Holidays, cookouts, how do you stay on track??

Usually, at least SOMEONE brings salad. Eat that with light dressing [if lucky, there will be bottles with labels]. You can always just bring a lunchbox, eat from that... Be the one to bring the salad.

Have a burger, but go bunless. Whole leaf lettuce wrapped around it.. Can still do tomato, onion, some ketchup/mustard, etc... Just don't go crazy with mayo, and it isn't half bad calorie-wise. See Carl Jr/Hardees on that front, they call it their 'Low Carb' option. Burgers with lettuce buns. Yum.

Grilled chicken breast? Grilled veg?

Tons of options. You are someone with the capacity to BRING the healthy option, so do it if you need to. xD

When we have barbeques I always offer to take a salad or two. One's just a garden salad spinach, tomato, capsicum, cucumber, oranges or strawberries etc with no dressing. The other is coleslaw made with half fat free half regular dressing.
I tend to stick to meat, salads (that are mostly veg not pasta or rice salads), corn on the cob etc.
I decline drinks but you could take some light beer or unsweetened ice tea or forego sweets in favour of wine etc.
If I have biscuits and cheese or chips etc I take a reasonable potion and put it on a plate rather than eating them straight from a serving platter as I'll eat way too much mindlessly otherwise.

We generally have these get togethers on the weekend and no more than once a week so if I know that I'll indulge more than usual (if there's birthday cake generally) it's pretty easy for me to bank a few hundred calories during the week as a bit of a buffer.

Hopefully you'll get used to it. You never know your gatherings might even get a bit healthier.

I don't ... when those one-off days come around I try to focus on healthy choices and portions but plan that I'll probably go over my deficit calorie intake ... and so if it ends up being maintenance calories that day, that's fine. If I ended up going way over, then I try to make up for it by eating more lightly in the days after. Cause ... one day or one meal won't either make or break the bank, ... it's the consistency of the thing that matters.

You have to still be aware of how much you are eating, if not there would be repercussions eventually.

Personaly I am always mindful of quantity and calorie dense food even when on holiday or eating out. The first year at maintenance I lost all control and ate willy nilly - 2 weeks cruise, and came back 6lbs heavier. Now while that's not a lot it took me 3 months getting it off (I'm a slow loser) so I vowed that would never happen again. And 4 years on I stayed true to my word. Its easier to gain than lose so if being mindful when away and keeping active means I don't gain weight, then that's how I'll play it.

For me it has been about finding that balance of eating things I enjoy, but not too much and working for it too.

- I'll save up calories for that meal.
- Make some of my own food and bring enough to share.
- Stay mindful of the calorie counts. I ask myself "is this worth the calories?" Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
- Don't drink my calories which save a lot of room for food.
- I usually would make that meal my main meal of the day and eat lighter the rest of the day.
- Slow down when eating and I stop eating when I'm close to being full. This is a biggie. I use to stuff myself crazy, but I had to learn to control myself.

I wasn't going to stop going to events, cookouts etc., so I had to learn portion control.

This is a big change compared to how I used to live. Not that it's so much trouble, but after 4 years of following most of these points and maintaining my weight, it's worth it.

Pre-logging and planning helps me. And like others have said, I am now the one that brings tupperware full of homemade things/salad that I can eat throughout the day

Am off to Prague next week and I have worked out that there will be 15 meals and around 15 beers - worked out rough calories and with all the walking I am pretty sure will be eating at maintenance. (side note: I just noticed that I have used the words 'rough' and 'pretty sure', like I haven't been on the MFP database and an excel sheet for a few days plotting the holiday to get numbers sorted lol!)

I know that as it is holiday I will have what I want and am not going to force myself to stick to the plan completely rigidly. But knowing that I have planned for that amount of food and drink, helps me to really think about whether I need that 4th or 5 beer or snacks.

You don't have to eat all the things just because they are there. Plan what you will eat and take reasonable portions.
Drink water, tea or low calorie drinks.
Put food away. Send leftovers home with others if you are hosting.
Bring food to a gathering that you feel comfortable eating. Warm weather is great for vegetables or fresh fruits.
Revise your diet plan so it is more sustainable with the world you live in.
Be more active during this season.
Have something to do like playing musical instruments, games or crafts at these gatherings.

We had a cookout yesterday. While everyone else had burgers and hot dogs on buns with chips, cookies, and sweet tea, I had a huge bowl of lettuce with a hamburger patty on top. I added mustard to the patty. The lettuce gave me the crunch instead of chips. I had fruit instead of cookies and black coffee instead of sweet tea. It wasn't awesome. It didn't feel awesome yesterday. This morning though? I feel freaking AWESOME. You can do this. If you want to eat the foods they do, plan for it, eat the same foods, and just have less to stay in your calorie goals. We've got this. (Oh and we could exercise more to earn more calories.)

I have found that nobody ever cares if I bring my own burger. Nobody even bats an eye - I bring my veggie burger and light bun and a fruit salad or light salad (always enough to share, not just my own serving) I've also done a really light dessert trifle. I run that morning if I feel it won't work well. I have never had anybody care if I bring a bag of baked chips, fruit salad and my own burger/bun. Don't make excuses, You are doing the right thing, not them.

I will second what @PixelPuff wrote. Succinct and accurate.