Ah ok, gotcha. I wasn't actually suggesting that, though. More just cutting back on the amount of sweetener you put in, I still cook 100% full fat when I make all my desserts. Normally I cut the sweetener back in half but if that's too much for you you could always cut it back by 3/4. It would still save you a few calories.

For every day meals I do that. (I make whole wheat bread), etc. But for special occasions - no. They are special and on those few days a year (just happen to be all clumped together like that). We eat them the way they were meant to be meant. ONLY if they taste as good or better being healthified will I do so. I want my food to be memorable and tasty. Not saving a few calories (and t would only be a few).

I actually do cut back on sugar as we're not big sugar eaters, but yep - I use butter baby!!!!

[QUOTE=chickadee32;we could also say "This isn't the only time I'll ever get to enjoy this occasion. I get to have a birthday again next year, Thanksgiving again next year, and Christmas again next year. THIS year I am choosing to prioritize the pride I feel in all I've accomplished thus far, and my desire to meet my goal. Not because I have to, not because it's a race, but just because it's what I want right now." And I think that's perfectly ok.[/QUOTE]


fwiw, this is my approach. While I think it's fine to say I'm going to enjoy some special occassions and I'm fine if my losses are a little slower due to that, I think it's equally fine to say that right now, my priority is my weight loss. I can enjoy the time spent with family and friends - the truly important part of celebrations and holidays IMO - and not eat the foods that are not on my current plan. I am not saying I intend to do this forever - my plan operates with a stated goal of getting to a point where you can eat "normally" (whatever that means, but for me, it will include indulgences from time to time, along with periods of strictness to balance them out).

I think that a lot of people get so caught up in the idea that weight loss has to be a lifestyle change and the choices you make have to be sustainable for ever. And in some ways, that is true - certainly I cannot return to doing the things I did that took my weight to 261 lbs, and I need to make permanent changes. But on the other hand, right now, I am working towards a specific goal and the choices I make to get there are going to be different than some of the choice I make for the rest of my life. Maybe an equivalent is training for a marathon - I may want to have a goal of running a couple of miles five times a week in general. But for a marathon, I have to do a lot more longer distance training than that. And if I wanted to run a marathon, I would make those changes on a short term basis in order to meet my goal. But afterwards, I would be ok returning to my baseline of a couple of miles at a time, 5 days a week. Maybe I might do 3 or 4 miles now, because the act of training for the marathon increases my ability to do so. But I'm not going to be doing 10 and 20 mile training runs all the time. (I'm not actually a runner so I'm making up a lot of this but I think you can get the point).

Weight loss is similar for me - getting to my final goal (once I figure out what that is!) is my marathon. I'm doing the long training run equivalent in my eating and making it more extreme right now because I need to do that to meet my goal. But once I get to my goal, I am going to maintain and maintenance isn't going to be my pre-Dukan Diet lifestyle, but it's also not going to be permanently following the strictest part of the plan.

Well, I guess this is all a long winded way of saying that either way is fine, as is taking it day by day and making the right choices for yourself for that particular day and time. It's all good!

Wow! We have some similar issues this year. Thanksgiving, my birthday, my dad's birthday, and then Xmas are all coming up. Also thrown in there is my husband's family Xmas party. I've been struggling lately. I've maintained my weight since June, but it's from the constant up and down with the carbs I've been doing. I'm just trying to make it through the rest of the year without gaining at this point.

Good luck to you!