Keeping our *kitten* Together Over the Holidays
Replies
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Last year I switched to maintenance for the holidays. This year I'm SO close to my big, 50-pound goal, that I'd like to hit it before Thanksgiving. The treats have already started rolling in to work, so I'm going to have to check in with my determination.
The holidays can be stressful for a lot of people. Switching to maintenance and banking calories for the week to fit in an occasional big meal can be a good, moderate strategy.1 -
josiereside1 wrote: »josiereside1 wrote: »Would anyone would be interested in joining this accountability thread for minimizing weight gain over the upcoming holiday season or perhaps even continuing to lose (that seems impossible to me!).
Well ... Christmas is almost 2 months away ... and it's just 2.5 days ... and it is in the middle of summer when the weather is good for going out cycling, running, walking, swimming at the beach, etc. etc. ... so ... it shouldn't be much of a problem.
Just plan to get some good exercise in before your Christmas dinner.
Well there are also tons of other holiday events this time of year, several Xmas parties, etc... so the holiday season is more than just a day or so. Also, although it may be summer for you, it may not be for many. I live in Florida so almost always summer but you cannot out run a bad diet!
Well ... actually, you can, in a way. You can lose weight with exercise. But you do have to put in quite a bit of effort.
One Christmas season a few years ago, I started going to the gym every day for about an hour and then going for a decent bicycle ride after. I ate slightly more than usual because it was Christmas and I was visiting my family.
I lost weight.
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Me! I'm already freaking out about Halloween. My kid gets way more candy than he can possibly eat and it usually ends up in my mouth. =(
My mother divided up our candy into little baggies ... one or two pieces per day each for a week in each bag. Then she froze the lot.
Each week, she would get out one bag and that's all we would get that week.
Several years the candy lasted nearly till the next halloween.3 -
Here are some of my plans to try and control the holiday craziness:
For Halloween; I'll give the kids a week to eat what they want of the candy. Then what's left will either go in the garbage, good stuff in the freezer for treats later in the year, and hard candy will be re-purposed (I use them to make flavored vodka in mason jars and give it to my dad as a Christmas present.)
For Thanksgiving: I am bringing food that works best with my diet to the big family meal. I'm bringing a pretty fruit platter and making a roasted veggie and quinoa salad. I'm going to try and fill up more on those before eating too much other stuff. And I'm bringing my own apple cinnamon infused water to drink instead of the caramel apple sangria my mom always makes.
For Christmas: I will be bringing all the extra Christmas cookies to my office. I will also freeze half of the leftovers so I can eat them at a latter date and not binge eat everything just to get it gone before it goes bad. I'm also purposely buying cute Christmas Tupperware so I can pack them full and send them home with our holiday guests.2 -
Kimmotion5783 wrote: »josiereside1 wrote: »Would anyone would be interested in joining this accountability thread for minimizing weight gain over the upcoming holiday season or perhaps even continuing to lose (that seems impossible to me!).
It's not impossible! We can do it! I'll join you, I'm doing this already anyway- might as well have some company!
I find that the best thing you can do for these occasions is come up with a game plan and do your very best to stick to it. Having a plan of attack in place usually helps keep me on track.
My problem is, especially Thanksgiving Day.. I want all the food and more!0 -
Okay, starting the month at 148.8...0
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I think you can eat on holidays. It won't derail the rest of the plan, just slow it down by a couple days.
So if I eat (say) 4000 calories on Thanksgiving that's 2200 over my goal of 1800 (without exercise calories) for the day. Let's just say we'll take that family walk or play catch with all that energy after dinner, so really I'm only over by 2000 for the day. If I eat at a 0.5 pounds per week loss rate, that would put me back at 1550 for just ten days to come back even...or I could just not worry about it and stay at my daily goals and it would get absorbed into my weight.
I've never gained actual weight with one day of excess. It always shows on the scale, but it always drops back off in the next week.
It's all the days before and after. Holidays should be about friends, family and good food. There aren't enough of those days in my life.3 -
cmriverside wrote: »I think you can eat on holidays. It won't derail the rest of the plan, just slow it down by a couple days.
So if I eat (say) 4000 calories on Thanksgiving that's 2200 over my goal of 1800 (without exercise calories) for the day. Let's just say we'll take that family walk or play catch with all that energy after dinner, so really I'm only over by 2000 for the day. If I eat at a 0.5 pounds per week loss rate, that would put me back at 1550 for just ten days to come back even...or I could just not worry about it and stay at my daily goals and it would get absorbed into my weight.
I've never gained actual weight with one day of excess. It always shows on the scale, but it always drops back off in the next week.
It's all the days before and after. Holidays should be about friends, family and good food. There aren't enough of those days in my life.
I know one day won't cause the damage it is just that we have social events almost every weekend up through New Years. I do eat at more of a deficit during the week to help counteract but that does not always work and I also need to be properly fueled for my workouts.
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Read the thread "Who gained weight during the holidays? I have a solution". By winogelato. It's a classic.0
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snowflake954 wrote: »Read the thread "Who gained weight during the holidays? I have a solution". By winogelato. It's a classic.
Great read!! But when you have social events every weekend through New Years it is tough not to gain more than just a pound or 2 and yes tracking consistently would help but I know when I am spending time with friends/family, I am not sitting there with my phone taking the time to log.
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josiereside1 wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »Read the thread "Who gained weight during the holidays? I have a solution". By winogelato. It's a classic.
Great read!! But when you have social events every weekend through New Years it is tough not to gain more than just a pound or 2 and yes tracking consistently would help but I know when I am spending time with friends/family, I am not sitting there with my phone taking the time to log.
Exercise before the social events.
Make the social events active.
Eat reasonably.
Prelog.3 -
josiereside1 wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »Read the thread "Who gained weight during the holidays? I have a solution". By winogelato. It's a classic.
Great read!! But when you have social events every weekend through New Years it is tough not to gain more than just a pound or 2 and yes tracking consistently would help but I know when I am spending time with friends/family, I am not sitting there with my phone taking the time to log.
Exercise before the social events.
Make the social events active.
Eat reasonably.
Prelog.
I exercise 6 days a week regardless... Our social events are parties, going out to dinner, etc... hard to prelog when you don't know what is being served, how it is made, etc. Most of the restaurants we go to are local and don't have nutritional info on line... The eating reasonably part is one I can and should do but somehow after a few cocktails that falls by the wayside!
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josiereside1 wrote: »josiereside1 wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »Read the thread "Who gained weight during the holidays? I have a solution". By winogelato. It's a classic.
Great read!! But when you have social events every weekend through New Years it is tough not to gain more than just a pound or 2 and yes tracking consistently would help but I know when I am spending time with friends/family, I am not sitting there with my phone taking the time to log.
Exercise before the social events.
Make the social events active.
Eat reasonably.
Prelog.
I exercise 6 days a week regardless... Our social events are parties, going out to dinner, etc... hard to prelog when you don't know what is being served, how it is made, etc. Most of the restaurants we go to are local and don't have nutritional info on line... The eating reasonably part is one I can and should do but somehow after a few cocktails that falls by the wayside!
Many restaurants do have menus online now, so I will check the menu, and then use the information from restaurants who do post nutrition online, or from recipe sites that have calories, to prelog.
So if I know that I'm going to choose the pumpkin, spinach, and ricotta lasagna, I'll look up pumpkin lasagna, and I might find something like these and take an average:
https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/pumpkin-sage-ricotta-lasagne/93b6977e-8d56-4336-a5f4-253ac22d815d
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/67609/roast-pumpkin-and-spinach-lasagne
I also make a point of ordering a plain garden salad (no dressing ... I don't like dressing) to start. That helps fill me up a little so I don't feel like eating quickly or eating a lot.
Plus we only drink diet beverages and water.
Regarding the exercise, I exercise 7 days a week, but the quantity varies ... so some days I might only walk an hour (200 calories) but on a day when I know we're going to have pizza or something, I'll try to get at least a couple hours of cycling or a combination of running and cycling. That can burn 800-1000 calories which will cover most of the pizza I eat.
And I have encouraged the people I'm having dinner with to go for a walk after dinner ... we'll wander through a local park or around the block or something. Walk and talk. If my husband and I are on our own, we'll do that most of the time.
Some people also bank calories ... so they'll come in, say, 100 calories a day, under their total for 6 days, thus banking 600 calories, which gives them an extra 600 calories on a day when they eat more. In a way I did this too by only eating half my exercise calories back.2 -
For Halloween candy left over, as in not given out. This year I guess because was on a Wednesday we had more than normal left over. We sometimes get close to 500 yes the number is correct through our subdivision. So I had more than planned left over as we had about 320 or so this year. So what I do with the leftovers, I donate it to the local assisted Living center. The older folks really enjoy getting a small piece of candy here and there. I remembered this from when my mom was in.
I am in for this, will be easier as we are not going anywhere for Thanksgiving. But in December have a number of Holiday invites coming up.
Daughter is overseas and not coming home this year for Holidays. But I have four furbabies all cats.1 -
josiereside1 wrote: »josiereside1 wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »Read the thread "Who gained weight during the holidays? I have a solution". By winogelato. It's a classic.
Great read!! But when you have social events every weekend through New Years it is tough not to gain more than just a pound or 2 and yes tracking consistently would help but I know when I am spending time with friends/family, I am not sitting there with my phone taking the time to log.
Exercise before the social events.
Make the social events active.
Eat reasonably.
Prelog.
I exercise 6 days a week regardless... Our social events are parties, going out to dinner, etc... hard to prelog when you don't know what is being served, how it is made, etc. Most of the restaurants we go to are local and don't have nutritional info on line... The eating reasonably part is one I can and should do but somehow after a few cocktails that falls by the wayside!
Many restaurants do have menus online now, so I will check the menu, and then use the information from restaurants who do post nutrition online, or from recipe sites that have calories, to prelog.
So if I know that I'm going to choose the pumpkin, spinach, and ricotta lasagna, I'll look up pumpkin lasagna, and I might find something like these and take an average:
https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/pumpkin-sage-ricotta-lasagne/93b6977e-8d56-4336-a5f4-253ac22d815d
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/67609/roast-pumpkin-and-spinach-lasagne
I also make a point of ordering a plain garden salad (no dressing ... I don't like dressing) to start. That helps fill me up a little so I don't feel like eating quickly or eating a lot.
Plus we only drink diet beverages and water.
Regarding the exercise, I exercise 7 days a week, but the quantity varies ... so some days I might only walk an hour (200 calories) but on a day when I know we're going to have pizza or something, I'll try to get at least a couple hours of cycling or a combination of running and cycling. That can burn 800-1000 calories which will cover most of the pizza I eat.
And I have encouraged the people I'm having dinner with to go for a walk after dinner ... we'll wander through a local park or around the block or something. Walk and talk. If my husband and I are on our own, we'll do that most of the time.
Some people also bank calories ... so they'll come in, say, 100 calories a day, under their total for 6 days, thus banking 600 calories, which gives them an extra 600 calories on a day when they eat more. In a way I did this too by only eating half my exercise calories back.
Yes, it all sounds good in theory but I had some health issues this year and kind of have the attitude that sometimes life is too short to worry about calories. Our social events are a little more "party" type so just hanging out drinking adult beverages... don't think I am convincing anyone to go on a walk with me LOL! That being said, I do cut calories during the week to some degree but need to be properly nutritioned for my workouts. Just hoping not to gain very much if at all and will hopefully stay around where I am at. I am for sure going to work hard not to gain with workouts and making good food choices (staying within cals when I can) but also want to enjoy everything!0 -
I need a place to vent my holiday stress, hope that’s ok here. Why does this time of year put so much pressure on us? I want to avoid booze and be moderate with all the holiday foods this year.1
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Great group! I agree with @wellnesschaser about the pressure of the holidays. I keep saying it should be about family but the focus is usually on food, drink and spending. All fine in moderation but I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. Ah well.
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I have social stuff going most weekends regardless of the season...summer is BBQs and pool parties...winter is holiday parties.
Most Saturdays I hit the gym in the morning and the only thing I eat until lunch is my whey shake...then usually a lighter lunch so I can enjoy the food and drink at the party.3 -
josiereside1 wrote: »josiereside1 wrote: »josiereside1 wrote: »snowflake954 wrote: »Read the thread "Who gained weight during the holidays? I have a solution". By winogelato. It's a classic.
Great read!! But when you have social events every weekend through New Years it is tough not to gain more than just a pound or 2 and yes tracking consistently would help but I know when I am spending time with friends/family, I am not sitting there with my phone taking the time to log.
Exercise before the social events.
Make the social events active.
Eat reasonably.
Prelog.
I exercise 6 days a week regardless... Our social events are parties, going out to dinner, etc... hard to prelog when you don't know what is being served, how it is made, etc. Most of the restaurants we go to are local and don't have nutritional info on line... The eating reasonably part is one I can and should do but somehow after a few cocktails that falls by the wayside!
Many restaurants do have menus online now, so I will check the menu, and then use the information from restaurants who do post nutrition online, or from recipe sites that have calories, to prelog.
So if I know that I'm going to choose the pumpkin, spinach, and ricotta lasagna, I'll look up pumpkin lasagna, and I might find something like these and take an average:
https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/pumpkin-sage-ricotta-lasagne/93b6977e-8d56-4336-a5f4-253ac22d815d
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/67609/roast-pumpkin-and-spinach-lasagne
I also make a point of ordering a plain garden salad (no dressing ... I don't like dressing) to start. That helps fill me up a little so I don't feel like eating quickly or eating a lot.
Plus we only drink diet beverages and water.
Regarding the exercise, I exercise 7 days a week, but the quantity varies ... so some days I might only walk an hour (200 calories) but on a day when I know we're going to have pizza or something, I'll try to get at least a couple hours of cycling or a combination of running and cycling. That can burn 800-1000 calories which will cover most of the pizza I eat.
And I have encouraged the people I'm having dinner with to go for a walk after dinner ... we'll wander through a local park or around the block or something. Walk and talk. If my husband and I are on our own, we'll do that most of the time.
Some people also bank calories ... so they'll come in, say, 100 calories a day, under their total for 6 days, thus banking 600 calories, which gives them an extra 600 calories on a day when they eat more. In a way I did this too by only eating half my exercise calories back.
Yes, it all sounds good in theory but I had some health issues this year and kind of have the attitude that sometimes life is too short to worry about calories. Our social events are a little more "party" type so just hanging out drinking adult beverages... don't think I am convincing anyone to go on a walk with me LOL! That being said, I do cut calories during the week to some degree but need to be properly nutritioned for my workouts. Just hoping not to gain very much if at all and will hopefully stay around where I am at. I am for sure going to work hard not to gain with workouts and making good food choices (staying within cals when I can) but also want to enjoy everything!
It's all about priorities.
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I’m in! Maintaining a 175lb. loss with three meals and two snacks. Protein goal, starchy carb limit, and 80+ oz. of water daily. Within that framework, I adjust to meals with friends by overestimating in my logging to be sure I can retain the good health I set as a goal.
Your support and sharing are so appreciated.1
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