Holiday Eating

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SideSteel
SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Sometimes viewpoints on this can get polarizing with people believing that they should diet as planned, follow calorie and macronutrient goals, and skip the pie.

Others are in the YOLO camp. Anything and everything gets shoved into the face hole.

And I think there's plenty of room in between, but one piece of direction that I give my clients is to make a decision ahead of time, and execute whatever that plan is and OWN it.

For example, I have one client who has some great momentum going on her diet and fitness, down almost 20lbs and motivation is sky high. She's chosen to keep dieting through her holiday vacation but she's going to enjoy some pie on thanksgiving day and get right back on track the following day. It's not going to be a week long binge.

And she's going to rock it, and feel great about it afterwards.

I have a weight class restricted athlete very close to competition date. She's going to diet through the holiday, tracking every day and maintaining her calorie deficit.

And I even have a few people who are going to put on an eating clinic and not pay any attention to calories.

All of these are fine depending on the person. But the thing they share in common is that they have a plan, they are going to execute the plan, and they're going to accept the consequences.

There's no anxiety going into things because they've prepared themselves.

What are YOU going to do over the holidays?

Today I'll be eating quite a bit of food, but leading up to the family event I'm only having whey protein and milk and that's it, to create a bit of a buffer for the massive food I'll be eating later.

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Replies

  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    Well, I've been eating at deficit for a year, so I started a diet break last week. I'll be eating a maintenance. I likely won't go over that because it's enough to eat what I'd like and feel satisfied.

    I started my day with a 5K Turkey Trot, so that will make my more room in my maintenance for yumminess.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    Typical breakfast, Thanksgiving lunch with the family (lots of protein, a little bit of everything else that I want), generous piece of cheesecake, light dinner.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    I'm a Brit so no Thanksgiving for me. However, my plan for Christmas would apply if I were partaking today. Eat what I want without going crazy, no tracking. Just enjoy the day knowing that one day won't ruin my work up until this point and that it's a day of celebration to be enjoyed. I will just stick to my usual training schedule which is 3-5 times per week anyway and stick to my deficit too as normal on all other days. It's rare someone else cooks for me so it would be foolish not to make the most of it!

    That said, I have noticed that my capacity to just eat and eat is greatly diminished after being at this since April so I can't imagine my calorie count will be too crazy anyway and that's also satisfying in its own way.
  • Tblackdogs
    Tblackdogs Posts: 324 Member
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    I pre logged yesterday, which I never do. I started my day with 100 minutes on the treadmill! I plan to have a green smoothie and a couple of eggs for brunch and then my main meal, a couple of glasses of wine and dessert later today. You are so right that a plan is the way to go! My goal here on MFP is to lose my last ten pounds and to learn moderation. Today I feel successful.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    We do a thanksgiving lunch.
    My plan: a morning run. A quest bar. And then thanksgiving lunch.
    I plan to enjoy all the turkey, gravy, and vegetables I want. I'll have a bit of mashed potatoes, and a small bit of dressing. And skip the desserts, because they aren't a priority.
    And some Prosecco.
    Then an afternoon walk and a nap.
    Some turkey leftovers for dinner.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
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    Personally I eat for enjoyment over Christmas, and probably over indulge.

    I've smashed it for the rest of the year so a few days over Christmas isn't going to have any appreciable negative effect on long term goals.
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 657 Member
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    I ate a hearty low-cal breakfast of 1 scrambled egg on whole wheat toast (tiny bit of butter) with coffee & milk.

    I went for a 5.5 mile fast walk.

    Lunch was a cup of white rice in 1 cup of chicken broth.

    Dinner is the thanksgiving feast and I'm not sure exactly what will be there (very big family with lots of dishes) so I calculated the turkey (duh), some green bean casserole, a small slice of apple pie, and a strawberry oatmeal bar (I'm bringing them so yeah I want one), then added 400 extra calories as a buffer for other things I find to eat. Besides the things listed (which are the things I would be happy indulging in) I am going to try to eat any low-cal choices only.

    When we get home I will eat an apple as an end of the day snack.

    All logged in and I'm right on target for my calorie goal.
  • RetroPolkaDot
    RetroPolkaDot Posts: 83 Member
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    I already logged dinner and increased serving sizes to account for any extras that occur. I decided that if I get a serving of something that I am meh about I don't have to eat it. I am having dessert because I made a cheesecake.
    Then the goal with leftovers is to not repeat the entire dinner and dessert.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,900 Member
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    All of these are fine depending on the person. But the thing they share in common is that they have a plan, they are going to execute the plan, and they're going to accept the consequences.

    There's no anxiety going into things because they've prepared themselves.

    Love this!

    Fail-to-Plan-Quote.png
  • blambo61
    blambo61 Posts: 4,372 Member
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    Thanksgiving is a celebration for me. I will skip breakfast but will feast the rest of the day and night.

    If I put down 10,000 cals (impossible for me I think), that will be ok. I might gain 4 lbs of food weight but probably no more than 1lb of fat weight. 3 days after, I will be at the weight I started at. Enjoy I say, enjoy!
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
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    I'm going to eat foods that I don't normally eat all together (glucose). It will be a high calorie day, too! But that's OK.

    As it turns out, cooking all day yesterday, I forgot to eat for most of it! I had to eat 2 hard-boiled eggs and a glass of milk to try to get in some protein. So I have some extra calories, too.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    We do a thanksgiving lunch.
    My plan: a morning run. A quest bar. And then thanksgiving lunch.
    I plan to enjoy all the turkey, gravy, and vegetables I want. I'll have a bit of mashed potatoes, and a small bit of dressing. And skip the desserts, because they aren't a priority.
    And some Prosecco.
    Then an afternoon walk and a nap.
    Some turkey leftovers for dinner.

    Happy to report this went pretty much to plan. Now time for the nap.
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    I woke up, had my black coffee, and did my hour long workout as usual. I do Intermittent Fasting, so instead of breaking my fast at the usual time, which is around 9:30 am, I broke it at 2:45 pm when it was time to eat. I didn't log anything today, as everything would be approximated. I ate a decent amount of food without going too crazy, had a dessert sampler plate and took a bit more of what I liked, and now I won't be eating for the rest of the day. I'm going for a five mile walk in an hour or so, then I'll be in bed by my usual time of 8 pm.
  • mike_ny
    mike_ny Posts: 351 Member
    edited November 2015
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    It's a holiday. Spending time with family is a huge stressor for most people.
    Forget your normal diet today and there's no way you can get any estimates that are reliable.
    So, just put yourself down as eating 3000 calories or so for the main meal plus alcohol.
    It's only one day, so enjoy and it's back to your normal regimen in the days following.

    That doesn't mean to stuff yourself like there's no tomorrow. Eat smaller portions or at least reasonable amounts, but even moderate portions of most holiday meals will easily tip that. To me, a made up number is still better than not claiming anything.

    I find I just can't eat anywhere as much now as I used to on these big meal days anyway.
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    mike_ny wrote: »
    It's a holiday. Spending time with family is a huge stressor for most people.
    Forget your normal diet today and there's no way you can get any estimates that are reliable.
    So, just put yourself down as eating 3000 calories or so for the main meal plus alcohol.
    It's only one day, so enjoy and it's back to your normal regimen in the days following.

    That doesn't mean to stuff yourself like there's no tomorrow. Eat smaller portions or at least reasonable amounts, but even moderate portions of most holiday meals will easily tip that. To me, a made up number is still better than not claiming anything.

    That's one part I agree with. Whatever Fitbit tells MFP my calorie allowance is at the end of today, I'll be doing a quick add for 500 more than that amount. I'm pretty sure I ate at maintenance today, but I'd rather pad what I ate to be safe. One thing I realized today is that because of how I eat now it was impossible for me to eat the portion sizes I used to or assumed I'd eat. Everything I took was either two spoonfuls or one piece of something. The only thing I ate a bit more of was pie and I took two smaller slices that probably ended up being a half serving each.
  • threadmad
    threadmad Posts: 190 Member
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    My plan worked - sort of. I stayed under my calorie goals, but my hubs wanted to do the cooking. Bless his little heart. He learned that "saute" does not mean "boil in oil," so I went over my fat macro. We did have a good laff about it.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
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    Eat, drink, Be Merry, then go work it off, pretty simple.
  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
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    I'm simple too.
    The feast days didn't make me fat; it was all the intervening days of inattention. Earlier this fall I had a very enjoyable & successful week of vacation in DC where I walked, biked, ate & drank with gusto and still lost weight.
    This week was different; I took a road trip driving 500-700 miles a day to help my husband move home from an assignment in DC. It's the first time our family has been in one place since July! I set my weekly calorie budget to an active maintenance TDEE at my current weight. Loss can resume next week.
    I now feel confident in my capabilities at managing this.
  • frankiesgirlie
    frankiesgirlie Posts: 667 Member
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    mike_ny wrote: »
    It's a holiday. Spending time with family is a huge stressor for most people.
    Forget your normal diet today and there's no way you can get any estimates that are reliable.
    So, just put yourself down as eating 3000 calories or so for the main meal plus alcohol.
    It's only one day, so enjoy and it's back to your normal regimen in the days following.

    That doesn't mean to stuff yourself like there's no tomorrow. Eat smaller portions or at least reasonable amounts, but even moderate portions of most holiday meals will easily tip that. To me, a made up number is still better than not claiming anything.

    I find I just can't eat anywhere as much now as I used to on these big meal days anyway.


    This is the absolute best post I've read about holiday meals. I did exactly this for my thanksgiving.
    I'm an intermittent faster and my eating window is from 3-12, 5-12 when I'm able to.
    My family eats thanksgiving dinner at 3:00, so I had morning coffee just like normal, went for a beach run, and broke my fast at 3:00. I ate only the foods that mean the most to me and had small to medium portions. I had a small piece of 2 different desserts because holiday desserts are important to me. I'm ending my eating window at 9 instead of 12 because I have the day off work and usually work until 11 or 12. Next year I plan to just log 2500 calories the night before, even though I won't end up with that much today. I would never log nothing because it messes up my log average and I use/ need that data.

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