The holiday season

Anyone else nervous about all the food-centric holidays quickly approaching? Im relatively confident that I’ll stick to a caloric deficit, but I’m definitely worried about all the temptation that will be out there and balancing diet and splurges.
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Replies

  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    nope. a few days out of the year does not make a difference!

    eat and enjoy and love your loved ones!
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,611 Member
    Christmas isn't for another 6 weeks.

    Stick to your diet for the next 5 weeks, take a couple weeks off over Christmas, and resume again a few days into January. :)

    That's my plan!

    Also, start ramping up your exercise. Here, it's late spring and the weather is finally starting to become nice. More walking, more cycling!!

    If it is winter where you are, get on the cross-country skis, snowshoes, skates ... get your family involved and have some fun. Focus more on getting out and doing stuff than on eating.
  • capwever
    capwever Posts: 10 Member
    I definitely plan on eating smart, mostly because I've JUST started losing weight and I don't want to be thrown off. For me that just means I'll use a small plate, put more veggies on my plate and have smaller portions of my favorite foods. I'm lucky that I only have a few favorites (green bean casserole, pumpkin pie) as well. The hardest will be stuffing, because it's such a high carb food, so I might just have a spoon or so of that.
  • Janice6543
    Janice6543 Posts: 92 Member
    I am also worried! I plan to cut out the candy and chips this year and stick to my favorite treats- Mom's buttertarts and stuffing. Plus ramp up the exercise to a couple hours a day when I'm off on vacation.
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  • nickssweetheart
    nickssweetheart Posts: 874 Member
    I'm more worried about being around food that could reactivate my taste for salty fatty foods than I am about overindulgence on any one day. There are just a few foods (potato chips being one) that I don't have control over so I don't eat them or keep them around. But I'm going to a few events over the holidays where there will be lots of rich and indulgent food around. Fortunately, most of it won't be 100% plant-based, so I won't eat any of it, but I don't want to start craving things like potato chips or fried onions or that sort of thing.
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    Sample everything I like, log it, and move on. It is only a few days, and I will not let it become a daily indulgence.
    I love this time of year and everything it involves, and that includes the food.
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    I'm looking forward to enjoying a couple big Christmas dinners but otherwise, business as usual. Just because the stores are filled with Christmas candy and chocolate doesn't mean you gotta buy it for yourself. ;)
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    Yes and no. I'm not so much worried about the big meals or the goodies that will be around. I know that's part of what this time of year is about, and I try to let myself enjoy it.

    What I am worried about is that I'll use it as an excuse to go nuts and eat all of everything from late Nov thru whenever I can't fit in my pants anymore.

    Allowing myself some flexibility and enjoyment of the season is one thing. Using it as an excuse to binge and whatnot is very different.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    nope, that's what the weekly goal and maintenance are there for!
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
    My planned surplus (doing a bulk/mass gain/hypertrophy cycle) goes on until the end of January, so all the holidays are covered. Besides, as others have said in not so many words, doing a diet break or even refeed during the holidays is a good idea anyway. No negatives or worries then. No stress = better adherence to weight loss plan and better weight loss usually.
  • jb050794
    jb050794 Posts: 43 Member
    I'm nervous. Started eating better and working out again a week ago. My family is Mexican and there is so much yummy food during the holidays. Also, everyone will think I'm rude if I don't eat my aunties tamales :D:p
  • jb050794
    jb050794 Posts: 43 Member
    capwever wrote: »
    I definitely plan on eating smart, mostly because I've JUST started losing weight and I don't want to be thrown off. For me that just means I'll use a small plate, put more veggies on my plate and have smaller portions of my favorite foods. I'm lucky that I only have a few favorites (green bean casserole, pumpkin pie) as well. The hardest will be stuffing, because it's such a high carb food, so I might just have a spoon or so of that.

    Small plate! I'll do that for thanksgiving!
  • Anon2018
    Anon2018 Posts: 139 Member
    I admit - this is my first holiday season on this lifestyle and so far I've lost 7 pounds (out of 35 total I'm trying to lose). So, while it's a nice victory, it's not *so* much that I feel like I can't undo it. Like if I gain back 3-4 pounds I'll be devastated.

    I'll be spending 10 days with my BFs family out of town and will need to be careful. I'm very nervous for the holidays this year. Definitely going to fit in some exercise and exercise portion control, but besides that I feel pretty powerless.
  • musicfan68
    musicfan68 Posts: 1,143 Member
    I don't worry about it because I have learned that I don't need to stuff myself at Thanksgiving or Christmas. I have felt sick enough times after eating too much that I just don't massively overeat anymore. It also helps that I don't like gravy, rolls, stuffing (unless it is my aunt's oyster dressing), so I eat some turkey, a reasonable amount of potatoes with butter (I can have potatoes any time, so I don't gorge on those either). A couple of sides and I'm good.
  • midlomel1971
    midlomel1971 Posts: 1,283 Member
    I'm just going to be really good until the week of Christmas and then it will all go to *kitten*, but that's okay because it's the holidays and I like to eat. We are going on vacation to the beach the week between Christmas and NYE and I plan on eating and being buzzed the entire week. Then I'll get back on board after Jan 1. Okay, maybe Jan 2.
  • I look forward to a single day of holiday eating. The harder part for me is to stay at "home" (where I grew up) with my mother for up to a week. When I come home my mom wants to have waffles and cinnamon rolls for breakfast every morning. Or if I ask for eggs, she'll make me 4 eggs scrambled with cheese and butter plus huge pieces of toast slathered with butter. It has been this way forever. I am not overweight, and if I make any sort of whisper about not wanting to overeat I hear a big fuss about it. Last time I was home I caught my mom sneaking a look at the size of my jeans. *facepalm*

    I am perfectly capable of making my own breakfast, but any only children out there will know my struggle. I'm just going to try not to worry about it all too much. Enjoy the season!
  • SusanDSME
    SusanDSME Posts: 194 Member
    I'm definitely worried, since this is my first holiday season since I started to count calories and exercise. (These are really early days...started exercising in Sept. and logging calories here since 11/4) I love stuffing more than life itself. I love dark meat turkey. My sister-in-law the pastry chef is making pie, so I'm definitely eating that. I'll probably have a very small breakfast and lunch that day and take advantage of the gym at the hotel we're staying at. I really need to not blow it, because I've lost so little and struggled so much with my weight for the past 4 years.

    We're visiting my husband's family, and their way of showing love involves stuffing you with food until you can't move. Somehow, I have to politely decline.
  • 2snakeswoman
    2snakeswoman Posts: 655 Member
    I usually start counting calories around the holidays because I don't want to start the new year 5-10 pounds heavier. It's the rest of the year that challenges me because I'm not as focused.
  • musicfan68
    musicfan68 Posts: 1,143 Member
    One way I deal with anticipated larger meals is I don't eat prior to the meal. I won't eat breakfast or lunch, and eat a reasonable amount at dinner, which for us is usually around 1 pm anyway. So I can eat my daily calorie allotment at that one meal and still be good.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    Noel_57 wrote: »
    I dread January 1st the most, with the deluge of "new year, new me" threads. :|

    Someone in my RL indicated this to me...back in October. I was like, why wait?
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    This will be my 3rd holiday season on MFP and I’m feeling much more in control now than in the past. Will I overindulge? Probably. Can I make a quick recovery and get back on track? Most definitely.

    The hardest part for me is the office treats. Vendors send piles of decadent treats that stockpile in the kitchen. Some of it is crap, but some are really special.