I identify. I was always under the impression that I was eating normally, and I was to an extent without the lower calorie days worked in. This made for a slow weight gain over the span of 20 years until I "woke up" realizing I was obese and needed to change the bad habits I some how accumulated.

I'm not worried about thanksgiving. That really will be just one day for me, and it can't do much harm. I know it won't throw me off much because I am determined to be close to goal by Christmas, if only because that is when I will be in a city and able to buy some cute new clothes.

Christmas worries me. I'm perfectly capable of controlling myself at holiday parties, but I will be staying with my parents for a week. I'm an adult. I can eat or not eat what I want. But.

But they will be happy to see me and my brother. They'll take us out to great restaurants. Several times. I don't get to eat like that on my budget, and I'm darn well ordering something interesting. So it won't be just one day of indulgence, it'll be several.

I've also lost a lot of weight, and my dad has always had a proprietary interest in my body. It pisses me off. He'll be making a lot of comments that will piss be off. He won't stop if asked. I know this going in, and I am an adult, not the angry eating-disordered teen I once was. But I'm not confident in how i will be able to handle it. So. We will see.

Also, it will be quite cold there. And I won't have much privacy. It makes it hard to exercise. Not impossible by any means, but hard.

So within that context, I am worried. I will do my best to enjoy the good without going nuts. And I keep telling myself that even if I have a terrible week, so what? My eating plan has been working, and it will work in 2014. And in 2015. It'll be a setback, maybe, but those happen and all it is is a delay on the way to my goal.

Thank you! I'm going to try that recipe. (I love soup!).

Maintaining a consistent exercise regime is important. Working out after you ate too much is not fun, so you're motivated to eat better for a reason other than the potential for a higher number on a scale.

As for food gifts, I just give take them to a food bank. Most grocery stores have a section at the front where you can donate non-perishable goods. No one I know gives me food gifts that they bake or cook, but I have never been one of those "Don't waste food!" people. I would not hesitate to just chuck it out and lie how good they were.

As for parties, I have never been good with it. Sometimes I overcome and survive, and sometimes I don't. For me, it's more about how I respond the next day.

But it's not like people who never experienced weight issues don't gain weight. They probably do, but they naturally lose it after the holidays. It's not like you gain all this weight overnight.

*deep sigh*

I know how tough this can be.

I'm spending this TG with the inlaws.

First time in 6 or 7 years.

That side of the fam is a whacked out bunch.

TheDH and I will be happy if we get out of there without a knock down, drag out brawl.

It's happened before, which is why we usually don't go.

I was scared last week but now not so much.

So, I'm still not freaking out because my family have been eating the very same Thanksgiving dinner every year since before the Civil War (really), and it's very important to them to not deviate from tradition. So, I know Thanksgiving dinner itself will be a weight-loss-friendly meal for me. I'm confident that nobody will surprise me with an ultra-decadent dessert or anything like that.

BUT last night, my father went out and bought a supersize bag of M&Ms "because it's the holidays." I really depend on keeping food out of sight to stay on my diet, so I ended up digging into that bag of M&Ms and having a few big handfulls of them because it's so impossible for me to SEE food and not eat it. I had to sit down with my father and have a chat about that.

I've been falling off the wagon at least once a week for the past month. I think my jeans are getting looser, and I've been doing well with workouts, but I'm still scared to weigh in. I feel like everything in my body is commanding me to overeat on heavy foods and put on weight for the winter.

I can see on Thanksgiving, but why for three additional days? Last I checked, those aren't holidays. Crap like that is why I was once tipping the scales at 260lbs.

I don't plan on gorging myself on Thanksgiving. I am making the meal and it is nothing too terribly heavy: crab legs, rolls, garden salad. I think the only things I'll be having more than normal is wine and an additional roll. I'll have dessert, but only one slice of cake. Then next day back to the old grind. I'll have no leftovers to tempt me. I'll just act like it is any other Friday.

It gets a bit harrier around Christmas as there are four days and five 'special meals' to consider: Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas breakfast, Christmas dinner, NYE dinner, NYD dinner. But I don't plan on going nuts and there is really only one meal that is a complete calorie bomb: having a Chicago style deep dish pizza on one of those days. Otherwise, nothing really heavy. I generally don't keep candy around the house and out of the house, I've really learned how to say no to food. I'm sort of proud of myself in that respect.

The way I view food in general seems to have really changed. I don't feel the need to gorge myself to have a good holiday experience. I don't feel the need to bake and eat holiday foods like a Tasmanian devil from Halloween on. I finally seem to be getting a grip where I am controlling the food and it isn't controlling me anymore. The scale seems to be appreciative. I was worried around Halloween my weight loss would stop or go up. But neither has happened yet. I just need to stay the course and eat in moderation on holiday days. Soon, it will be all over and I hope to start the New Year breaking into the 180s.

I'm not going to gorge myself the rest of the weekend, I'm just not going to really worry about counting calories. The reason for this is because I love leftovers and I want a chance to eat them.

One does not need to gorge to gain weight. An extra cookie or a particularly plump mound of mashed potatoes will do it. Nobody said they were going to gorge, I really hate that word. Even when I binge I never gorge.

Happy Tday all!

But would you really gain a lot, permanently, from one extra cookie?

I'm going to take it slow. I've been taking my weight loss more seriously lately and I've enjoyed seeing the number on the scale dropping. Extra potatoes (which I adore) won't make me feel better about seeing that number jump. I think I'll be going into this with a fairly healthy mindset which I'm happy about because I've been struggling lately.

I guess I'm lucky because everyone that knows me knows that I'm very health-conscious and they would be surprised if I overate during the holidays. No one expects me to bring or accept unhealthy foods as gifts, and I'm still welcome It's not about my weight, but that heavy foods make me feel physically bad. However, I did shock everyone by bringing a rich dessert this year. I had a small portion and made sure the leftovers went to a good home.

We already had our Tday this past Sunday and I was very careful with portions. I purposely did not weigh the next morning, but Tuesday I weighed the same as I did Sunday morning. I didn't bring any leftovers home with me because I knew nothing good could come from it

We only have two meals like this a year. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. By carefully watching portion sizes and avoiding seconds and leftovers, it not only makes it possible to enjoy a meal, but also to enjoy the company and celebration of the day.

I agree with this, it is not worth the set back. Having holiday foods is less important to me than losing weight. I also plan to utilize this as an excuse to say home on my only day off from work and avoid the fuss

As I predicted, I did not overeat on Tday. It's not in my nature to eat a lot in one sitting on a holiday. Everyone else was shifting uncomfortably in their seats, complaining about feeling terrible, and threatening to vomit. I really don't understand this behavior. I find that a little scoop of everything on my plate fills me just fine and I don't feel overstuffed.

I do suspect that the left overs will be grazed over all weekend though, that's my unfortunately weakness.

Congrats, Wannabe! =D

I didn't overeat either, I made sure to be reasonable. I indulged myself but only within reason. I left feeling full - not stuffed. I don't like feeling sluggish and overfull so I was happy when it was all said and done.