What is YOUR Holiday eating strategy?

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Replies

  • ISweat4This
    ISweat4This Posts: 653 Member
    Eat whatever I want and log it. I do not take a plate home.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I enjoy the food and try not to go crazy, log everything, typically end up going over, but it's never been a huge deal. I always try to keep active though!
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    My strategy (has worked great the last two years): Eat what I want and start over the next day. It isn't really going to matter if you eat an 8000 calorie meal or not. You may not lose anything that week, or you may, just don't beat yourself up about it. Stay away from the scale for at least a week because the sodium will probably be out of control, and don't let it be an excuse to eat what you want for weeks on end. Do it for the day, exercise more if you can before and after, and have fun with family. I guess one thing I do try to do on Thanksgiving and Christmas, I try to eat more protein than anything else. But beyond that, I eat what I want.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    edited October 2017
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I also don't treat the entire 2 months as some reason to just eat everything in site...I enjoy the actual holidays and the rest of the "season" is just pretty normal.

    ^THIS
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    anewell28 wrote: »
    With Halloween, Thanksgiving, and winter celebrations coming up, what is your strategy when it comes to holiday eating?

    Have you used a strategy before and been happy with it after?
    Trying something new this year?
    Do you log everything still or neglect logging at all?

    I'm very interested in these answers because I haven't figured out my plan yet!

    Halloween isn't really a thing for me...it's a thing for my kids.

    Thanksgiving is one day...I enjoy myself, but I'm not really one to just sit there and eat and stuff myself...never have been, don't like that feeling.

    Christmas...see above for Thanksgiving.

    I also don't treat the entire 2 months as some reason to just eat everything in site...I enjoy the actual holidays and the rest of the "season" is just pretty normal.

    This sounds about right to me. I might go out drinking on or around Halloween, in which case I'll log just like any other night out. Thanksgiving I won't log - it's just one day, and it's basically the only holiday my mom cares about, so I'm just going to take it easy and enjoy myself. I just got back from a three-day no logging cabin trip and it went fine. I think I've gotten a lot better at knowing when I'm full and making smart choices even without the help of a scale, even when I give myself permission to eat whatever I want.

    Christmas isn't a huge food holiday for me, so I'll probably just log as best I can (and I'm actually thinking I might skip the family thing entirely this year). I've gotten pretty good at estimating calories when other people cook for me so I'm not worried about that. But I agree with @cwolfman13 here (per usual): it's really hard to screw up that badly in a single day, but enjoying the holidays doesn't need to mean going crazy for two months either. I think someone earlier mentioned gaining 12 pounds over the holidays - no WAY did that happen in just two days.
  • alcomer
    alcomer Posts: 101 Member
    I don't think about logging on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - then I get back to it with a lot of xtra water the next day. Although I do try to fit some treats into my calorie goal throughout the holiday season, I don't want to feel deprived of any goodies :)
  • kristen8000
    kristen8000 Posts: 747 Member
    Halloween is a non issue - I don't eat or really like candy.

    We are doing our "Thanksgiving" in Cancun this year 1 week early. All inclusive. I'm eating whatever the heck I want and not logging. Come the day we get home, I'm back to logging again. And getting on the scale that very next morning. I'm in maintance after reaching my goal on Sept. 25th. Since then, I've never actually ate at maintainance, still trying to work my way up. This week will probably shock the heck out of my system and I'm prepared for some weight gain (I know most of it will be water from the shock of "different food".)

    For Christmas, my parents will be joining us. I'll make a normal sized meal (usually ham, some kind of potato, and a veggie). I'm not a big dessert fan, so I plan to only have things for others. There are only 4 people attending this dinner, so I have no reason to go off my rocker.

    Now, in between all this madness. I have a rule that I don't eat "work food". So if I don't bring it to work, I don't eat it. So that pretty much eliminates the urge to eat the cookies, and what not others bring into the office.

    My birthday falls in between all this too - that day I'll probably have a no log day. But I'm hoping by that point my "lose mentality" has lessened and I'm comfortable eating more.
  • midlomel1971
    midlomel1971 Posts: 1,283 Member
    To eat what I want, enjoy the holiday foods I love and not worry about it, but absolutely make sure I hit the gym every day. It's much easier for me to stop going to the gym regularly than it is for me to stop eating healthy. So, I need to make sure I continue my workouts.
  • magster4isu
    magster4isu Posts: 632 Member
    Halloween - I hand out non-candy items to trick or treaters (I don't want the candy in my house)

    Thanksgiving and Christmas - My family is all about tradition, so I know what will be served at every meal. Because of this, I can plan exactly what and how much I want to eat in order to fit it in my calorie goals. (I still eat everything I love, just a lot less). I used to overeat on these days because I LOVE the food. One thing I learned is that if I eat less for those meals, that means more leftovers, meaning I can enjoy that food for multiple meals.

    I also become attached to my water bottle during these holidays. First, all the water helps me feel full which keeps me from wanting to snack on the treats all the time. Most importantly, the food pushers in my family see that my hands and mouth are busy so they are less likely to continually offer me more food.
  • Sarahb29
    Sarahb29 Posts: 952 Member
    My Holiday eating strategy - work out as much as I can the day before so I have a nice calorie budget to fill the next day, and be good the rest of the time :)
  • need2belean
    need2belean Posts: 358 Member
    anewell28 wrote: »
    With Halloween, Thanksgiving, and winter celebrations coming up, what is your strategy when it comes to holiday eating?

    Have you used a strategy before and been happy with it after?
    Trying something new this year?
    Do you log everything still or neglect logging at all?

    I'm very interested in these answers because I haven't figured out my plan yet!

    I don't understand this. It's not a whole month of holidays. It's one day maybe 2 for each holiday. Just workout and eat as normal every day leading up to those days. Then on the days, eat mindful and don't pig out unless you want to. That's up to you. Enjoy the holidays. No need to go in with a game plan. If you're restricting so much during the year leading up to those Holiday months where you feel the need to binge or figure out a game plan, then re-think how much you're restricting during the other part of the year.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    fitoverfortymom wrote: »
    Halloween is my birthday so I eat a crapton of candy and yummy dinner because it's my birthday and I can.

    I'll indulge on Thanksgiving and on Christmas, but generally try and keep it "normal" and logged on all the other days. There will be some blips, I'm sure. I'm also in the throws of half marathon training through December 9 (race day), so keeping my diet on point is important to me in that regard, also.

    Happy almost birthday :) I always found it a bit sad/funny people born on halloween, Celebrating themselves as dressed as someone else hah
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    RachsLosses wrote: »
    Who else is dreading the new wave of resolution gymmers...

    This was me last year and I've stuck consistently ever since. I really love going to the Y for classes now and miss it when I can't go. I'm curious to see what it looks like from this side.
  • rosyone1
    rosyone1 Posts: 32 Member
    I won't log onThanksgiving or Christmas day and will eat what I want, but only what I really want. No doubt there'll be candied sweet potatoes and probably one of those fruit salads with miniature marshmallows. Those are both things I've always been able to take or leave, and I'll be leaving them this year. But I will be eating pecan pie and probably some fudge, along with the usual turkey, dressing, giblet gravy, hot homemade dinner rolls, and veggies. There may be a few other days around the holidays when I eat at maintenance or close to it, but not over.
  • cparsons_60
    cparsons_60 Posts: 95 Member
    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    Im with everyone on treating it as 1 day- However for my birthday i made a list of my top 5 goodies i REALLY wanted. And then over the 2 weeks surrounding my birthday i made sure to fit every single one of those 5 things into my calories surrounded by my normal food days. For me saying 1 day and 1 day only makes me binge and its rarely worth it, Ill eat things i dont even really enjoy just because the all or nothing mindset. ill eat everything there. For me sometimes it helps to be extra mindful and make sure i get what i really want - And only what i really want :p So sometimes allowing more days is helpful to. Aslong as you do it mindfully and planned. Helps me from overeating or feeling deprived because i get what i want, And i dont go off my plan.


    I really like this. Instead of calling your birthday a cheat day and going bonkers, you celebrated by having all the things you wanted in a planned and mindful two-week celebration. Wouldn't work for me for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year since I'll be a guest for both these occasions, but I'm going to remember this for birthday/4th of July, etc. It's one day, but it can be more if I want it to.

  • okjimmied
    okjimmied Posts: 10 Member
    Great stuff WinoGelato. I needed this "perspective".
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    I use a lot of the good strategies that people have outlined above, and I continue to log everything, even on Thanksgiving. But mostly, I try to remind myself of the things in this thread which I posted a couple of years ago... it's all about perspective.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10303793/who-gained-weight-during-the-holidays-i-have-a-solution/p1

  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    I just can't eat much at one sitting, so that takes care of it for me.
  • YosemiteSlamAK
    YosemiteSlamAK Posts: 1,230 Member
    I come from a "large" family. As far back as I can remember we have always planned healthy activities during Thanksgiving & Christmas. Flag football, bowling, softball, hiking (grandparents lived in the mountains). We never tracked calories but my grandmother made sure we didn't sit around on our butts. Now as adults we still get together for Thanksgiving and we'll do a clean up of my aunt's yard & gutters, as well as group walk or bike ride.
  • caroldavison332
    caroldavison332 Posts: 864 Member
    I studied what eating poorly costs me and preplanned my Thanksgiving and Christmas feast. I don't particularly care for apple, cherry or lemon meringue pie, so I won't spend my calories on them. However it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without pecan pie so I purchase ONE piece at the church bazaar so I don't bake and eat an entire one myself. My other favorite is stuffing so I will eat that too with gravy, turkey and turnips. I'll maybe have a tiny piece of pumpkin pie. The rest I can live without.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,740 Member
    Holidays aren't that big a deal for me. We don't have kids around, so there are no cookies, etc. Leftover Halloween candy goes above the fridge, to be eaten one snack bar at a time over the next several months. We don't go to parties, so too much alcohol isn't a problem. There is a big family meal usually for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and there I focus on eating more plain meat and vegetables, less bread and sugar, but I don't worry if I eat too much because it's only two meals. I'm starting marathon training right after Christmas, so I'll burn it off anyway.
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  • amandacalories
    amandacalories Posts: 107 Member
    Thanksgiving and Christmas I will eat what I want and maybe log. Halloween isn't a big deal to me and I don't get trick or treaters where I live.

    It's not these two days that make a difference. The problem I think many people have is they see the whole two months as a time to indulge. My plan for the work goodies is to not eat them for the most part. We're probably going to do a thanksgiving potluck and I will log that. Not planning on purchasing anything out of the ordinary or holiday themed at the store.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited October 2017
    cparsons_60 wrote: »
    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    Im with everyone on treating it as 1 day- However for my birthday i made a list of my top 5 goodies i REALLY wanted. And then over the 2 weeks surrounding my birthday i made sure to fit every single one of those 5 things into my calories surrounded by my normal food days. For me saying 1 day and 1 day only makes me binge and its rarely worth it, Ill eat things i dont even really enjoy just because the all or nothing mindset. ill eat everything there. For me sometimes it helps to be extra mindful and make sure i get what i really want - And only what i really want :p So sometimes allowing more days is helpful to. Aslong as you do it mindfully and planned. Helps me from overeating or feeling deprived because i get what i want, And i dont go off my plan.


    I really like this. Instead of calling your birthday a cheat day and going bonkers, you celebrated by having all the things you wanted in a planned and mindful two-week celebration. Wouldn't work for me for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year since I'll be a guest for both these occasions, but I'm going to remember this for birthday/4th of July, etc. It's one day, but it can be more if I want it to.

    You can still use it in theory, Youll be way less liekly to pig out and eat everything on the table you dont particularly even want and stick to reasonable respectable portions if you know your getting the treats you really do want later. I always try to follow it to some extent, Sometimes with 1 thing i really want or 5...1 day or 2 weeks...Good way to practice making beter choices in the moment for a more controlled and satisfying gain later. Something iv always struggled to do :p Im definatly a binge eater second i see all the options i lose my damn mind. Buffets are dangerous for me, As are dessert trays full of different things i have to try everything...twice...and then go back for all my favorites LOL. Even just with that havign some high calorie cookies of my own i know i love to reach for i can actually track and still eat since i LOVE cookies limits damage.
  • ztemommy
    ztemommy Posts: 1 Member
    Bob Harper (Biggest Loser Trainer) says to "frame your holidays and splurges ". By this, he means workout hard and eat perfectly (or close to it) the day before and after a big eating day. The day of the splurge, eat whatever you want and don't stress it. I've followed this advice for four years around Thanksgiving and Christmas and have had barely any weight gain those years. I plan on following it again this year.
  • hydechildcare
    hydechildcare Posts: 142 Member
    Halloween is my favorite time of year so I don't worry about calories on that party day. Though this year I have decide to make desserts I don't care for and we are having meat and mostly veggies for our meal so I think I will be okay. We only do holidays with my Husbands family and they know I am trying to be healthier (and we are trying to get his dad to eat better) so we will do all our normal items just lighter than before.

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