Maintenance on Special Occasions

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megxmas95
megxmas95 Posts: 26
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
So it's Easter soon, and it's also my first 'special occasion' of maintenance - for my birthday and Christmas I was still losing weight, so still adhered to a diet in a sense, but next Sunday will be my first time, and I was just wondering, what do y'all do when it's a special occasion (especially a food filled one like Easter!) ?

Do you make exceptions with food elsewhere, have less for dinner or lunch to leave calorie room for the chocolate? Or do you just look at it as a 'bad' day that ultimately won't make too much difference? I'm a little nervous that I'll put on some weight and have to make up for it with a little bit of a diet afterwards!

All and any thoughts welcome!

Replies

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    i usually do not worry and just eat what I want, log it, and move on ..

    Example - I was recently down south for a golf tournament with my dad ..the night of the awards they have a big dinner with dessert, prime rib etc…I had prime rib, potatoes, couple servings of dessert and drank ..but I did not worry because it is one day out of many ..

    Look att his way …is a few days a year of overeating going to make you fat again, no….Part of the process is learning when you can take a break from "dieting" and eat whatever you want..

    I usually do this Thanksgiving, christmas, birthdays, vacation, etc….

    For easter, I will go to brunch, have some bloody marry's and log it all …(after church of course)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Live life, enjoy life, enjoy special occasions.
    Be watchful for trends but ignore the little temporary fluctuations.

    Congrats on losing 81lbs. :flowerforyou:
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I try to avoid the stuff I can eat any time, but will splurge on the things I never eat.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
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    I won't eat anymore on Easter than I do any other day other than getting back the CREAM IN MY COFFEE!!!! (Yes, I've missed it, but Lent is supposed to be a sacrifice.) Truth: I'll make my own GF dessert, which means I can control all of the calories in the peanut butter pie. I won't eat bread because celiac disease and everything else in the traditional Easter meal just doesn't tempt me that much.

    Now there are other days that I go over, know it's going to happen, and just don't care. You have to be able to live. You may notice a weight fluctuation, but it bounces back. I've been in the same 4 lb range since January - including my birthday. :-) My anniversary is at the end of April...will probably go over. Will not care....
  • einzweidrei
    einzweidrei Posts: 381 Member
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    I give myself one day a week to eat a lot. And that's what I do.

    I scatter my calories around.
  • MissBabyJane
    MissBabyJane Posts: 538 Member
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    I was wondering the same thing, too.

    Maybe I will save some calories this week, to have extra on the weekend.
  • Murph1908
    Murph1908 Posts: 125 Member
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    I do a couple of things.

    First, I try not to go over my maintenance number. That way, the day doesn't send be backwards. It's just a lost day weight-loss wise. These kind of days will happen every month or so. Birthdays, weddings, holidays, business trips, going to a sporting event. There's always something. For me, eating my maintenance number makes me feel like I enjoyed the day, but didn't hurt my progress.

    Second, I'll try to save up some calories leading up to that day, either by not eating them or logging some exercise. Fifty calories a day is pretty easy to shave. Do that for 6 days leading up to the holiday will give you a nice 300 for that chocolate bunny.
  • RipperSB
    RipperSB Posts: 315 Member
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    i usually do not worry and just eat what I want, log it, and move on ..

    ^^^^This, this... a thousand times, THIS^^^^
  • RipperSB
    RipperSB Posts: 315 Member
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    Live life, enjoy life, enjoy special occasions.
    Be watchful for trends but ignore the little temporary fluctuations.

    Congrats on losing 81lbs. :flowerforyou:

    ^^^^And THIS, too!^^^^
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
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    It depends on how special the occasion is. I average over the week and have higher days sometimes even without special occasions.

    Sometimes I'll just plan for a higher day and be lower on a couple other days throughout the week to even it out. Around Christmas time, I was full on eating whatever I wanted, with several days over 5000 calories. It was bulking time, so I wasn't fretting any weight gain anyway. I somehow lost weight when I got back home after New Years though...
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    i usually do not worry and just eat what I want, log it, and move on ..

    Example - I was recently down south for a golf tournament with my dad ..the night of the awards they have a big dinner with dessert, prime rib etc…I had prime rib, potatoes, couple servings of dessert and drank ..but I did not worry because it is one day out of many ..

    Look att his way …is a few days a year of overeating going to make you fat again, no….Part of the process is learning when you can take a break from "dieting" and eat whatever you want..

    I usually do this Thanksgiving, christmas, birthdays, vacation, etc….

    For easter, I will go to brunch, have some bloody marry's and log it all …(after church of course)

    This except the golf part...for me it was a going away dinner for a friend who is moving...but yes there was prime rib etc..I logged it all and moved on...

    and for easter same thing except the church part...gonna do brunch with the family..might make a ham on easter with squash and potatoes with deviled eggs and eat that on Sunday with Pie...

    Log it all and not worry to much about it.
  • sshintaku
    sshintaku Posts: 228 Member
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    I've just been eating less of the things I like, and staying a bit below goal on my calories throughout the week. Example: I just got back from vacation. I ordered my chili cheese omelet with hash browns from the diner we breakfasted at, and ate half of it instead of stuffing myself with the whole thing the way I used to.
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
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    Live life, enjoy life, enjoy special occasions.
    Be watchful for trends but ignore the little temporary fluctuations.

    Yep, this exactly.

    To maintain, I log my food MOST of the time. I do not log special occasions....didn't do it while losing, don't do it now. Logging becomes a drag for me and taking a little break on holidays, special occasions, etc keeps me sane. Now I typically don't log my weekends at all.

    I don't weigh myself very often, and I sure wouldn't weigh myself the day after a holiday.
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
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    i usually do not worry and just eat what I want, log it, and move on ..

    Example - I was recently down south for a golf tournament with my dad ..the night of the awards they have a big dinner with dessert, prime rib etc…I had prime rib, potatoes, couple servings of dessert and drank ..but I did not worry because it is one day out of many ..

    Look att his way …is a few days a year of overeating going to make you fat again, no….Part of the process is learning when you can take a break from "dieting" and eat whatever you want..

    I usually do this Thanksgiving, christmas, birthdays, vacation, etc….

    For easter, I will go to brunch, have some bloody marry's and log it all …(after church of course)
    This!
  • LoveHummingbirds
    LoveHummingbirds Posts: 17
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    To maintain, I log my food MOST of the time. I do not log special occasions....didn't do it while losing, don't do it now. Logging becomes a drag for me and taking a little break on holidays, special occasions, etc keeps me sane. Now I typically don't log my weekends at all.

    This is pretty much my position too. I logged everything while losing, but now I don't log at least one of the weekend days and never on a holiday/special occasion. I do continue to exercise and go back to logging the next day.

    And I learned to stay away from the scale for at least 4-5 days after a holiday....

    Congratulations on the weight loss!!
  • salvyhead
    salvyhead Posts: 66 Member
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    I eat pretty much whatever I want on holidays and make up for it in subsequent days. As long as you're at or near your calorie goal at the end of the week, you're good to go. Life's short. :)
  • funkygas
    funkygas Posts: 191 Member
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    I won't eat anymore on Easter than I do any other day other than getting back the CREAM IN MY COFFEE!!!! (Yes, I've missed it, but Lent is supposed to be a sacrifice.) Truth: I'll make my own GF dessert, which means I can control all of the calories in the peanut butter pie. I won't eat bread because celiac disease and everything else in the traditional Easter meal just doesn't tempt me that much.

    Now there are other days that I go over, know it's going to happen, and just don't care. You have to be able to live. You may notice a weight fluctuation, but it bounces back. I've been in the same 4 lb range since January - including my birthday. :-) My anniversary is at the end of April...will probably go over. Will not care....

    Great plan!

    As a fellow GF eater (non-Celiac gluten intolerant), can you let me know the recipe of your peanut butter pie? I love anything with peanut butter ... and if it's paired with chocolate, then you've got me hook, line and sinker!!
  • ottermotorcycle
    ottermotorcycle Posts: 654 Member
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    Forget maintenance, major holidays are a free-for-all! Easter isn't one for me, but I wouldn't dream of limiting myself even to maintenance on Christmas or my birthday.

    I know a lot of people say "it's about family, not food" but they are lying to themselves because holidays are about family AND food AND presents (or at least thoughtful cards)!
  • KariOrtiz2014
    KariOrtiz2014 Posts: 343 Member
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    i usually do not worry and just eat what I want, log it, and move on ..

    THIS... One day won't hurt you if you're consistent with the rest of your "diet."
  • hleighthree
    hleighthree Posts: 5 Member
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    One day won't hurt, but try to set up a mindset that after this day, you're not going to let it turn into a landslide. I went home for a week over Christmas and just said "eat whatever, it's a once in a long time chance", but noticed that after I returned, I continued to want to make those bad choices and it took me a few months to get over it. One day is definitely better than one week, but yeah, just try to get the mindset of a concrete END to the free-for-all. ;D Have fun!!!

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