To Log or Not to Log Thanksgiving

I'll be logging, but I'm going to make sure I hit the gym hard the day before so I have the extra calories, because it's my fave holiday of the year!!!

Originally I was going to not log as we were supposed to go to see my family, something I only do once a year, and I didn't want to have to worry about it. Plus trying to log all the various dishes my family eats (we do it pot luck style) would be a pain in the tookus. But now our travel plans have changed and we're doing Thanksgiving alone, maybe a few friends, so I'll probably log but not worry too much about going over.

Don't log!!! It's tooo crazy! How do you know what the cook has put in that food!!??!!??!! It's a free day-week

I have a race that day 5 mile run

I'm going to log as much as I can but am afraid there will be some that I just have to estimate since I'll have no way of knowing all the ingredients....I'm not too concerned about it though, as long as I keep to my plan the rest of the month!


LLAP :flowerforyou:

I already know I'll be over, but I have some strategies planned to minimize the damage. I'm not going to log that day; it's a holiday and I want my focus to be on my family, my kids, and the things I am thankful for, not my calorie count. It's good practice for the day that will eventually come when I stop logging (after I meet goal weight and maintain for a year, I will probably stop logging every day and just log a week here and there periodically to make sure I stay on track). I have to know that I can eat sensibly without having to write down every bite. Now, Friday morning...right back to logging every bite!

We're not eating until after 7:00 that night (my sister is an ER nurse and has to work that day, so we'll be eating after she gets off shift). The good thing about this is that I can eat healthy foods for breakfast and lunch and my two normal snacks. By the time dinner rolls around, I won't be as hungry as I would've been eating earlier in the day. It helps that my three favorite things that we have are the turkey (I prefer white meat), sweet potatoes (with a pecan topping-has some sugar, but shouldn't be too bad), and our Christmas beans (green beans, tomatoes, onions, and bacon-higher calories than plain green beans, but not as bad as green bean casserole). The rest is stuff I can take or leave. So I'll eat a reasonable amount of food. For dessert, I'll probably have a small slice of birthday cake (my son's birthday is that weekend, so we'll celebrate while we are all together) and that's it. The kids and I will take our bikes to my parents' house, too, so we can go out and ride that day. I may try to hit the gym early that morning, too, if I can.

Right now, I'm logging every bite I put in my mouth. I'm finding that it can border on obsession if I'm not careful. I don't want my holiday and my kids' holiday ruined because I have to keep stopping and putting my calories in on my phone. I want my focus to be on them that day.

I think it's amazing, though, that everyone is already thinking ahead. I think that, more than anything, is going to help all of us not to overindulge that day. No matter what your plan is, the fact that you HAVE a plan is 90% of the battle. So everyone enjoy the day, whether you log or not! :happy:

I plan to use portion control and log everything I eat.

i think in this site there is an invisible (but logical) rule...

YOU EAT IT YOU LOG IT

I don't know if I will. Eating over somewhere else makes it difficult to know the amounts of what you're eating, and I'm not that great at eyeballing it yet.

I don't know if I will. Eating over somewhere else makes it difficult to know the amounts of what you're eating, and I'm not that great at eyeballing it yet.

I figure even if my estimates are off, it will still be a better estimate than not estimating at all. :-)

I think of this site as a Swiss Army Knife.

There's lots of different tools we can use - logging calories, logging exercise, tracking our weight, giving and getting support on the forums - and it's not wrong to not use all of the tools all of the time.

I initially logged all my food because I needed to be aware of what I was eating and it's impact on my body. After about eleven months of doing so, I have a pretty good handle on what my body wants and needs. What it wants and what it needs aren't always the same thing, so I'm still logging my food most of the time, but my goal is to eventually not log at all.

I think we all need a break from it every now and then. One planned day off for a holiday isn't going to wreck all the work you've done any more than one day of fasting would make you lose weight if you ate crappy the other 29 days of the month.

More room for alcohol indeed! I'll be cooking all day, which will mostly distract me from food. I'm hoping that I'll get caught in one of my "why eat when you can drink?" moods. Better an alcohol than a food hangover.

Im logging....EVERYTHING!!!!! NOT LOGGING DOSENT MEAN YOU DIDNT EAT IT!!!!!....remember....(D-nile is a river in Jordan).

Nope. I'm going to enjoy myself regardless of what you guys say. *says it in a respective way*:
You gotta live once in a while. :bigsmile:

I log the good, the bad and the ugly, so you should definitely log it

You can make cranberry sauce with splenda instead of sugar. Every little bit helps. I also prefer to eat deserts done with splenda. Just don't feel as guilty after. That way I can eat the gravy and at least feel like I have done some things to keep it from being overkill. Sill haven't decided if I will log it or not. Probably will. I logged my birthday dinner and my nieces wedding so why not. (note-Those two meals were a week apart and I gained 3 lbs-So sucks!)