Is it appropriate to go on a diet during the Christmas Holidays

Three years ago, I started my diet a week before Thanksgiving. I still enjoyed the meal, but I worked out and watched my calories aside from that. I actually lost almost 30 lbs by my birthday in early February that year, and still haven't gained it back to this day. So I'm living proof that it can be done. I wanted the weight off more than I wanted all of the food..that was all I needed.
ETA: actually, it's a great time to be at the gym, too. My gym is usually pretty bare this time of year. You can get in and see what you like to do before the January insanity hits.

There's always an excuse to not try and lose weight at any given time. You can spend the entire year coming up with excuses or you can just go ahead and do it.

I pretty much eat meat, vegetables and gravy for my normal diet anyway lol. Christmas dinner seems healthy to me?! Or if not I dont think it would need much modification to make it a healthy meal. Like just have a few more vegetables on your plate and a bit less meat, things like that, so you can still eat the same food but still be healthy..

I made the mistake last year of telling myself 'it's Christmas, I can treat myself'... throughout the WHOLE of December! I gained almost ten pounds and have been yo-yoing those same pounds up and down for the last year. So this year, I'll enjoy myself in maintenance on days when events with friends are happening (parties, nights out, celebrations for the end of the university semester) but eat in deficit the rest of the time. The only exceptions will be Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and Boxing day, when I'll go all out. New Year's eve will probably be maintenance again.

I will go against the grain and say that if I was completely new to dieting I would not start over the holidays. I would make it my goal to maintain and start making better food choices in preparation for smart calorie cutting after the holidays. By next year's holidays your new healthy habits will be second nature and it may be less stressful to cut over the holidays.

That's just what I'd do and did before start my weight loss project in 2014.

Alatariel75 wrote: »

Christmas is one day, not a whole season. If you put off putting your health first until January, it's just longer until you get where you want to be. There will always be things coming up, Birthdays, holidays, Easter, Christmas, Valentines etc - how you prioritise them is up to you.

^^^ This, one thing I used to do really bad was make the excuse "I'll start after this birthday" "after this anniversary" "maybe I'll get my butt in gear after our vacation". Once I reached 120 lbs over a healthy weight, I finally realized that I cannot make that excuse any longer. Another point I'd like to make is that it should never be thought of as just some diet. Making healthy choices and eating smaller portions is a lifestyle change. With that being said...I began my new way of eating July 2nd. Since then I've been through birthday parties for both of my daughters, camping trips, trips to the lake, family gatherings, and Halloween. Each event has been treated the same and that is with me logging what I eat. It works, I am down 52.9 lbs as of this morning. Major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas I may allow myself took up to maintenance for that one day. That is the key though, one day! You cannot treat the holidays like a free for all with food. Allow yourself to eat goodies, but make it fit in your calories.

I started using MFP on December 21st last year. Lost 35 pounds, and am at maintenance now. So holidays, shmolidays.