How do you guys cope over the holiday season?

dave_in_ni
dave_in_ni Posts: 533 Member
edited November 13 in Health and Weight Loss
The holiday season is almost upon us with Thanks Giving for you guys in the US & Canada and then Xmas. So my question is how do you guys cope?

This will be my first holiday season since my weight loss. I'm wondering what I should expect? For me I have no problem saying no, I've had various parties through out the year where I've happily went hungry as nothing but junk food was on offer, that doesn't bother me, what does bother me is the pressure from other people. " Aw go on its Christmas" I can hear it already. We don't do thanks giving in the UK but make up for it at Xmas with a massive dinner of Turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings, again doesn't bother me missing this but I can hear the wife already, or the Xmas parties, again I can go and eat and drink nothing but again it's the social pressure.

I worked hard to lose weight and I have no intention of messing that up by going mad over the holidays,

Have you guys any advice?
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Replies

  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    "I worked hard to lose weight and I have no intention of messing that up by going mad over the holidays"

    ^^ This. Just say, "not now, thank you", don't get into the weight loss reasons. If they persist, walk away. Beyond that, it's all about portion control.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Thanksgiving in Canada was a couple of weeks ago. I was there. I did what I normally do. I ate what I normally ate. I knew I would likely eat a bit *more* than I normally do, so I was careful the day before and days after.
    I typically don't eat foods I wouldn't normally eat. I don't give myself carte blanche. I just figure I'll eat a bit more, and it will all work out.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Thanksgiving=a normal Thursday (I work that day) with maybe a bit more food that I can cut back on in the days leading up to it. Christmas=diet break.
  • laur357
    laur357 Posts: 896 Member
    I generally have about 7 (Thanksgiving day, Christmas eve, Christmas day, 2-3 parties/happy hours with friends, NYE) days where I eat anything I want. I still track it, but don't pay attention to calories. Balances just fine with the 35ish other days where I eat normally and exercise. Going crazy for the entire season can get you into trouble, but a day or two here and there are not a big deal in the grand scheme of things (for me, anyway).
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
    i enjoy xmas, but dont eat as much as i used to.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Christmas day and boxing day I eat what I want. The rest is business as usual.
  • the_new_mark_2017
    the_new_mark_2017 Posts: 149 Member
    I plan on sticking to low carb - that still leaves me with yummy ham, turkey, some nuts, salads etc etc. I think being smarter will help me this year. :)
  • MsBuzzkillington
    MsBuzzkillington Posts: 171 Member
    You can eat what you want and enjoy the holidays without going hungry and without messing up. If you do "go mad" two days out of the year, it's not really that big of a deal and you aren't going to undo all your progress.

    Advice would be, eat what you want and don't go hungry but portion control if you feel like you need to.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    I figure I will eat more or less as desired on Thanksgiving day and Christmas day, and otherwise will enjoy leftovers and treats within my daily calorie goals. I know it can be done because I did it for many, many years and was very thin.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    By increasing activity and watching my portions, I managed to lose a little weight over the holiday season last year and not feel deprived.

    Normally my activity level goes down when gardening season is done but I committed to walking outside every work day at lunch time unless it was pouring rain and stuck to this. I bundled up and found walking trails where skiers and other hikers had packed down the snow.

    I also joined a gym for nights and found an indoor skating rink for rainy days.

    Getting some cardio at lunch was key to raising my energy level for the rest of the day so that I was motivated to be active at night as well.
  • everher
    everher Posts: 909 Member
    I feel the reason people gain weight over the holidays is usually because they eat too much. It's not that what they are eating is so unhealthy they just eat in excess.

    The holidays will be a test, but I plan to do what I do everyday - portion control. I'll have a little of this and a little of that, but I have no plans to stuff my face. If I feel tempted to I will just remind myself there will be left overs.
  • CMNVA
    CMNVA Posts: 733 Member
    This will be a first for me, so not sure how I will handle it. I'm not worried about the two days: Thanksgiving and Christmas. Those will just be big dinners. It's all the special (and wonderful) treats that are made this time of year. There are these Cranberry-Date Nut Bars that I make (and my neighbor makes) that are to DIE for. I swear, I cannot stop eating them once I start and I can probably pound down 800 calories in about 5 minutes. Then there are the other special cookies etc. The two meals won't do me in, but those treats will. I'm still trying to figure out how I can manage them without totally denying myself.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    I wrote this post after the holidays last year and think it might be relevant/helpful to OP and others here who are going through their first holiday season on MFP...

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10303793/who-gained-weight-during-the-holidays-i-have-a-solution/p1
  • VeganRaptor
    VeganRaptor Posts: 164 Member
    I make and bring along my own dishes to share :) That way I know they're vegan and don't contain anything weird/scary :)
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    edited November 2016
    Honestly, for me, it's like any other time of the year. I'm in the US, so if I count from Halloween to New Year's Eve I've got 62 days. In those 62 days I have Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve. Sometimes I have a friend's birthday, but this year she's combining it with Thanksgiving due to conflicts. So I have 4 days with an above average availability of food and 58 normal days. I normally average my calories by the week. During this time of year, I continue to do so and just balance everything out. Last year, I weighed a decent amount less New Year's Day then I did the day before Halloween and I anticipate it will happen again this year. I plan ahead, I shift weekly calories around, and I don't stress about it. And to the comment regarding "all the special treats made this time of year", apparently all my friends are lazy because I only see treats on the actual holidays and at the parties/gatherings, never in between. lol
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Thanksgiving is one day...Christmas is one day...I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and celebrating...they're pretty irrelevant to the whole. You can enjoy yourself and not "go mad" either. I never eat to the point that I'm going to pop...but I enjoy myself...a good plate of food and some good drink. Two days doesn't mess anything up...it's two days...get out of the minutia.

    Yep 2 days, makes no difference. Make it 2 months another story.
  • VeganRaptor
    VeganRaptor Posts: 164 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Thanksgiving is one day...Christmas is one day...I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and celebrating...they're pretty irrelevant to the whole. You can enjoy yourself and not "go mad" either. I never eat to the point that I'm going to pop...but I enjoy myself...a good plate of food and some good drink. Two days doesn't mess anything up...it's two days...get out of the minutia.

    Yep 2 days, makes no difference. Make it 2 months another story.

    I think the issue is that lots of people end up being invited to endless Christmas/holiday parties!
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    VeganRaptor wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Thanksgiving is one day...Christmas is one day...I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and celebrating...they're pretty irrelevant to the whole. You can enjoy yourself and not "go mad" either. I never eat to the point that I'm going to pop...but I enjoy myself...a good plate of food and some good drink. Two days doesn't mess anything up...it's two days...get out of the minutia.

    Yep 2 days, makes no difference. Make it 2 months another story.

    I think the issue is that lots of people end up being invited to endless Christmas/holiday parties!

    Well, that and the endless parade of food that shows up at the office/workplace over the holiday season. Still, if you can limit your celebrations to the main days and pass on the daily barrage of treats and excesses, that's a good start.
  • SingingSingleTracker
    SingingSingleTracker Posts: 1,866 Member
    dave_in_ni wrote: »
    The holiday season is almost upon us with Thanks Giving for you guys in the US & Canada and then Xmas. So my question is how do you guys cope?

    This will be my first holiday season since my weight loss. I'm wondering what I should expect? For me I have no problem saying no, I've had various parties through out the year where I've happily went hungry as nothing but junk food was on offer, that doesn't bother me, what does bother me is the pressure from other people. " Aw go on its Christmas" I can hear it already. We don't do thanks giving in the UK but make up for it at Xmas with a massive dinner of Turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings, again doesn't bother me missing this but I can hear the wife already, or the Xmas parties, again I can go and eat and drink nothing but again it's the social pressure.

    I worked hard to lose weight and I have no intention of messing that up by going mad over the holidays,

    Have you guys any advice?

    I try and burn at least 1000 calories a day with cardio Thanksgiving week, Christmas week, and NY's few days.
  • Meghanebk
    Meghanebk Posts: 321 Member
    The holidays themselves are no problem for me. I will eat over my limit those 2 days, I balance it out by eating below my limit other days - but it's the rest of the season that's hard! Everything from cookies to pies to rum balls will show up at work, and saying no to those is almost impossible. If I start eating any of those at work though it's hard to limit portions. After all at home I can freeze some for later, at work it will be gone so I may as well eat some before we run out...
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    If every day during the season is a party, I guess that could be a problem. But the holidays for me are just a couple of days in the year where I don't worry about it. Going over calories a few times a year for special occasions doesn't seem to affect me much, since the majority of the time I'm on track. :)
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