How did you make it through Christmas without gaining ?

mpkpbk2015 · December 2021

How did you make it through Christmas and the Holiday without gaining weight? See my blog for some tips if your interested. https://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/mpkpbk2015

myfurturelooksgood · December 2021

I ate as normal without eating traditional holiday food. I prepared my own meals all day and although I did not get my usual daily exercise in, I did not gain.

crazyhorse8 · December 2021

Ah, lets see...I didn't.

JustRamona · December 2021

I cooked and I ate/sampled everything, a little overindulged on the alcohol but "filled up" mostly on greens - I weighed in .7 pounds lighter than I did on 12/22

What I am learning through these discussion threads and based upon my own behavior is that when I get to maintenance, that I will absolutely need to continue to log meals. It's the key to maintaining for my warped brain because right now I plan all of choices and activities by what I would like to eat that day. Sometimes even though you plan the unexpected happens - after all this is life! and when life happens choose the heathiest option on the menu.

mjglantz · December 2021

So far I haven't gained. Kept up with my exercising and ate my normal healthy diet most meals. when we were out I enjoyed myself and ate a little more, but didn't go crazy. this approach has worked for me for about 10 years.

alexandramosenson · December 2021

I ate mostly protein on Christmas dinner, which is our holiday event. Chicken wings smoked and chili! I had only one piece of pumpkin pie, which I sliced in half. I went out to lunch (a rare occurrence for me on boxing day), and had a bread roll and the creamy seafood soup. That is all that is out of my ordinary!

2manyhats · December 2021

I didn't gain, light sampling of food. I am not a sweet eater😀

Chef_Barbell · December 2021

I caught covid and couldn't eat a thing. I do not recommend. 🤷‍♀️

AngWBald · December 2021

Well, I didn't make it through without gaining. I will be truthful. I went into it knowing I was going to gain. I gave myself a 2 to 3 pound weight gain. I stepped on the scale this morning and I gained every bit of 3 pounds. I don't feel bad. I'm back on today with intermittent fasting along with Ketogenic eating. It's worked for me so far. I lost 7 pounds in one month when I added intermittent fasting with Keto. It will be interesting to see how long it will take me to knock off those 3 pounds. Was it worth it? Yes It was, and I enjoyed my Christmas! I refuse to feel guilt over a 3 pound gain.

Xellercin · December 2021

I just ignore the "gain." For me it's just one or two days of eating more and of foods I wouldn't normally eat. No binging, nothing excessive, just more than typical.

If the scale jumps from that, then it's all water weight. I just don't weigh myself for a week after the 25th, because I don't need stress associated with eating a totally reasonable amount of my mom's Christmas cooking.

Machka9 · December 2021

Pretty much normal eating all month plus a bit of extra exercise during this weekend.

goal06082021 · December 2021

girl idk i didn't even attempt to track yesterday and i woke up 2lb lighter you tell me

(real answer: planning and consistency the rest of the time; anticipating "special occasion" meals throughout the year; looking at my calories for the week rather than obsessing over the day-to-day; being mindful about my food and exercise choices and paying attention to my body, to better judge what I need to give to it in order for it to do what I need it to do.)

ninerbuff · December 2021

Ate just above normal calories by a little. Up a couple, but nothing to fear since most of it is water from all the extra sodium consumed.

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Sand_TIger · December 2021

I decided to be at maintenance for the holiday season so I had a few more calories to play with. For Christmas I had a reasonable dinner and just made as much as my spouse and I could eat. That way there wouldn't be a massive amount of leftovers. I expect to have gained a couple pounds in water weight but I also expect for it to leave pretty quickly, doing the math on my actual overage I couldn't have gained more than a few ounces in actual fat, if that. So basically I just enjoyed myself and didn't overdo it.

laurad1978 · December 2021

I over indulged the past few days and planned to. I know if I stood on the scales now I would be up about 7lbs but the 27th is my cut off date. Personally for me if I didn't allow myself this period of overindulgence I would feel deprived going into January. I'll weigh myself tomorrow and know I'll drop the majority within the next few days. It will likely take a week or two to be back to my maintenance range. At the moment I've eaten so much rich food I'm looking forward to a few days of light meals.

sigsby · December 2021

I indulged but I watched my portion size.

Cozgirl40 · December 2021

I gained .6lb. I did my normal exercise routine and my usual meals up to, and including Christmas eve. My son in law prepares Christmas dinner every year and each course is a plated portion (including dessert). No helping yourself to seconds lol. I enjoyed every bite.

Kendracarv · December 2021

I ate a very healthy yesterday: mixed salad with strawberries, brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and a piece of dutch apple pie.

Lietchi · December 2021

I ate an estimated 3000kcal on Christmas Eve, 2700kcal on Christmas and 2500 calories yesterday. Probably nearly 2000 calories over maintenance. I enjoyed everything, in relative moderation.
My weigh-ins on the 25th, 26th and this morning were the opposite of what you'd expect:

Part of that drop will be from my period ending, but I'm guessing there's other water weight weirdness going on to explain it. In any case, not much indication that I gained any significant bodyfat.

Other times when I have a high calorie day, I will see an increase the day or days after, but that won't stick around if I get back to my regular eating and working out.

justanotherloser007 · December 2021

I have been keeping to my general plan, but started eating what I thought was maintenance calories on Christmas. I have bumped up my walk a few days I did double the 5 miles, and that helped a lot and helped me be at a loss. I am actually on schedule this month. I lost, I didn't even maintain!! So, I will keep to the plan. But I am unafraid to go to maintenance calories at any time. I don't have to constantly lose all the time. I am down 105 lbs as of this morning!! I was really thinking about going maintenance calories for a few more days, to properly celebrate the Christmas season!

kjratliff55 · December 2021

I have a daily Calorie Goal Which I adhere to.
Yes, I may go a little over or under but I monitor and stay within 10% (weekly average).

cwolfman13 · December 2021

In my home, Christmas isn't a massive feast like Thanksgiving...and even if it were, it's just one meal. Traditionally in my home, Christmas dinner is a rib roast, mushroom risotto, and green bean almondine. Usually some apple pie for desert. Breakfast is usually a cranberry lemon cake with an orange glaze and we all have a slice while presents are being opened with our coffee. There is no lunch, but we put out a charcuterie board when guests arrive. It is a bit more indulgent than a regular day, but it's just a day and not really a big deal. Christmas Eve is pretty low key with traditional NM Posole which is filling, but not particularly high in calories.

Throughout the holiday season, my diet is not much different than normal...I might indulge in a few more cookies here and there than normal, but that's about it and I don't have much of a sweet tooth so it's nothing crazy. I enjoy making and decorating them with the kids more than I like eating them.

I don't really gain weight with "Christmas"...I usually put on some weight from October through December which is primarily due to a decrease in overall activity and training more so than a particular holiday or meal. Training typically resumes right after the new year for spring cycling events and that weight fall/winter weight falls right off. It's a pattern and I'm pretty comfortable with the cycle of things.

dralicephd · December 2021

For two days, I was a full-on glutton! It was planned, and it was fun! I didn't fully log, because there really wasn't a way to do it accurately, and well, I didn't care. Yesterday I eased back in to my normal routine and today I am fully back. No big deal.

The scale? It spiked 2.5 pounds with increased water (probably from all the sugar I ate) and increased volume of food. Today it is almost fully back down again. All of this is as expected. One or two days is not going to break anybody. It's what you do the rest of the month that matters more.

I expect another spike next weekend with plans for the New Year holiday, but then life will return to normal and I'll be back to my normal schedule of losing weight.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

AKTipsyCat · December 2021

I totally gained. But I DID make it to my Hot Yoga class Christmas day and it felt so good.

Archcurl · December 2021

It was easy since I was in selfisolation 🙃 thanks for taking a covid test after we saw each other, sister. 😫
So I just mostly ate my normal foods

s1im62 · December 2021

Ate the holiday meals, but kept the portions small enough to meet my daily calorie goal. Basically I did the same as I do every other day.

gorple76 · December 2021

This year I stuck to some minimal behaviours:
- logged everything
- Moved/exercised as normal
- Weighed myself everyday (keeps me focused)
- Aim to eat at maintenance on all days except my birthday (just before Christmas), Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve

In previous years I would try to restrict, inevitably fail, and just throw my hands up. I’ve always come out of the winter 7-14lbs heavier. This year, by being much more realistic, I’m actually 2lbs down on the start of December. Can’t tell you how amazing this feels.

howardeaston · December 2021

Drinking just one glass of cider and generally eating no more than normal, I did pig out on Xmas pudding with rum sauce - I look forward to that more than any other xmas food. Weight? Who cares - its Xmas. :-)
But I am now on a diet having gained 4kg over the last year

LenGray · December 2021

I made things easier on myself lol

Instead of the big spread of calorie-heavy foods, I made a tried-and true favorite (vegan pasta bake with a spinach and candied walnut salad+ homemade pumpkin pie for dessert) and added some extra activity into my day with walking the dogs, wandering around while talking on the phone, and doing some early morning yoga. To keep up the holiday vibe, I did make up a plate of apple slices, sliced veg, and a variety of chips+dip, but they were all pretty low-calorie and I shared it with everyone else instead of eating it by myself.

mirianyusm · December 2021

I gained 5 lbs, but I am fine with it. I had a delicious Christmas Eve dinner and on the 25th we celebrated my husband's birthday. Yes, he is a Christmas baby. No regrets.

tvm1970 · December 2021

A wise person once told me that it's what you eat and/or gain between New Year and Christmas that matters not what you eat and/or gain between Christmas and New Year.

This year I had my regular breakfast, stayed away from the treat foods we had a work (I was rostered on duty Christmas and Boxing Day), had an everyday lunch and a nice dinner. When I finally had Christmas with my family on the 29th I ate all the seasonal foods but in smaller portions filling the rest of my plate with non starchy vegetables and salad.

I am pretty sure I've gained - likely from the additional sodium - but I'm not weighing until tomorrow to give my body that chance to process it.

How did you make it through Christmas without gaining ?

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