How are you surviving the festive period

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maoribadger
maoribadger Posts: 1,837 Member
in Food and Nutrition
And what are your weight goals?

For me I have been trying to lose 50lb by christmas day. Ive currently got 4.5lb left to go and *counts* 11 days. So Im cutting it fine (probably wont make it if I am honest) but have struggled this week due to TOM and hoping to drop some water weight next week. That said if I dont I will be celebrating hitting whatever I *have* lost be it my current 44.5lb or some other number between that and 50.

Ive just had a day of total comfort eating and am planning on sticking well to my plan and working out hard between now and christmas which will be my next 'day off'. Christmas day I am not even going to pretend to stick to my calorie/macro goals and probably boxing day either as Im working 12 hours and there are always chocolates at the nurses station. I would say I will aim to maintain from christmas to new year and work in whatever gym sessions I can meet to achieve this then start back hopefully losing in the New Year.

How about you guys? All you lucky bulkers out there must be loving the festive period
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Replies

  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    I log what I eat, and choose my indulgences selectively. If I really go super indulgent then I will lower my total calorie intake for the next few days.
  • goldenglow90
    goldenglow90 Posts: 44 Member
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    I'm managing okay at the moment but we are going to the in-laws over Christmas so it'll be more difficult to control what I eat. Breakfast is fine but dinner will have to be whatever is being cooked for us, plus there is the alcohol. I'm not a big drinker anyway but even just one or two can put me over the calorie limit. Plus I'll be working out less with the gym there.

    Any advice or tips would be great, don't want to spoil the work I've put in so far!
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Eat all the foods. Try to get *some* exercise. Try to keep things close to my calorie goal, but if I go over, oh well, that's life. That's pretty much all I can do, lol.

    I'm 8 months pregnant, so no weight loss goals for me. I just want to survive Christmas and then it's the waiting game for labor.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    I'm baking all kinds of stuff and I'm enjoying the holidays... don't have to see my in laws this year so no survival tactics needed
  • maoribadger
    maoribadger Posts: 1,837 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Just making conversation idly wondering how everyone is doing Christmas this year and what their weight loss or not as the case may be goals are. No need to be so sanctimonious.

    Survive being used in the purely ironic sense. Guess not everyone's feeling the festive love...
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    MrM27 wrote: »
    Surviving? Seems a little extreme. It's not like we're going to die if we enjoy the holidays. Reevulate your mental approach.

    +1

    Why even bother losing weight if you're gonna stop enjoying life in the process? I mean, holidays are supposed to be times to look forward to, not times to dread. Weight loss is about getting yourself to the point where you're healthier, happier with your body, and in better shape, so as to better enjoy the things you like about life. It's not about getting yourself to the point where you've sacrificing all the things you like about life.
  • maoribadger
    maoribadger Posts: 1,837 Member
    edited December 2014
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    segacs wrote: »
    MrM27 wrote: »
    Surviving? Seems a little extreme. It's not like we're going to die if we enjoy the holidays. Reevulate your mental approach.

    +1

    Why even bother losing weight if you're gonna stop enjoying life in the process? I mean, holidays are supposed to be times to look forward to, not times to dread. Weight loss is about getting yourself to the point where you're healthier, happier with your body, and in better shape, so as to better enjoy the things you like about life. It's not about getting yourself to the point where you've sacrificing all the things you like about life.

    I'm at a bit of a loss as to where I said I didnt enjoy life, didnt look forward to the holidays or was sacrificing anything, I enjoy indulgences on a pretty regular basis and I've not imploded yet. Purely made a speculative enquiry as to what people were planning on doing over the holidays. And said I planned to fully enjoy Christmas day and Boxing day. I think some people take this place a leeetle seriously. Some threads are purely about interest in other people's perspectives

    Edited for spelling

  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    I expect my food intake and exercise to be pretty normal. I'm not traveling, going to parties, baking like crazy or planning some big feast day. The holidays are very low key for my family this year. We are just hanging out at home. I will log whatever I do. I hope to lose a couple of pounds by the beginning of January.
  • Tblackdogs
    Tblackdogs Posts: 324 Member
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    I think it's a totally legitimate question/thread. I've never been very overweight but every year I have traditionally gained and lost the same 10 pounds. My reason for being on MFP is to stop that tradition and learn about moderation. My weight gain would usually start with Halloween candy and slide into stuffing/gravy consumption at Thanksgiving. It would ramp up with Christmas candy, parties and a couple of indulgent dinners. Then like many people I would be unhappy with the pounds gained and start losing them in the new year. I'd recommit to exercise (which I'd given up because why run when you've just polished off a bag of mini Snickers bars? (Being Ironic here!!!) and eat better. I'd be good for the summer and early fall and then that darn Halloween would pop up again at the end of October. And the cycle would begin again. This year I re joined the MFP world right at Halloween. I didn't eat ANY Halloween candy until the week after Halloween when there wasn't much left. I kept going and exercised on Thanksgiving morning and though I enjoyed my stuffing with gravy, I skipped the appetizers (which didn't look very good anyway!) and dessert because I was full. Now it's December and I'm doing great. I have a party next weekend so I'll exercise a little more this week and keep under my calorie limits. Then I'll enjoy my party meal totally! I'll exercise and eat lightly on Christmas Eve so I can enjoy a decadent fondue dinner that night. Then on Christmas I'll do whatever I want. Chocolate Santas for breakfast? Maybe! Whatever happens, I know that I'll weigh less on January 1 than I did on October 31 for the first time in a long time! Maybe ever!
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Fair enough.

    Well to answer your question, this isn't my festive period (that took place in September, and whoa boy did I overindulge) so it's not a big deal for me. I am travelling this month, but I do tend to lose weight when I travel 'cause I'm much more active when I'm hiking and sightseeing instead of sitting at a desk. So I'm kinda looking forward to that, hopefully.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    maoribadger wrote: »
    And what are your weight goals?
    How about you guys? All you lucky bulkers out there must be loving the festive period

    I've been on a slow bulk since August and put on about 7-8 Lbs...unfortunately it doesn't mean you just get to shovel cookies down your pie hole. It is a very deliberate act and with the way I'm training, nutrition is also paramount...again, not so much cookies...lots of complex carbohydrates and protein.

    The holidays are a good time to bulk though given the natural tendency to consume more calories...but you still have to very much watch it. I only get around 250ish calories more per day than my maintenance.

    I'll cut (diet) after New Year and through the spring.
  • maoribadger
    maoribadger Posts: 1,837 Member
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    Out of interest what was it in September that made it your festive time? I work all over Christmas but I have a very active job and always lose weight at work shoving trolleys and rarely getting a lunch break so should work for me!

    Tblackdogs thats great. I am refusing to set weight related new years resolutions this year. I have a few fitness ones I would like to hit (aim to run a 5k and participate in an endurance competition in 2015) but I am like yourself trying to make this an ongoing process that I can maintain rather than a balls out during January and peter out by Feb that I usually do. My aim is to maintain over Christmas but nothing is set in stone. I may gain I may lose but will be back to my usual routine after the main couple of days I hope. I am finding the forums useful for learning as I like to be armed with knowledge in anything I do and thus far this is my most sustained weight loss in years and I think its because I am trying to do it differently.

    Cwolfman. Scuse my ignorance. At my weight bulking simply wouldn't be an option so I have little knowledge on how you would go about it. Is your 8lb all muscle or do you gain fat with that and have to cut it back again after?

    Todays been fun. Build a gingerbread house with the kids. Destroy with nerf darts. Eat. :smiley:
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,136 Member
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    Surviving? Well, I'm planning on eating a whole cake of some sort, just haven't decided which flavor yet.

    Weight goals? I'd like to lose another 2# before Jan. 1st because that will give me an even 150# total loss. Technically, I have lost 150#, but I prefer to have extra padding for daily fluctuations.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    maoribadger wrote: »
    Out of interest what was it in September that made it your festive time? I work all over Christmas but I have a very active job and always lose weight at work shoving trolleys and rarely getting a lunch break so should work for me!

    I'm Jewish, so our high holidays with lots of food and family and such are in September for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur (before and after the fast) and Sukkot. Canadian Thanksgiving is also early October, which is usually right around the fall holiday period too, and added to the overindulgence for me this year.

    The day after Thanksgiving weekend I had my annual checkup with my GP and got on the scale and got a wake-up call. That very same day I was back at MFP kicking off a 60-day challenge to lose 10lbs by Christmas holidays. I'm at 15 so far. :)

    Next 'festive' period for me is April for Passover. I'm not worried, though. I'm actually looking forward to it, knowing that I have learned a lot of self-control and can keep myself in check.
  • chouflour
    chouflour Posts: 193 Member
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    We're traveling for Christmas, and juggling everyone's food preferences on the road is always a bit of a hassle. I'm choosing to do a little research into available food options, but not plan or worry too much.

    I'm trying to maintain, but I'm down 1.8lb in the last week and 4.3lb in the last month, so clearly I'm struggling a bit with maintenance. I should make sure there's a jug of eggnog and a plate of cookies in my hotel room.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Cwolfman. Scuse my ignorance. At my weight bulking simply wouldn't be an option so I have little knowledge on how you would go about it. Is your 8lb all muscle or do you gain fat with that and have to cut it back again after?

    Not at all, it's a common misconception that bulking means you can just eat with abandon...I suppose some do (and I think with youth you can get away with it more) but the things I'm doing right now in the gym are tremendously hard on my body and I need nutrition for recovery (even more important now that I'm "old").

    I've put on a small amount of fat...not much...mostly muscle...but some fat comes with the territory. The bigger surplus you eat at, the more fat you will gain...a very small surplus helps ensure that most of that energy goes to muscle growth. This is a good time of year also because it's cold out and I'd rather be in my warm gym...so I hit the weight room hard this time of year.

    It's easier for me to cut and maintain in the spring and summer when it's nicer out and I have less desire to be in the weight room and more desire to be out on my bike or hiking, etc.
  • njitaliana
    njitaliana Posts: 814 Member
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    I'm not baking anything unless I plan to budget out one per night. I'm amazed that I can actually do that now. We're having company this week, and my husband is making lasagna (the only thing he likes to cook) with part-skim ricotta/mozzarella and turkey sausage, so I'll have 1 serving of that, plus spinach with garlic and olive oil, and a big salad with lowfat dressing. The guests are bringing fruit salad for dessert. And on Christmas day, we're going out to a restaurant and a movie! So, I get to choose what I want to eat. I don't really have any weight loss goal for Christmas other than to continue losing.

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  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    I gained about 4 pounds over the past 2 months because of inactivity due to a broken leg. That put me at the top of my range. I'm in the process of starting to work out again and figure I'll be back at my regular activity leverl by mid-January with my weight back to normal.

    I'm not particularly worried about the (3) holidays. ;-)
  • Chocothundathighs
    Chocothundathighs Posts: 16 Member
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    I have lost exactly 44.5 lbs as well! I am also hoping to lose the the 5.5lbs to get to 50 by christmas. I still have a long way to go but it is a great milestone! I also want to seriously gloat to my family to show them anyone can do it! I am on the keto diet so I plan to bring my own sides to christmas dinner. I am going to be making some delicious mashed cheesy cauliflower and green beans with bacon and eat whatever meat there is. These will be portioned out for me before hand. I messed up on thanksgiving and regretted it, this time I am in control! Good luck with the holidays!

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