Seems like a good week for reflection. What did you like about the way you celebrated and handled your maintenance issues this year? Identifying good actions and results, might help us next Christmas, Hannukah, and Thanksgiving. What do you want to change?

Me:

1. Instead of the cookie baking marathon, I made the cutest dog biscuits for the family pets. I got to roll out dough, use a dog bone shaped cookie cutter, and put together cute homemade gifts. Totally satisfied the baking urge, and I wasn't tempted to eat LOTS of dough!

2. Made my extra-special hummus stuffed into boiled eggs to take to mother-in-law's for snacks. Gave me something I like to eat and something new for others to try. (For the extra special, I peel the chickpeas and use smoked paprika for the garnish).

3. Just said no to the mountains of sweets hauled from my mother in law's freezer that she has been saving all year to foist upon her guests.

4. Took loads of asparagus and local sweet potatoes for Christmas dinner. Everyone liked these, and I looked forward to eating them.

5. Stayed with my exercise program.

6. Drank lots of water!

7. Really enjoyed decorating the house, shopping for gifts, and sharing time with friends. Would like to focus on these aspects of Christmas more and more.

Now for where I could have improved!

1. Ate too much meat! I definitely went back for seconds, and ate my fill of ham and turkey at every oppurtunity.

2. Made my mother-in-law feel awkward by not partaking in the eggnog and cookies. I need to find a way to handle this that doesn't make it appear that I feel I am superior.

3. Worried a lot about how I would handle parties and family gatherings. I did need a plan, and it helped. I hope that next year my choices will be more automatic, and I will be able to focus more on what I love about the holidays. I want to laugh more than I worry!

4. I didn't have a good plan for things I wanted to do during the season. I'd like to start a binder now that has lists of things I buy on sale after Christmas for use next year, a list of Christmas card recipients and addresses, and ongoing gift lists. I think this will make Christmas more fun and decrease my stress which will make food less of a priority. So what if mil doesn't have my special food on hand? It won't hurt for me to eat very little at a meal or two and make up for it later at the Japanese seafood buffet! (MIL's cooking is not very tempting )

I'm eager to hear your after action reports as well! This year was good, but next year can be better

I actually find that last year I did better than this year food wise... I'll see when I get on the scale, next Monday or Tuesday... Although I feel like I ate more chocolates, I also exercised a lot too and my intensity is better and I have more endurance for exercising this year than last. I'm really hoping this will balance the eating part...

OMG I feel the same!! We have to figure a way NOT to feel like this next year ...

hi all, never posted in this forum before but i have been a maintainer for a couple of years, and although i would like to lose some more, i find i happier focussing on maintenance for the time being.

that being said..........

i did absolutely nothing right this holiday season. i ate like a pig, neglected my working out and just had an overall attitude of not caring.

it lasted for about a month and while you can do al ot of damage in a month, i did very little. gained no weight, lost a little muscle and gained a little flab. all my clothes still fit and i'm still in shape. i've already started back to the old routine hard and haevy. food, excercise, water journal. workout every day. started posting on 3FC board again.

interestingly enough, i really missed all my self discipline. my enthusiasm is greater than ever and i think that i may actually buckle down and try to lose some weight. needless to say i am not upset to see the holidays go.

i got some new running shorts, a pedometer, water bottle and light for my bike for x-mas (i love my husband) so i have all the motivation i need to get going again.

hope everyone else had a more productive holiday season than me.

see ya around the board
la

I didn't do amazing, I ate badly for the past few weeks, but I exercised more than I had in past years (which before was none, I did a little bit). I also didn't bake as much (just twice and that's it that's all for this year). I also didn't do the "I'll start again on January 2nd". I am back on track now, back to my exercise and healthy eating.

Cheers!

Ali

I did much worse than liast year. Last year we had a ski trip for Christmas - hence we could only eat 3 times a day and we took healthy snacks with us. This year it was pouring rain here, no snow on the mountains, and ALL of my friends decided to come and visit. I was cooking for 2 days, I visited 3 friends myself, and I gained 2 pounds - it took me 2 month to loose those 2 pounds before Christmas. I am back on track - today is a gym day. I knew it will be hard, I feel really bad as those 2 pounds make my jeans really tight and it is hard to sit at work.

I hope I learned my lesson. Next year I will go skiing again - I am already praying for snow...

What I did right:
1) Made a plan. Prepared for all issues I could think of.
2) Exercise was a high priority, even with travel, stress, etc.
3) Made some time to relax. Didn't overschedule.
4) Internet shopping.
5) Got back on plan after falling off.
6) Had a post-holiday goal (Jan marathon) to keep me focused.
7) Stayed in contact with support system, including this board.

What I'd do next time:
1) Make a plan B. Be much more creative in the issues that could come up.
2) Watch out for boredom. Maybe schedule a little more, or have some more activities planned, books & games available.
3) Relax a bit more about food. I think the backlash stress eating did more damage than the stuff I passed up. Plus I upset my Mom.

I'm still working my way through the holidays, we won't be back home until the 2nd. Eight days of seeing friends and family. I miss the gym and the weights, though I've done yoga a few mornings. I've been eating lots. I'm probably going to keep that up until we get back, with 2 more dinners, a lunch, and New Years' Eve ahead of us.

According to my boyfriend's mom's scale I haven't gained anything so far, but we'll see how things are at my weight watcher's meeting on Wednesday. On Monday I'll go back to eating lots of fruits and veggies, but in the interim I'm going to do more yoga and be more mindful at dinners. I'm feeling soft, and that's a bad sign.

Next time I might go grocery shopping or request certain foods around the house: apples, carrots, oatmeal. My staples!

I think I did pretty well over christmas, i actually lost some weight over the period. I didnt deny myself any kind of food, I heard my "full" signal loud and clear and wasnt tempted to eat right through it. I enjoyed a couple glasses of alcohol, lots of yummy salad, the baked potatos, of course the ham and turkey (but just a slice or two of each) and even the deadly not-in-the-least good for you trifle my mum and I had made for dessert.

Mum had had a baking marathon and made a tonne of deliciously deadly slices of which i enjoyed all lol, but just one or two pieces spread throughout the day and enjoyed over a social cup of tea.

Where to improve? No where really, the balance i struck between the foods I ate and the exercise I did seemed to have been fine. Instead of making anyone feel bad because I wouldnt eat their "bad" treats i'd take a small piece and enjoy it. No one notices after you take that initial piece just how long you may spend eating it, they're usually to busy eating their own lol.

So all in all I had a very merry christmas! Socially, emotionally and physically! (I even met a new bloke )

Livi

Stayed the same weight, had two full out cheat days (Xmas eve and NY Eve (upcoming). Xmas day was a mild cheat, but basically clean food. Passed up most goodies at work and parties. Overexercised to make up for all the minor cheats - next time I think I'll cut that out as it probably wasn't even necessary. I take a 'free day' once a week anyways, so the holidays weren't all that different.

Well I just did the same thing as I did last year. Scratch that - last December I was recovering from my TT, so no, I didn't get another one. Last year I didn't work out during that month of course, but trust me, EATING was one of the last things on my mind!!!

This year actually went pretty well.

For the second consecutive year I did NOT bake goodies (cookies, breads, etc.). Historically I eat a pretty significant percentage of any and all baked goods that I turn out.

Didn't bring any leftovers home with us.

The two times I got edible gifts, I left them at the office (on a DIFFERENT floor!).

Kept exercising (a habit for me at this point!).

And LASTLY...this was far from planned but just before Christmas I got hit BIG TIME with a whalloping head and chest cold, which turned into a strained neck - just went to the doctor's office today and he prescribed an inhaler, muscle relaxer, and prescription Ibuprofen. I just had to force myself to eat a salad because you're not supposed to take Ibuprofen on an empty tummy...

...back to the heating pad...

This was my best holidays ever. I participated and tasted what I wanted and even lost some weight this December. I wasnt perfect however and at times ate too much of the wrong things. But then there is no such thing as being perfect and good enough is good enough.

This year I went prepared with a visualized eating plan to gatherings. This worked most of the time, but not always. I also re-framed gatherings into events to socialize rather than to eat. For potlucks, this year I took low cal but very tastey things so there was always something good to eat for me. For holiday meals, I abstained from all appetizers and saved the room for the turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy. Like Anne, I would like to come up with even more possible options for events. In truth I felt I was more lucky than prepared.

I only baked cookies once this year, and did so the morning I got rid of them. I also wrapped up tightly the cookies I got in return and held for the week, but still thought about them sometimes. Good thing they were wrapped. I will rethink the cookie issue next year. No need to put myself in harms way. One or two cookies wouldnt hurt, but 26 would.

At the end of the holiday season I was too tired. Next year I should plan on getting more, better rest. I dont want to miss anything social, but I can better space optional things such as shopping, looking at Christmas lights, and some cooking. That is what the freezer is for.

Also exercise was not as consistent as I would like. I need a more specific plan.

All in all, if this season is a good as it gets, I'll take it.

Jan.