Yes, it's October 1st, we can feel the brisk winds of autumn upon us (almost had to wear my trench coat this am!). We all know what that means--soon we will be innundated by Halloween candy, followed by Thanksgiving treats & all sorts of temptation leading up to December & New Year's! So, how are we going to enjoy ourselves enough to not feel deprived but not so much so that we're regretting it January 1st? I'm going to list the habits I've used the last 2 years to help me maintain through the holidays & I encourage others to do the same.

Halloween:
I buy candy I don't like for the kids. I don't like coconut, so I buy Almond Joy and/or Mounds to hand out. I'm not tempted to sample them and when I bring the leftovers into the office, I'm not tempted to eat them. Now if it were Reeses or any other form of chocolate, I'd be inhaling them, so I make it easier for myself by not bringing the stuff into the house. I may have one or 2 around the office when someone else brings it in as leftover candy, but then I feel I have to keep consumption to a minimum so as not to be known as the co-worker who snarfed the Reeses

Thanksgiving:
I'm usually a guest at my great-aunt's house. I bring some munchies I can eat(veggies & nonfat yogurt dip) while we're waiting for dinner to cook. And a side dish of green beans. I eat whatever I want on the one day, I just keep it to the one day. My great aunt always offers people leftovers. I skip the mashed potatoes & stuffing (much as I enjoy eating them on Thanksgiving Day itself) & stick to turkey & veggies for the leftovers. This way, the one day doesn't turn into the Lost Long Weekend.

December:
I used to use all of the shopping and errands as an excuse to skip exercise. I try to shop online whenever I can to save time so I can do my workouts. I still bake Christmas cookies, but far less than I used to. I supplement them with Clemintines for variety for the people I give them to & so that I don't have excess cookies around the house. I do leave excess Clemintines. I moderated my meals. If I know we're going out for lunch at work to celebrate or the office party is in the evening, I'll have a salad for dinner (if it's a heavy lunch) or lunch (if it's an evening party).

What great ideas and strategies!

I am another "eat what I want on the ONE DAY" person for Thanksgiving. My contribution to the meal is always the rolls, so I do a lot of baking beforehand, but its not the sort of baking you can sample (bread dough does NOT taste as good as cookie dough) and it allows me to make at least one whole wheat roll option for the table in addition to the fluffy white rolls and the cheddar cheese cornbread. I allow myself a sample of half of each to make sure it is to my standard, then the rest get packaged up for the Thanksgiving bread basket.

I actually find Thanksgiving leftovers REALLY necessary to feeling satisfied for the holiday, but the turkeys where I go (my dad's side of the family) are deep fried, and everything else pretty much follows suit health-wise (except the salad!). So, I've started an annual tradition of "Healthy Thanksgiving" on the Saturday following the big day - I roast a whole turkey breast, remove the skin, mash some sweet potato, and serve lots of veggies with a touch of cranberry sauce. I get 2-3 dinner meals worth of leftovers, but just the healthy stuff!

For Christmas, I have a whole mess of food gifts that I make, but none of them are actually sample-able. If I made cookies, half the dough would be sacrificed to my stomach, so I stopped. Instead, I make homemade baking mixes (buttermilk cherry scone mix, cranberry orange muffin mix, multigrain pancake mix, hot cocoa mix, Garlic Herb bread mix) and package them into baskets with pretty labels, maybe a mixing spoon and bowl, you get the idea. This year, I think I'm also going to make limoncello for the people who like it. Any "test runs" with any of the baking mixes are delivered directly to the neighbors.

I have a lot of benefits in terms of avoiding temptation because I work from home for a remote company...every day I see the "Free Sweets in the Breakroom" emails come across and say a little "thank you" that I'm not physically in the office. Sometimes my partner brings stuff home, but even if I do have a taste, its limited...one piece of something, once every 2-3 days. Major respect to all of you running the office gauntlet every day!

WOW. Holidays already?

Halloween: I always buy the candy I like, if there's left over it's for me. However, its usually good enough that kids always come back for more, and I never get any back. I make sure that the candy I get is so awesome, there aren't any left! (Take five, snickers, Twix, awesome stuff)

Thanksgiving: LOTS OF SQUASH loaded on my plate, with some turkey and whatever veggies we have. I don't touch potatoes (as I HATE them) and bread (that I have to resist). I like to take a stroll after meals, so I will not overstuff myself. When we bake pies and stuff, we usually split half with our neighbors...

Christmas: I actually can't say much about this one, becaue I will not resist at all. I live for xmas. I can't give up hot chocolates. I can say no to a sugar cookie, but not hot chocolate. I don't like candy canes, so thats a plus. I don't feast much, but if I do, I do a nice little detox (about 1200 calories of JUST healthy stuff) at the beginning of January and it usually makes me lose all the water that I gain over Xmas.

Sorry i couldnt offer better advice, but its because I try my best not to overthink it, as I tend to be on the compulsive side. I also never touch the scale during holidays. I make sure I do all my holiday shopping regularly (that counts as exercise).

Halloween: Luckily for me, I live in a house that doesn't get any trick-or-treaters (I'm far from the street, no exterior lights at the front of the house, hard to see my driveway, etc). I like your idea of only having the undesirable candy to give out - my choice would have to be circus peanuts, and I'd probably try one anyway to make sure I still don't like them - haha. If anyone does knock on my door, I usually drop a few quarters into their bag.

Thanksgiving: I offer to bring a healthier dish, and I do the same thing with only taking home leftovers that can easily be incorporated into a reasonable diet.

Christmas: Mandalinn, I like your idea of the mixes! They sound cute and fun to make and give. I work out rigorously over the holiday season, and this year my motivation to lose is a skirt I bought *last* year, that still doesn't quite fit. It's the type of skirt that can only be worn on Christmas. Clementines are great, I'm going to bring them as my contribution to every potluck I go to. Thanks for the idea! Oh yeah, and I find it difficult to restrain at holiday parties, so I make sure my other meals during the holiday season are on the lighter and healthier side.

I don't have a problem with holidays. My only suggestion would be to not celebrate them. That's what I do! I'm such a rebel.
Actually it is easy, it's not like I have to go out of my way to be a rebel. I'd have to go out of my way to participate. I'd have to go around inviting myself over to peoples' houses, which, I won't do. I'm single, no relatives, no peer pressure to eat anything in particular. The people I work with don't bring in anything either. No one says I have to buy sugar cookies or pumpkin pie just because it is a certain time of the year. So, all I can suggest is; be a rebel!

I volunteer to make the dessert and make sure it's something that I won't like. That way I don't have to worry about indulging too much on dessert. This year I'm making a cake with coffee flavoured filling - I hate the taste of coffee!

I love these kinds of threads, they are always so helpful. I don't have to buy holloween candy, no one trick or treats on our street. We go t or t'ing in another town. When we get home I put the candy on top of the fridge. The kids get 3 pieces everyday for a week. Then all the rest goes in the freezor until I use it for their bday pinatas. Because the bag is out of sight, I don't even think about it. They also usually eat all my favorites during the week that they are aloud to have it. I am also not tempted to just buy it at the store, cuz I am to cheap!

I host Thanksgiving. I take that day "off". I make sure there is a salad and steamed green beans. I do not sample anything during the cooking. I save myself for when I can sit down and really enjoy what I am eating. Then I have what I want. But I try not to over stuff myself, because I HATE that feeling! I aslo keep my calories on the light side the week before.

Christmas Eve we go to our gathering for my side of the family. I eat my "normal" for the day and take the evening "off" for the party. Christmas day we have our CHristmas Bfast, cinamin rolls with orange sauce. (obviosly NOT on plan!) Then late afternoon go to the otherside of the family and celebrate with them. I am off for that meal. I keep it light on the cals again the week before.

All the other days are same as always. It give me some fun meals to have and look foward to, but not to much that I get drailed. I never take left overs. If we are given food as gift and it is too temping, it goes to work with my DH or given to neighbors or goes to parties with us.

I find that if I have the days that I get to say "yes", then on the days that I have to "no" it is not so difficult. Jelly

I love the idea of getting candy that you don't care for. I am totally going to do that because I have no willpower once it's inside my house! So bring on the Almond Joys!!! YUCK!

I just found out I love baked sweet potatoes so thank god for that this Thanksgiving! I am planning on stocking up on veggies and turkey and having very small portions of any of the white potato/bread stuff.

Christmas my parents will be here and I will be in my own home for once, so I can control what I eat and don't eat without offending anyone. I will be upping my exercising during the holidays to account for big meals with friends and family!

Yeah, no one tells me to bake pie or cookies, but the spirit of the holidays is different for everyone. I honestly say that holidays are much better if everyone participates, and you miss out on a lot by not going. It's actually quite warming to the soul, no matter what holiday you celebrate. I know a lot of people who work on holidays and skip out on them, so to me, its just as "rebellious" to celebrate them as it is to NOT celebrate them...which is not rebellious.. at all, at least to me.

Wow. Somehow, I wonder if living in France doesn't make me lucky in that regard. We don't have Labour Day, we don't really have a Halloween since it was purely a commercial fest here and it never really took off, we don't have a Thanksgiving (All Saints' Day doesn't really lend itself to feasts, and the 11th november armistice isn't considered a fest occasion either)... It's only Christmas, then Easter, then July 14th. The rest is religious holidays, and it's not a *really* common rule to feast during these (except Whitsun, perhaps, but not in my home).

I'm not sure I have good suggestions. If it's stuff like Christmas and then nothing for three months, I will usually enjoy what I eat, knowing anyway that I can't overeat by much (no room left in there), but when they're so close to each other... Maybe picking the healthiest options? Piling on salad then adding some turkey to avoid looking like you're on a diet (and therefore inviting everyone else to dump food on you whenever they can)? I don't know...

Last Fall/Winter I was on WW so I remember what I did for the holidays. Also some strategies can be used all the time but are especially helpful around the holidays.

For Halloween-- My mom always buys candy for my dad and sister and for Trick-or-Treaters. I put a note on the candy bags that say, "DO YOU REALLY WANT TO EAT THIS?" along with the amount of cals and fat, etc in each piece of candy (I count calories so this is my method but it would easily work for WW or low-card, etc). I then ask my parents and sister to keep the candy in a high cupboard that I have to get a stepstool to reach. This makes it doubly hard to get at the candy. First I have to get the stool out and manuver around the fridge to get it... then I have to stare at the reality of the nutrition of the candy. If I still want it, then fine. I can have a piece-- we ALWAYS get individually wrapped stuff, makes binging a more conscous decision!

For Thanksgiving-- We host Thanksgiving at my house, so it is a bit easier to control. My mom always prepares vegetables (sweet corn from the summer harvest which has been frozen, mushrooms, squash) so I load up my plate with these. I will measure out 2 oz. of turkey (it is somewhat embarassing but who cares?), and have a a small portion (maybe 1/8 cup?) each of stuffing & cranberry sauce (my two faves!). My mom makes biscuits from reduced Bisquick so I allow myself one with margarine. For dessert we always have a variety of pies. Last year I made a low-cal crustless pumpkin pie which turned out surprisingly tasty.

For Christmas-- I don't have a very specific or good strategy for Christmas. My mom makes homemade candies every year (choc. covered pretzels are my fave!) which is my downfall. However, we don't do a big Christmas meal. We usually go to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, but in the past we've had sandwiches for dinner... fine with me!

I'm actually excited about the holidays! Last year I was so rigid with myself to the point where I didn't even go home to visit my family (instead I worked at a homeless shelter serving meals on TG and Christmas.) it was what I needed at the time, but this year I'm going home for both holidays.

Halloween: Uh, I kind went overboard last year. I was so that wretched person giving out lectures along with the toothbrushes and apples. I remember one kid asking his mother, "If she's a witch how some she's not wearing a hat?" This year I'm going to give out candy and some cute toy things. I'm also going to make sure I give out ALL the candy before I go to bed!

Thanksgiving: I'm really going to challenge myself to deal with situations where I don't have control over the food. Instead of worrying about that, I'm going to make sure I have a lot of options in terms of exercise. I'm going to stick to the one plate rule, but not make a big deal about it. My family is really great about being supportive so I think this is mostly about me learning how to manage my eating in less restrictive environments.

Christmas: Welp, I'm probably going to my Nana's house. All bets are pretty much off. She's healthy like whoa. 85 years young, walks 4 miles a day, super active. If I can just keep up with her I probably won't have to worry about my food as much.

NYE/D: Boy and I are hopefully going dancing, so I'll just be mindful of the spirits and avoid hovering by the snack table.

Yay! Favorite Time of Year! I love reading everyone's suggestions. I've thought a bit about this & here's what I'll be doing...

Halloween: For the kiddies, I will be getting candy. However, I've already planned to allow myself to have one candy bar that day. One real sized candy bar of my favorite variety. I will be planning around it, and intend to enjoy it thoroughly. The other candy? If there are leftovers, they're getting brought into work to pawn off on other people who are not apt to eat 50 pieces in one sitting.

Thanksgiving: I will be loading my plate with the good stuff... veggies. I will still be enjoying a serving of all that I want. But I will not be going back for seconds. I will just have to enjoy what I want the first time around. Be mindful of what I'm eating and all Also, I will be having a slice of pumpkin pie because it is my FAVORITE. But again, one normal sized slice. And only on Thanksgiving, not the day after... and the day after that... and if there's still some then I'll eat the rest.... etc.

Christmas: This is difficult. My family doesn't really have a meal so much as has tons of appetizers & cookies/cakes. I'm going to have to consider this more, but what I think will work best for me is having a nice dinner before going to their house on the Eve. And only allowing myself one small plate of the sweets I want. Again, no seconds. Only enjoying what I take the first time around.

As always, Spinymouse, I love your icon. I don't celebrate Halloween (hate American chocolate and refuse to inflict it on anyone) or Thanksgiving (hubby is British and doesn't care, and family doesn't live close), either. The only "challenge" is Christmas, and I pretty much opt out of those parties, too. As for the traditional cooking...well, I grew up in a military family. My dad wasn't even HOME for holidays until I was 9 years old. We had tacos, one year. Another year, we had meatloaf. Point is, who says Christmas = huge tables of food? Not for me!

Make new traditions!

Halloween: Last year, and probably this year, we didn't have any trick-or-treaters so I gave the candy to my husband to take to work. That wasn't a big deal because I'm not really a sweets person. In years past, I've gotten cheap little toys from online party favor distributors and kids love that.

Thanksgiving: Last year, it was a success. Instead of mashed potatoes, we had roasted red potatoes and green beans instead of green bean casserole. We had mashed sweet potatoes instead of sweet potato casserole. We did have stuffing and this broccoli/cauliflower/cheese casserole that I make. We had pumpkin muffins instead of pumpkin pie. This year, I am going to cut the portions down some (at least on the bad stuff) and try to lighten up that broc/caul/cheese casserole. Last year, I measured out everything I ate and I think I will do that again this year. I am lucky in that we have Thanksgiving at our house.

Christmas: Christmas eve, we go to my mother-in-law's house and she usually makes some sort of dinner but it isn't the traditional turkey dinner, it's more like a regular semi-healthy meal. For Christmas day, it varies what we do but this year, I think I am going to suggest going out to eat. That way I can eat what I want but not have leftovers or the dirty dishes!

New Year's Eve/Day: Instead of the traditional pork and sauerkraut, we make this awesome smoked sausage and sauerkraut soup. We use turkey sausage and it's pretty healthy.