What is YOUR Holiday eating strategy?

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  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    to enjoy my holiday meals.

    like i have for the past 3 years as i lost 100 pounds.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    Same as it ever was. There are only a few food holidays every year, so why stress about them? I just eat whatever I want on those few days and get back to normal right away. Doesn't seem to have a negative impact - I've been maintaining at goal for almost 6 years now. B)
  • mysteps2beauty
    mysteps2beauty Posts: 494 Member
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    Eat what I want just less of it. Take a nice walk after eating. Start back next day.
  • BecomingMoreAwesome
    BecomingMoreAwesome Posts: 150 Member
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    I usually take a couple of weeks in December at maintenance. I think last year I didn’t log on days of big holiday parties where it would all be WAGs anyway. On Halloween itself I eat at maintenance, and then work 1 leftover Halloween treat into my deficit calories each day until they’re gone or I get bored of pumpkin shaped peanut butter cups. I logged on Thanksgiving, but didn’t worry about going (way) over.
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,261 Member
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    karla24687 wrote: »
    Last year around the holidays, I literally did not care - at times it was almost like I TRIED to overeat with the idea I would start good habits in the New Year...yeah, well it took a lot longer than that & now I've been stuck with extra weight since then. I gained about 10 lbs in the last few months of 2016.
    This year, I will NOT be keeping those tempting leftovers at my house - they will go home with family or they will get chucked. Last Xmas we did family dessert at my house & there was literally a table full of cookies, cake, & candy when everyone left. I have zero self control so I just kept eating it.
    I don't mind having leftover turkey, roast, veggies, whatever, but the cakes & pies will not be welcome after the actual holiday. I am standing my ground this year!

    We are twins... :(
    Standing ground here too!!
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    BusyRaeNOTBusty wrote: »
    I think I am going to try to do a 5k on Thanksgiving morning. And then, probably not log and just try not to over-
    stuff myself.

    Oh yeah. .I forgot. at least I get a 5 mile run at race pace (and usually an accompanying 5 mile walk) on Thanksgiving morning before eating all the things.
  • kbmnurse
    kbmnurse Posts: 2,484 Member
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    Holiday eating=enjoy you only live once.
  • cbstewart88
    cbstewart88 Posts: 453 Member
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    I basically ignore the food on the holidays. I've seen 62 Halloweens, Thanksgivings and Christmases - and there is nothing new - nothing that I haven't seen or tasted before: not one candy bar, not one serving of stuffing, not one cookie. So I eat as if it is any other day - and if I want a few extra cocktails (which I usually do) - I adjust calories accordingly.
  • kierrakins
    kierrakins Posts: 16 Member
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    I struggle a lot with sweets around the holidays so I have a bunch of low calorie low carb recipes that I make for substitutions. Also, Thanksgiving and Christmas day never get logged due to my overwhelming love of mashed potatoes and dumplings lol. I usually try and do some extra cardio prior to a big holiday feast.
  • mammacoty
    mammacoty Posts: 45 Member
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    For Halloween, I'm letting the kids each pick a small amount of candy to keep & hide on their own, and giving the rest to the candy buy back program at their school. I've given up added sugar, and have no self control, so that's best.
    For Thanksgiving, I'll get a big workout in that morning to allow for wiggle room, but stick to mostly protein & veggies at the meal, avoid the breads. The drinking is what's gonna hurt!
    I think by Christmas, I'm either gonna be ready for a real cheat day, or I'll be doing so well that much of the foods won't be worth eating. Not sure yet.
    I also always, always offer to bring the veggie tray, so I can fill up on veggies instead of all the heavy appetizers.
  • 43501
    43501 Posts: 85 Member
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    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'm Australian and thankfully don't have to think about Halloween or Thanksgiving at all. Hah. Take that.

    On the 24th/25th I throw out all restrictions and macro targets and everything for two days and that's one of the only times of the year I well and truly eat without restraint, often going 2x or even 3x my usual allowance. Feels good.

    Regarding "holiday eating" in general, here's the thing: as long as you do the right thing most of the time, that's all that really matters.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
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    The challenging part for me is not the actual holiday meals (I'm the cook) but the disruption to normal routine in December, mainly because of holiday events. Also, we celebrate both my & DH bdays, our anniversary, Xmas and New Years within a 3 week span, so there is a lot of celebrating. It's more alcohol than normal and it adds up. Here's what helps me.

    1) cocktail parties- A glass of wine on a hungry stomach will rapidly descend into eating & drinking more than planned, so I eat something substantial before I go. And then I pass on hors douvres. I've realized that they often look nice but rarely taste special. They're also difficult to log accurately.
    2) dinner parties- bank calories day of (and following day if necessary) and enjoy the meal (logging best I can)
    3) weeknight wine- add cardio mileage to offset (4mi ~ half bottle wine for me)
    4) food gifts- choose my one favorite to enjoy and let the kids ravage the rest

    Above all, I aim to genuinely enjoy the people I don't often see and the generosity of friends who host gatherings. Ultimately, that's more important to me than the calories (which I do my best to count anyway). Cheers, everybody!
  • Strawblackcat
    Strawblackcat Posts: 944 Member
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    I'll be working pretty much every day other than Christmas and Thanksgiving Day themselves, so eating junk is a non-issue then since I'll pretty much just be on my feet all day. On Christmas and Thanksgiving I'll probably just be too exhausted to bother to cook anything fancy, so I'll probably just chill, sleep, and work out at my normal time
  • runningforthetrain
    runningforthetrain Posts: 1,037 Member
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    I pick out all the M&M with peanuts, the Reese's peanut butter cups, and the Almond Joys out of the Halloween candy for myself. I turn the lights out early.

    I like to go to parties with an empty stomach and hit the cocktails hard. Then I shovel in the appetizers & go for seconds if they have bacon or prosciutto. I watch a lot of Christmas specials, sit on the sofa with a blanket, full milk hot chocolate, and snack on kettle corn.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,287 Member
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    I'm actually toying with the idea of making some healthy versions of mashed potatoes and Thanksgiving fixings this year, and try to stay on my plan. Halo Top ice cream is so good... i could have a half pint of that for dessert and be happy. For me it seems there is always an excuse to off my diet , there is always a special celebration or event and or holiday. I've just started back here..and I'm tired of never getting it done.
  • shirgify
    shirgify Posts: 35 Member
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    My plan is to eat all my kids Halloween chocolate the first day that way it's gone and I can move on like normal. That or my husband can try to hide it.

    Christmas is fine, the rest of my family is vegan so I just volume eat plenty of veggies and track accordingly.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    eat mindfully, realize that my weight will be up the next few days because of sodium, drink lots of water, enjoy and move on
  • theresa961
    theresa961 Posts: 37 Member
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    I will make sure I get exercise! Then I log everything! Every lick bite and chew. I enjoy myself and eat what I want. It then amazes me to see how many calories one can consume on Thanksgiving. I read an article that said on thanksgiving the average American consumes a full stick of butter! I remind myself that these holidays are just a few days intermixed throughout the whole year.
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
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    I don't change my eating at all in regards to Halloween, I'm not a big candy person anyway. In regards to Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years I don't log what i'm eating and drinking. I figure whatever calories I consume on those three days a year won't impact me overall. I give myself permission to indulge however I please on those holidays but i've noticed that I've tended to eat pretty similarly to normal anyway just with the addition of some drinks and decadent desserts which I rarely choose to have in everyday life.
  • Lasercat666
    Lasercat666 Posts: 4 Member
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    Thank you for all the nice tipps! I hope I will do better during the christmas holiday time than last year :dizzy:

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