[Sweater Girl]

Hi Everyone,

My question today is "what is your holiday strategy"?

I am Canadian and our thanksgiving is less than a month away. My family just has a meal that isn't too extravagent so I should be allright there (turkey, potatoes, veggies and a lite dessert).

I really would like to pass out candy this year at Halloween so I think if I have leftovers, I'll bring it to the kitchen at work where people can take. I also won't go overboard when buying the treats. To tempt myself from munching I might plan a bit and incorporate some smarties at some point (the canadian chocolate kind). Maybe one rocket too..

Christmas might be at my house depending (my parents are moving and it might be around then, so at least my place is somewhat set up) so dinner would be good, but not extravagent. My worry is going over to my BF's family's functions and other functions.

I am planning to run a 10K on New Year's Eve, so that should keep me at least active and not wanting to overeat since I find being bloated and running isn't a fun combination.

Cheers!

Ali

[Mel]

I am SO not ready for this thread yet! I'm still getting over summer Because my family is a mix of nationalities and religious traditions, we celebrate double everything. Canadian and American Thanksgiving (only an excuse to eat extra pumpkin pie, as far as I'm concerned!), Chanukka, Christmas, and thankfully only 1 New Years. I plan to just eat super clean between events, and confine the event to 1 reasonable meal. I gave up the month long baking spree years ago and don't plan on starting it again. The family dinners are pretty easy since most of my family tries to eat low-glycemic or outright sugar-free. It's the endless round of neighbor, friends, company parties that do me in! That and the BoyScout Popcorn Drive

Good luck everyone!

[tikanique]

OMIGOSH I love boyscout popcorn. My ex-boss used to sell it for his son and I was obligated to buy (since he always bought stuff from my kids). Maybe it's not so bad that he moved his family to San Diego.

Two of my holidays will be spent away from family as I am NOT trekking to Tennessee this year. DD and I will cook for our house for Thanksgiving which will probably be nachos knowing her. My girlfriend and I will cook for Christmas and we both try to eat healthy. For Kwanzaa most celebrations offer unprocessed foods, fruits, veggies and water as the meal so that will be a breeze. My only issue will be Halloween. I don't buy candy to pass out in my neighborhood but my kids go out with their friends in a neighboring community and come home with some GOOD STUFF! I will tell them to hide it and then promise myself to not go snooping.

Tiki.

[Sweater Girl]

Mel: I guess it's just on my brain. I have my bday the weekend before thanksgiving, then thanksgiving then Halloween. I guess Canadians are given a slight repreive since we don't generally celebrate American thanksgiving (although since my University was about 25% American students we usually did some celebrating with them. My BF is taking it off this year to watch football). Wow, all that celebrating that's awesome (to celebrate different cultures.

My holidays have never really been a source of weight gain growing up (it was how I ate between New Year's and Christmas taht really contributed to it). My family are immigrants. My relatives all live overseas except for my immediate family so we never had big family gatherings so my mom would make a little extra (my mom's English so we have mince meat pies etc, my dad who's Polish makes a few beetroot dishes which are actually pretty healthy). My bf's family has the big family gatherings with tons and tons of food. Although it's so good, I am trying to eat less without offending.

Tiki: I just remember, we get our Girl Guide chocolate mint cookies (I am sure that are just like the chocolate mint Girl Scout cookies) that come out in the fall.... The guy in the cubical next to mine has three daughters who all sell cookies... Must resist, must resist But I used to be a girl guide and I am a huge fan of the movement eek

Cheers!

Ali

[Ilene]

I am SO not ready for this thread yet!

Oye Vey!!!!! Neither am I!!! But I guess it's better to plan ahead and get some good mental pictures of how we can react and refuse cwap food...

I do not bake for the holidays either... We are having Thanksgiving here, but it's usually pretty simple stuff. My nephew's g/f makes the deserts ...

Last Halloween, I did not give out the candies, the kids did and I didn't look at the stuff... I snubbed it to high heaven... And I don't remember OVER indulging but I may have had some...

During the Christmas season we don't go to a lot of parties so it's not too bad, I didn't gain anything much last year....

[almostheaven]

What I did last Thanksgiving and Christmas was to fill my plate full of veggies and turkey, then put just a teaspoon full of each of the no no foods on a second plate to eat after I filled up on the good stuff. LOL

And start those kiddies out right...give em sugar/fat free candy. So if you end up having a few, it's not so bad. And their dentists will love you for it.

[Mel]

LOL!

And start those kiddies out right...give em sugar/fat free candy

If it has the same effect on most kids that it does on me, it will be aversion therapy!

[Meg]

Boy, I am SO not ready for this thread either -- but they say that a failure to plan is a plan to fail . So thanks, Ali, for the nudge to do a little planning!

Let's see -- the big 1-2-3 punch is Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Halloween's not as tough as it used to be since my kids are too old for trick or treat, so no candy will come IN the house. As for what goes out, I was a Scrooge and gave out bags of chips last year (which don't bother me -- my problem is candy). I've also done individual chilled drinks in a cooler by the front door, which the kids love when it's a warm night. No problem there.

Thanksgiving's not too hard because it's really only one meal (not a month long pig-fest like Christmas tends to be) and it features turkey. There's lots of good stuff that I can fill up on and can either taste the bad stuff or skip it entirely. Used to be that I would eat myself so stuffed and bloated that I felt ill, so it's a revelation to feel comfotably full but still energized. Unfortunately, the rest of the family hasn't discovered moderation yet and I'm left with a living room of people groaning and holding their stomachs.

Christmas is where I'm making the big changes. I was a Christmas baking nut and would make between 15 and 20 kinds of cookies and candy to give away (with ample samples for the chef, of course ). I've cut back each year on the baking but still have trouble resisting temptation, so this year I'm asking the family to pick their three favorite kinds of cookies and that's all I'm making -- limited quantities of a few kinds of cookies. They'll still have to go into the basement freezer to be somewhat out of sight!

As for parties, they're not usually a problem for me. I'm a secret eater (like no one ever noticed the evidence on my butt??) so don't eat much in public. And if I'm very careful with drinking, I can usually keep the party eating under control (but too many drinks = total loss of will-power).

Mel -- I've got the same problem with SF candy, which is probably a good thing since it's still so high in calories.

[almostheaven]

Oooh, just thought of one I've seen some people give out at Halloween. Instead of candy, each kid gets a quarter or some monetary denomination of your deep pockets choosing. At least they don't have to have that x-rayed.

[Sweater Girl]

Sf Candy is evil, I can't stand the stuff, nor can my body (it really messes up my digestive system and screws up my blood sugar).

Cheers!

Ali

[tolose85]

Halloween- I can be ok with unless someone sends a few pounds of candy corn my way!! eeek

Thanksgiving is at my home this year. My husbands family is of the Pennsylvania Dutch origin, so we have lots of "starchy" stuff which my stomach doesn't handle well. I think I'll be ok if I limit my portions and be super good the week before and week after the event.

Christmas... I am still working on a plan of attack.. We have Christmas at 2 different places. I am trying to determine what kinds of crap I can do without! hee hee.

Do the little turkey shuffle... Everytime you eat something you shouldnt... you must gobble like a turkey while doing 50 jumping jacks... There.. That'll stop ya! lol

[Elanajel]

For Halloween, I get candy I don't like much and if we look like there will be leftovers, I put it in a huge bowl on my front porch.

Thanksgiving--we are actually going to Montreal this year (no family there, just a nice trip for a holiday wknd),where I know the food is delicious but I think I can manage it like a regular vacation. We'll stay in a hotel with exercise facilities.

It's never too early for this board--plan your work and work your plan!

Elana

[Sweater Girl]

Elana: I'll be in Montreal for thanksgiving too (well an outer suburb of)... the last one at my parents' house too (the one I grew up in) , they just sold their house and will be moving in the middle of December... At Christmas will be at my place this year due to that.

Enjoy, Montreal is a great city!

Ali