Dealing with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and other special occasions
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what I do is skip or have very light meals either side of the big one. Where I'm really weird though is on Easter Sunday, I just eat my chocolate eggs and have one normal meal that day (it freaks my family out though) - and manage to stay under 2500 calories doing so.0
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pegastarlight wrote: »Thanksgiving and Christmas aren't going to really be much of a setback as long as you avoid the extra foods people bring into work or other places. Limit yourself just to what you have at home, and if you have a lot of left over cookies and such, be that person who brings it to your workplace and wreck everyone else's diets. That's what I do.
That's great advice, especially because I am a big-time baker and make tons more food than necessary. I'll bring peace, joy, and cookies to all! lol
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hamlet1222 wrote: »what I do is skip or have very light meals either side of the big one. Where I'm really weird though is on Easter Sunday, I just eat my chocolate eggs and have one normal meal that day (it freaks my family out though) - and manage to stay under 2500 calories doing so.
I pretty much do the same on Easter. Sometimes I'll have breakfast. I'm all about the cadbury cream eggs.0 -
aspdenbrae wrote: »If it's a holiday you truly enjoy, then enjoy it. Living in a world where nothing get enjoyed just seems boring as hell. Add in a lot of extra cardio through that week and go back to your regular diet afterwards. You'll likely gain a few pounds but it's not like you do it every week. Just my thoughts.
That
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i pick some favorites to splurge on ex pumpkin pie & stuffing. i try to keep other stuff out of the house. i also have a green salad and steamed veg out. the one meal i have what i want, with some salad & veg to fill up some of the plate. i plan for that day and a few days of leftovers to be high, then eat lighter meals the rest of the week, ex broth based soup w leftover turkey. Those two weeks are still higher in calories, but add in some long walks with the family and it's not terrible. just log, know it's part of your plan, and get back on track the next week.0
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callmecarina wrote: »LeslieB042812 wrote: »amillenium wrote: »I think celebrating the day of the holiday or even a few days isn't a big deal (including a few seasonal parties)...I like to enjoy.
I think where people run into trouble is that the day or few days of celebration turn into a season of gluttony lasting from October to the end of December. I don't indulge in every Christmas cookie brought to the office or leftover Halloween candy. I DO enjoy the day of Thanksgiving and Christmas having whatever I would like with my family. Oh and booze on NYE cause I like champagne. I like it a lot.
This is really true! It's not the one day, it's the whole season or the days after the holiday where you're still off track, which is what I think the OP was asking about. I recommend eating whatever you want on the holiday but still logging it--even if you're guessing after the fact (as in, "I think I ate 1/3 of grandma's chocolate pie, let me find an entry for chocolate pie and enter 1/3 of a pie's worth"). This way, you can both enjoy the holiday, but not get derailed by stopping tracking altogether. One day of no tracking can very easily turn into a week, which turns into a month. One day of tracking too many calories rarely does that. Good luck!
Thanks, this is actually very helpful to think about. I suppose that my main concern is that overindulging on special holidays really does make it so much easier to continue the overindulgence throughout the season. This is my main concern-- I'm afraid I'll fall off the wagon!
Glad it's helpful. It's actually been a big breakthrough for me because I had the same problem with getting derailed by special occasions and weekend getaways. Once I started tracking everything anyway, I found it wasn't a derailer. Nothing like seeing your log of a 3,000 calorie day to jolt you back into discipline! lol0 -
I'm not really into going crazy for halloween anymore, so i don't do anything for that. Maybe i'll have a few snack size chocolates or something but i definitely stay within my calorie goal.
Thanksgiving and Christmas I don't track my calories, however, I don't go ALL OUT RIDICULOUS either. I eat a little bit of everything i want and I stop when i'm full. I used to eat until i felt physically ill on those days before.
I just take the time to cherish the chance to see loved ones and family and i don't hold myself back under such circumstances. Same for my birthday.
edited to add: Also, We always eat for thanksgiving and christmas "dinner" around 2-3 in the afternoon so we usually forgo eating breakfast and dinner that day with all the stuffing we get in. 0 -
It sounds like you have a handle on it. As others have said, two big meals over the span of 3 months is a blip. Holidays are to be enjoyed!
Since you asked what others do, here's what it is for me.
1) It took me a long time to avoid Halloween candy. I really used to love it. Now I save myself for the stuff that it is truly superb, gorgeous little works of chocolate art. Something worth savoring, not gorging on. I.e. not mass produced stuff that comes in supersaver family size bags. That's what I tell myself. Over & over. As many times as necessary. The trick is, it helps to have truly special chocolate on hand (or in my near future) to make it real.
2) I am the holiday meal cook, and it's all pretty healthy food, save the desserts. I really don't worry about these meals. I have a reasonable size dessert and lots of champagne. Cheers!
The bigger challenges for me are:
3) Holiday parties. I eat before I go, even if it is just jamming carrot sticks and celery in my mouth in the car on the way. I do anything I can not to arrive hungry. If I'm hungry, a glass of wine will send me downhill on a toboggan. It's best for me just to have 2 glasses of wine on a full stomach and skip food altogether. Most party food is not that exceptional.
4) Gifts of food. I do have 3 teenagers, so that is a big help in terms of being able to tell the giver genuinely that the gift was relished without having to devour it myself. I try to pick the one gift that is my favorite thing, and then savor little bits of it as long as I can make it last. If I didn't have kids, I'd take it to work. Some of the gifts are truly special, but if I get started, there is no stopping, so picking my favorite is my best compromise for "moderation."
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I also have a 1/2 century the weekend before Halloween, another the weekend before Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving day Turkey Trot 5K (tradition) and a New Years ride following the Christmas and New Years holidays...i live a pretty fitness and health centric lifestyle and that doesn't stop just because of the holidays...i may indulge more than usual food wise, but really that doesn't derail me or anything like that...i've adopted and been maintaining this lifestyle for over three years now, much of which has been in maintenance and without logging...
i guess it's all in the mindset. for me, these are just occasions and then it's back to business as usual.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »
i guess it's all in the mindset. for me, these are just occasions and then it's back to business as usual.
This is it. The danger is when the occasion never ends and it all runs into one 3-month fiesta.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »
i guess it's all in the mindset. for me, these are just occasions and then it's back to business as usual.
This is it. The danger is when the occasion never ends and it all runs into one 3-month fiesta.
This is how i backslid into gaining my initial weight loss. Protip: Don't do this. Its much harder to lose than it is to gain it all back on a 3-month fiesta.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »
i guess it's all in the mindset. for me, these are just occasions and then it's back to business as usual.
This is it. The danger is when the occasion never ends and it all runs into one 3-month fiesta.
i can't really let that happen personally...my cycling and general fitness would suffer greatly and I'm too much of a cycling nut and just way too much of a fitness nerd in general to let myself slide for months on end...I'm all about my bike and hitting the gym...basically my life priorities are kids, wife, bike, then everything else.0 -
hamlet1222 wrote: »what I do is skip or have very light meals either side of the big one. Where I'm really weird though is on Easter Sunday, I just eat my chocolate eggs and have one normal meal that day (it freaks my family out though) - and manage to stay under 2500 calories doing so.
Do you notice that you still maintain the same weight doing this? or do you usually go up a few?
I'm mostly scared of going up more than 3 lbs the week of a holiday. Usually when I see a rapid gain like that is when I get severely discouraged, and that's when I tend to fall off.
I guess if that happens, though, I can come on here for a little encouragement.0 -
callmecarina wrote: »
I'm mostly scared of going up more than 3 lbs the week of a holiday.
If you eat a lot more carbs than you usually do, you could see the scale go up. Temporarily. I would bet that 3 pounds would be gone within another week. Don't be scared of this. Being glycogen loaded and fully hydrated is good!0 -
LeslieB042812 wrote: »callmecarina wrote: »LeslieB042812 wrote: »amillenium wrote: »I think celebrating the day of the holiday or even a few days isn't a big deal (including a few seasonal parties)...I like to enjoy. I think where people run into trouble is that the day or few days of celebration turn into a season of gluttony lasting from October to the end of December. I don't indulge in every Christmas cookie brought to the office or leftover Halloween candy. I DO enjoy the day of Thanksgiving and Christmas having whatever I would like with my family. Oh and booze on NYE cause I like champagne. I like it a lot.
This is really true! It's not the one day, it's the whole season or the days after the holiday where you're still off track, which is what I think the OP was asking about. I recommend eating whatever you want on the holiday but still logging it--even if you're guessing after the fact (as in, "I think I ate 1/3 of grandma's chocolate pie, let me find an entry for chocolate pie and enter 1/3 of a pie's worth"). This way, you can both enjoy the holiday, but not get derailed by stopping tracking altogether. One day of no tracking can very easily turn into a week, which turns into a month. One day of tracking too many calories rarely does that. Good luck!
Thanks, this is actually very helpful to think about. I suppose that my main concern is that overindulging on special holidays really does make it so much easier to continue the overindulgence throughout the season. This is my main concern-- I'm afraid I'll fall off the wagon!
Glad it's helpful. It's actually been a big breakthrough for me because I had the same problem with getting derailed by special occasions and weekend getaways. Once I started tracking everything anyway, I found it wasn't a derailer. Nothing like seeing your log of a 3,000 calorie day to jolt you back into discipline! lol
This.
I honestly have no problem letting myself indulge one day and go back to the plan the next day. Just LOG EVERYTHING. It's really key for me... seeing those big red numbers scares me. I know that if I'm 2400 in the red and don't do anything about it (ie, get back on track the next day to my normal deficit), that's going to be 3/4 of a pound of fat gained. So one day is ok... but two, not so much. So I estimate everything, even if I just have to add things in my head, then log it all.
Also what helped me is that, by telling myself that I can eat what I want on Thanksgiving and Christmas, it's easier to tell myself the rest of the week that I really need to pass on that second cookie so I can have that piece of pecan pie I've been craving...
Oh something else that works for me though... if I really want pumpkin pie, I might just have a piece the week before when I have extra calories so it's easier to pass on it on Thanksgiving... and I can have a bigger piece of pecan pie or something instead. Heck, same with sweet potatoes or whatnot... that way that's two or three things I can skip to save calories for that piece of pecan pie... And I might pass on the green beans if they were obviously cooked with butter because I just don't care for green beans, even if they're better for you... that will still save me 100 calories, lol.0 -
callmecarina wrote: »hamlet1222 wrote: »what I do is skip or have very light meals either side of the big one. Where I'm really weird though is on Easter Sunday, I just eat my chocolate eggs and have one normal meal that day (it freaks my family out though) - and manage to stay under 2500 calories doing so.
Do you notice that you still maintain the same weight doing this? or do you usually go up a few?
I'm mostly scared of going up more than 3 lbs the week of a holiday. Usually when I see a rapid gain like that is when I get severely discouraged, and that's when I tend to fall off.
I guess if that happens, though, I can come on here for a little encouragement.
usually this would be an increase in glycogen (essentially water) as well as more inherent waste in your system...to actually put on 3 Lbs of fat you would have to eat well over your maintenance calories consistently. when in doubt, do the math...0 -
For me I don't celebrate any holidays persay anymore (by choice) but my hubby likes home cooked holiday dinners. I fix him whatever he likes, I eat my stuff and everyone is happy. No rushing around to hang up this or buy that...(in my mind i picture ants, millions of ants seeking that tiny piece of sugary candy somone dropped.) People scurring around the malls and stores, parking lots packed with people buying and trying to please and make everyone happy, "sigh" i dont fall into the holiday consumerism anymore. However, when my children were young and still at home, we celebrated the holidays. Now we are a Country apart so the holidays, birthdays and such don't have meaning to me anymore. Even anniversary's are moot. I try to live each day without stress. Holidays had always been a stressful time for me. Happy to an extent but I loathed the "highs" and "lows" of emotions they gave me, so to remedy that, I opted out on all such interests. I prefer a steady calm energy around me. Being pagan I give reverence to the sabbats and esbats but as a solitary witch I embrace these in a quiet fashion. No hoopla just me and the universe.0
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cwolfman13 wrote: »I also have a 1/2 century the weekend before Halloween, another the weekend before Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving day Turkey Trot 5K (tradition) and a New Years ride following the Christmas and New Years holidays...i live a pretty fitness and health centric lifestyle and that doesn't stop just because of the holidays...i may indulge more than usual food wise, but really that doesn't derail me or anything like that...i've adopted and been maintaining this lifestyle for over three years now, much of which has been in maintenance and without logging...
i guess it's all in the mindset. for me, these are just occasions and then it's back to business as usual.
Aha! Therein lies my problem... I'm just a month back into a more healthy and fit lifestyle after letting myself go for 5 years. Even when I was more healthy, I always took Thanksgiving and Christmas as an excuse to really just gorge myself, and so I'm trying to figure out what my plan of action should be this year.It sounds like you have a handle on it. As others have said, two big meals over the span of 3 months is a blip. Holidays are to be enjoyed!
Since you asked what others do, here's what it is for me.
1) It took me a long time to avoid Halloween candy. I really used to love it. Now I save myself for the stuff that it is truly superb, gorgeous little works of chocolate art. Something worth savoring, not gorging on. I.e. not mass produced stuff that comes in supersaver family size bags. That's what I tell myself. Over & over. As many times as necessary. The trick is, it helps to have truly special chocolate on hand (or in my near future) to make it real.
2) I am the holiday meal cook, and it's all pretty healthy food, save the desserts. I really don't worry about these meals. I have a reasonable size dessert and lots of champagne. Cheers!
The bigger challenges for me are:
3) Holiday parties. I eat before I go, even if it is just jamming carrot sticks and celery in my mouth in the car on the way. I do anything I can not to arrive hungry. If I'm hungry, a glass of wine will send me downhill on a toboggan. It's best for me just to have 2 glasses of wine on a full stomach and skip food altogether. Most party food is not that exceptional.
4) Gifts of food. I do have 3 teenagers, so that is a big help in terms of being able to tell the giver genuinely that the gift was relished without having to devour it myself. I try to pick the one gift that is my favorite thing, and then savor little bits of it as long as I can make it last. If I didn't have kids, I'd take it to work. Some of the gifts are truly special, but if I get started, there is no stopping, so picking my favorite is my best compromise for "moderation."
Thank you so much! I like the idea of making the regular stuff healthy and leaving the desserts alone because, slowly but surely, I am learning to control my dessert portions!
Eating before holiday parties sounds like a fantastic idea! When I DO eat slowly, and small portions, I find that I still can enjoy myself. I just never though to fill up a bit before even getting to a shindig.
I work in an office, so bringing leftovers to the office should work nicely for me this year.
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those days are so important to me.. being around friends and family, eating, drinking, playing games, movies... i indulge and wether its maintenance or even over its 2 days out of the year.0
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cwolfman13 wrote: »callmecarina wrote: »hamlet1222 wrote: »what I do is skip or have very light meals either side of the big one. Where I'm really weird though is on Easter Sunday, I just eat my chocolate eggs and have one normal meal that day (it freaks my family out though) - and manage to stay under 2500 calories doing so.
Do you notice that you still maintain the same weight doing this? or do you usually go up a few?
I'm mostly scared of going up more than 3 lbs the week of a holiday. Usually when I see a rapid gain like that is when I get severely discouraged, and that's when I tend to fall off.
I guess if that happens, though, I can come on here for a little encouragement.
usually this would be an increase in glycogen (essentially water) as well as more inherent waste in your system...to actually put on 3 Lbs of fat you would have to eat well over your maintenance calories consistently. when in doubt, do the math...
The math would help, except that at this point in in my fitness journey I don't know the formula. I didn't even know what glycogen was before today...
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