Halloween ruins diet every time

mpapa1856
mpapa1856 Posts: 21 Member
edited December 19 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
It is January and starting to watch my weight again after the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holiday. But, I am already dreading Halloween when my diet always seems to end and weight yo-yo’s. How can I (do you) control cravings after giving in to chocolates?

Replies

  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    edited January 2019
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    I don't try to diet. I just log the food I eat. Chocolate? Log it. Once you start logging everything you eat in a food diary, you start noticing your habits and then start thinking about ways to improve your health. Once you start thinking about that, you start trying things and start enjoying this new way of living.

    Pretty much the same with me. I log everything, but with a few exceptions, like packing a lunch, I don't really plan what I eat; I react to what I eat or what is offered/available as a choice. Where will it leave me if I eat this? Am I good with that? You could make a pretty good case for saying I implicitly plan to have room for some impulse snacking. My decision making is largely influenced by wanting the big thing - long term success - more than the little things. But I want some of the little things and within reason I have them.
  • FL_Hiker
    FL_Hiker Posts: 919 Member
    My Halloween candy is actually still sitting in the pantry (is that stuff expired now?) , I just eat a little bit and put it up. I don’t eat it all at once and I always logged it. Honestly I ended up forgetting about it. Sometimes I also freeze my candy, it makes it last longer and helps me not go through it as fast, I love buying the mini sized snickers, Milky Ways and 3 musketeers and put them in the freezer and then they take forever just to eat one and taste better. The mini size helps too because you can eat 4 of them and it’s a serving. The candy isn’t going anywhere, all these holidays have some special treat associated with them, just keep in mind you don’t have to eat it all at once and you can make it fit a little bit each day.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    I can sympathize. My husband, whose calorie allowance is twice as large as mine, brings home grocery bags full of clearance chocolate after every major holiday. It's not easy. (And before anyone says "have him hide it", we have a very small house and I know where literally everything is, or could easily find it when I want to.) If I didn't have a family, there's no way I'd bring the stuff in my house. I'd have an individual bar on occasion, but wouldn't keep a stockpile. Do you not have that option? Do you deprive yourself of sweets the rest of the year so you go nuts when they are readily available? Maybe having a little here & there would be a better solution. The way you talk about it almost makes it seem like you are planning to fail.

  • gcminton
    gcminton Posts: 170 Member
    Logging it all definitely does help, and it really is okay to let yourself have some sweets. This is your life, right? It's okay to enjoy it. Happiness counts in a meal plan. Personally I make an effort to leave myself space for a serving of nice ice cream or a mini chocolate pretty regularly. I'll crash and burn hard if I tell myself I can never have "junk" food ever because it isn't "healthy", it just isn't realistic for me. Much better to find a way to make it fit my goals.

    Something I do is adjusting my mindset a bit and think of random treats as just Not My Food. You wouldn't eat someone else's food, would you?

    Coworker brings in treats? I didn't bring them. Not my food.
    Roommate brings home muffins? I didn't buy them. Not my food.
    Spouse wants fancy tortillas? Cool. They're a nice thing he really enjoys. Not my food.

    It takes some practice, particularly the spousal part, but it gets easier over time.
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    I used to be much worse than I am. Perhaps years of logging (I don't any longer because I've been in maintenance seven years) and just not having the stuff around makes me have a little will power.

    The only thing I have a hard time controlling is Marshmallow Fluff. Had a jar of that left from making X-mas fudge. That and Peanut Butter in my house are a very dangerous combination!!

    Mostly, it's just about not having it in the house.
  • Mr_Healthy_Habits
    Mr_Healthy_Habits Posts: 12,588 Member
    Halloween ruins me for like 3 months lol
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    There's definitely the black-and-white thinking: "Oh well Halloween ruined my diet this week, so I'm giving up". And Thanksgiving. And Christmas. New Year's. Granted, the Holiday Season is a challenge, but taking an all-or-nothing mindset rather than a "I'm gonna do my best and the holidays don't last forever" mentality will break you. It's really the day to day stuff that adds up more than Halloween week or whatever.

    As for chocolate...I freaking love chocolate. I love my hot cocoa, and chocolate Special K cereal and protein bars and so on. When I indulge, it's gotta be worth it: the best I can get a hold of. No crappy Hersey bar...I'm going to get make my knees week stuff.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    rcreynol3090 wrote: »
    I also am a chocoholic, but with no children at home, and no trick-or-treaters venturing to my end of the road, Halloween is a non-issue. However, my wife brought home Godiva chocolates from her office for Christmas. She didn't want them in the house, so I took them to work, thinking I could ration them. Oops...
    I binged on chocolate truffles, chocolate covered nuts, chocolate...
    But chocolate is gone, and I'm back on track. I don't consider it a diet, but a lifestyle change, and temporary setbacks are put aside and the journey continues.

    This^

    Do I expect to never eat chocolate again as long as I live? Nope.

    Find a method that allows you a treat now and then. Once a month (once a week, whatever) go to the store and buy a single serving. Savor that serving, log it, and move on.

    If/when you are ready to take the next step you may be able to keep some chocolate in the house. I buy Ghiradelli individually wrapped dark chocolate squares and have one most days.
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,868 Member
    My maintenance schedule is to lose the 7 pounds I gained from Halloween to New Years in the new year. It’s a little frustrating and I’m working next year on better logging- even through the holidays. Every day. I do that for the rest of the year, but Halloween just kind of gets me in the mood to slack off. OP- I totally relate.
  • xbowhunter
    xbowhunter Posts: 1,309 Member
    I view candy like all other foods. What is it going to do for my health. If the answer is nothing & it could be harmful then it's easy for me to opt out on eating it. :)

    It's a mindset that gets me trough most holidays. Not saying I'm perfect because I did have a piece of cake last week for my 50th B-day. Unfortunately I felt like crap that evening... :(

    I never say "I'm on a diet" because that implies I will be off of it some-day to gain the weight back... :)

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I think you are well on your way to figuring this out.

    You might want to do some reading on “All or Nothing Thinking”. And how you might recover faster from a slip-up.

    If you love your sweets find a way to incorporate them without taking over your day. You might have a ritual for instance to end your dinner with a dessert. The anticipation and the leisurely consumption will extend your pleasure for a fraction of the calories.

    https://youtu.be/SNWCZi2DnWM
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    Success is made not through perfection, but by focusing on the 20% priorities providing 80% of the result.

    Eating at maintenance or in surplus for 3 days doesn't have to undo the efforts in the other 362. Why concern yourself with something below 1% of the year?

    Plan for it. Budget for it. Eat the chocolate.
  • midlomel1971
    midlomel1971 Posts: 1,283 Member
    I don't think it's overkill to start thinking about dealing with times during the year you know will trigger weight gain and falling back into bad habits. For me, it's our late-August beach trip. That compared w/ back-to-school, then Halloween season, then holidays....I fall off the wagon EVERY time and I gain weight. This past season I pretty much undid all of the progress I made last year. So, I think planning and thinking about it now are fine. I'm not sure what the solution is. I've failed at my attempts to deal with vacation and I've sucked the past 3 years. This year I'm just going to stick w/ logging, even though it's vacation and supposed to be a "break from reality." And even if I go over my limit by 3000 calories. I'm going to log it. Maybe that will make it easier for to get back on track.
  • Faebert
    Faebert Posts: 1,588 Member
    I think there’s a lot to be said for mindset and what we tell ourselves with stuff like this. Halloween has derailed your progress in the past, but it doesn’t have to this year. It isn’t inevitable. If you keep focussing on what went wrong and tell yourself that ‘it always happens’ it becomes a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy.

    Something I’ve realised has helped me in maintenance is being able to move on immediately if I do overdo it. Just accepting it and getting back to it. It isn’t necessarily about saying you won’t have any indulgences or slips this year, it’s about telling yourself you have the knowledge, discipline and motivation to get back on the programme if you do have a couple of indulgent days here and there. Keep reminding yourself that there is no reason why what happened in the past has to happen again.
  • mpapa1856
    mpapa1856 Posts: 21 Member
    I will keep logging and if I do that I think it will help me stay on track and when I slip I will try to let it go to get myself back on track quickly
  • hroderick
    hroderick Posts: 756 Member
    It's the short cold gray days and long dark winter nights that makes me want comfort foods. I tried to maintain Oct-Dec but gained some, so back to strict living and losing again
  • MadisonMolly2017
    MadisonMolly2017 Posts: 11,157 Member
    xbowhunter wrote: »
    I view candy like all other foods. What is it going to do for my health. If the answer is nothing & it could be harmful then it's easy for me to opt out on eating it. :)

    It's a mindset that gets me trough most holidays. Not saying I'm perfect because I did have a piece of cake last week for my 50th B-day. Unfortunately I felt like crap that evening... :(

    I never say "I'm on a diet" because that implies I will be off of it some-day to gain the weight back... :)

    @xbowhunter
    I had this experience recently after eating a piece of cake. I’m glad, in a way, as it is a reminder of how much healthier I eat now!
  • gallicinvasion
    gallicinvasion Posts: 1,015 Member
    With chocolate-heavy holidays, I like to portion what I get into 100 cal baggies using a food scale, and eat one or two per day instead of other snacks I usually have.
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