so much that I feel I'm likely to gorge on empty calories, more that I tend to crave more fuel in colder weather.

I'm not intending to lose any in anticipation of predictable gains. Hopefully I'll just avoid any gains in the first instance.

My goal was to maintain from October-January before going for the last few pounds. I overshot my maintenance calories big time and bounced back up to my "red alert" weight and am now back in deficit to get to the bottom of my maintenance window before the holidays.

I'm planing to log everything, except Thanksgiving. My brother and I traditionally cook, eat, and drink wine for two days straight and there's no way I'm going to keep track. I will probably just "quick add" 4000 calories each day so I can have a realistic view of my weekly averages.

Wow! There are so many great tips in this thread! I don't have too many unique ideas to contibute, but I am definitely on board with planning more active outings with family and friends over the holidays. So many celebrations this time of year are centered around food and it's nice to have a wider range of activities in your calendar that don't revolve around the dinner table.

Good luck to everyone planning to lose a little extra or maintain!