This might sound silly to worry about but I am thinking about christmas dinner and the amount of calories etc I will have.I know its a couple of months away but i dont want to work hard for it to be taken away at christmas time

My partner and I are having both sides of the family over which means loads of food,wine and snacks.

I would love to cook low fat things for the dinner but as everyone else coming is think or at least not over weight I feel it unfair on them.

Also my birthday is the 31st of dec and my man is planning on taking me out for a romantic dinner at one of our fav places.So I dont want to eat too much at christmas because of this also.

Any ideas??HELP!! xxx

also that should be thin not think....

Why fill people with unhealthy food just because its Christmas?

I'm not sure what plan you're on but whatever you eat you don't have to do in excess. If you have a couple glasses of wine and a small piece of cake everything isn't going to be "ruined"...unless you eat like that for a week straight and in excess.

You can have healthy snacks around, too. It doesn't have to be all healthy or all fattening, and you don't have to eat everything that is put out.

Turkey is not bad calorie wise. It's the stuffing, gravy and rich deserts, but you could have turkey , green salad. a low calorie vegie, fresh vegie tray with a lo cal dip maybe fresh fuit of some sort.

See I dont want to make the food unhealthy, plus turkey is low in fat etc, I have been researching on low fat stuffings etc.

@PreciousMissy thanks for the advice, im wanting to eat on christmas day and not feel guilty this has helped me relax a bit more, i also think its because my ultra critical mum in law is coming and she judges everything I do xxxx

Also I have found out that weight watchers do low calorie wine....yaaaay.x

I feel your pain. Hubby and I both come from families that expect "traditional" foods at holiday meals... the whole gamut: mashed potatoes, sausage stuffing, homemade rolls, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows... you get the idea. I could bring a veggie tray or some steamed spinach, but no one would touch it and everyone would look at me like I'd sprouted horns.

I think I'm simply going to approach the upcoming holidays with the thought of "choose the best, choose what I rarely eat, exercise portion control, and RELAX." There are some things that I can eat all year long--mashed potatoes are something Hubby makes once every month or so, and I make homemade rolls every few weeks. I LOVE those things, but I can get them other times of the year.

On the other hand, my MIL's sausage stuffing is something I ONLY get at the holidays. So I will definitely have some, but I will try and keep my portion moderate, and I will savor every bite.

My SIL's "cheese" dip is okay, but not great. So I'll pass on that, because it's not that fantastic anyway.

And, in the end, one or two special meals won't derail you're entire diet plan. Just get right back on track after that meal, and you probably won't even see a blip on the scale.

There are just some foods in life that I will never give up. I make some MEAN bakes beans...like crack, they are so good! When we have a BBQ, I preplan what I will eat. 1/3 c. of baked beans, or 1/2 c. I know the stats. Burger on bun with just mustard...I've always liked them that way. So I know going into it that I have spent X amount of cals. if I see something there that looks yummy, I follow the 1/4 c. rule. TRY IT! Put a dab on your plate. I'd rather have a smidge of everything that looks good.

I feel your pain! My birthday is New Year's Eve, too, so I get what you're concerned about. It's so easy to just let the bad eating from Christmas just stretch out til New Year, because you know you'll be eating bad on your birthday, too.

I'm planning on using Banananutmuffin's strategy for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I know some of the things my aunts make just aren't worth the calories, but I will definitely have some of my mom's sweet potatoes.

Since it's your house, you can definitely put out some healthy options, even if they're just for you. Maybe start looking now for a good fake-out recipe that will fool your family into thinking it's decadent.

Last year I made roasted butternut squash instead of the candied yams, and sautéed green beans instead of the casserole, and everyone loved it!

Seriously one Christmas dinner/party and one birthday dinner is not going to do any real harm to you as long as you are eating healthy and moving your body the other days.

The damage comes from overly restricting ourselves and then "punishing" ourselves for failing when we "lose control" and eat too much. Usually the punishment takes form in more unhealthy eating.

We just had Canadian Thanksgiving and I went into it with the idea that I was going to enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner and eat whatever I felt I needed but to take the time and really enjoy it and my family. That ended up being one plate of a little bit of turkey, roasted veggies, a bit of sweet potatoes casserole with candied pecans on top, a bit of mashed potatoes with gravy, and a yummy caramel apple that I made with the kids from apples we picked at the orchard the day before! It was lovely and I was very satisfied. I then had a small bowl of chips while watching TV that evening.

The next morning I had an eggs and sausage breakfast with my mom, son and DH.

Anyway after a few meals that were higher in calories over the weekend I still ended up with a small lose at the end of the week. Yes maybe I would have lost more weight if I din't indulge but I also would have felt deprived and would have been triggered to binge.

Now I am not saying that to let go the whole Christmas season but I wouldn't worry about a meal or two. Which is what I plan on doing during the holidays.

I've taken the "it's just one day" idea and turned it around and at the holiday meals I've been at lately, I stuck with meat, salad and grilled veggies. And I still go to enjoy spending the time with my friends and family and continuing to lose weight.

Yes, it's just one day, but it's also "just food." And it will be here next year too. I plan to enjoy it all next year (in moderation) while maintaining my new, slimmer body and active lifestyle.

This is how I will handle it too. these are special meals and in our family that really is only a handful of times a year. I would rather eat one slice of really scrumptious REAL pumpkin pie, than a not satisfying slice of pumpkin mousse. Both are unneeded calories, but one I would savor, the other would disappoint me in the waste of calories.

And fact is, a meal, a day is not the problem. it's the lifestyle of overeating taht is teh problem.

Like many others, there are certain foods I only have access to on holidays! One being gramma's home made pecan pie! The stuff should turn your blood to sludge, with the amount of sugar and fat. But since I only get it on Thanksgiving and Christmas, I eat a small slice. And I enjoy it!

I would suggest, make the meal mostly as healthy as you can, but don't get freaked out about it.

Enjoy the family and the holidays, plan for the meals, and stay on track on all the other days, and you'll be fine!

It's a life style! Good most of the time, have a little fun too!