...and if you're anything like me, your only goal is to not gain any weight over the season! I am also going to Toronto for a week to visit a friend, and of course that means LOTS OF YUMMY FOOD!

I thought we could share ideas about how to keep the pounds off this Christmas.

Mine:
-drink only no-calorie liquids
-sensible breakfast every morning
-watch the portion sizes! (try a little bit of everything)

My plan is to eat what sounds/tastes good on the days we're celebrating (x-mas eve & x-mas day) and try to watch my portions on those days. The other part of the plan is to only indulge on those days and not snack on all the goodies before and after! Then of course there's New Years Eve, which I have the same plan for. I did well over Thanksgiving, even lost a half pound that week, so I am not too worried about Christmas sinse for me it's turkey day that always seems to be the problem!

Since I'm not trying to lose on Christmas eve and Christmas...I will just work out for 30 minutes each day, but not work on keeping my calories as low as I'm willing to go. It worked last year...hope its the same this year.

My plan is to *first* go for lots of veggies.
After that I can eat main meal or snackies.
And, also, to just have a bite of my boyfriend's desserts to keep me in line.

Get as much movement as possible, maybe a glass of wine or two, but that's all!

We're going to stay with my parents for a week, and they're both amazing cooks, so my goal is to eat small portions of everything so I don't feel deprived, but also plan to eat plenty of salad and veggies, and mainly drink water or tea. I'll also plan to get some exercise six of the days that we're there.

Well I will indeed have a lot of people come over with yummy food for x-mas. I have just joined the gym so I'm not going to push myself to lose weight just to maintain till after the New Year. I am scared but I think walking will help me maintain.

My plan to not look like after the holidays:

1) Exercise every day. Exercising is an appetite suppresant for me, so even if I want to take a rest day, I find I can control my eating much better if I take just a short 30 min. walk outside. Plus, gotta love those endorphins!
2) Limit snacking to 200 calories per day. Period. If I find myself mindlessly snacking, I will immediately stop and go into a room w/out food and do something non-food related (talk, read, watch tv, write, take a walk, etc.)
3) My little sis turns 21 on Christmas Eve ....so of course we'll be having a party, complete w/ cake and ice cream. I'm allowing myself to have a sliver of cake and a spoonful of ice cream if I feel like it. If I don't like the flavor or I'm just not in the mood for dessert, I'll pass it up. Cake and ice cream will always be there for me when I want it.....I'd much rather be thin than have cake. As far as food goes, I will exercise portion control....between 1200 and 1650 calories daily from now until the end of the year, including Christmas Eve & Day.
3) I'm going to plan the Christmas Menu w/ my Mom and make sure there are plenty of healthy veggie dishes. I'll be cooking, too, so I'll be aware of the nutritional content of everything. I'll plan what I'll eat for Christmas dinner the night before and stick to it - after all, I'm accountable to you guys, as well as myself!
4) I'm going to allow myself one serving of dessert on Christmas (and it has to be something special....I'm making organic pumpkin bars so I'll probably be having one of those for 120 calories)
5) Eat lots of veggies & salad to fill me up. Have a good mix of protein w/ my good carbs. Make sure to get at least 25 g. of fiber daily.
6) Get at least 8 hrs of sleep a night.
7) Keep my Dec. 31 goal of 169 in mind. I want to make my goal.
8) I'm joining a gym next month, so that will keep me motivated to get into the 160's!
9) I'm celebrating New Years w/ my family (I know, I'm pathetic ) and I don't drink alcohol, so besides portion control I don't think this will be a problem. And I'll be exercising on New Year's Eve too!

So basically, I'm just going to continue doing what I've already been doing (w/ a couple of slip-ups along the way ). Christmas is not really so much about food as it is seeing family & friends and showing them how much you love & appreciate them....it's about connecting with people, not food. So, I'll be keeping that in mind.