With the Holiday season and festivities coming at us at warp speed let's start strategising to make the festive season as pleasant as possible by not gaining weight or at the very least maintaining our losses and not kicking ourselves come January... Boy that was long winded ...

I'll start:

-- I will eat before going out to a party so that I don't arrive famished and eat everything in sight...

-- Keep the wine to a minimum...

-- Exercise, exercise, exercise

-- When baking or cooking I will put the food away pronto as soon as I'm done and clean the kitchen and then get out!!

-- Get all my sleep, I do so much better when I have had a good nights sleep...

Anymore ideas?

Let's keep them coming...

Seeing as how turkey seems to be the protein of choice for celebrations at this time of year, it's not hard to make a healthy plate (I must remember it's a healthy plate, not four). Turkey, veggies ... small dabs of the calorific things.

If it's your party, make sure you have a raw vegetable platter. If it's someone else's party ... take a raw veggie platter. Nibble wisely.

You just need a few minutes to check in at 3FC to bolster your resolve

I had read a response on a different thread where someone (sorry I don't remember who) said to remember that these are holiDAYS not holiMONTHS. Indulging for a day here and there is ok, but that does not give me permission to binge from November to January.

I'm definitely going to keep that in mind. This will be my first holiday season since losing weight; I hope I make it through alright.

Continuing that idea, I plan to indulge on just a few days this season: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and (possibly) the day of my last final exam. I'm not going to feel guilty or even keep track of my calories on those days. The rest of the time, it'll be business as usual and heavy on the exercise. Today I taped a note over my bathroom mirror and on my refrigerator. It says "What you eat today you wear tomorrow." That's my plan, and I'm sticking to it.

I was emailing with my SIL yesterday and it reminded me of the 'walks'. At a party last summer, if I came across someone who wanted to have a nice little talk, we walked and talked. It was very nice and kept me away from the goodies.

On Thanksgiving I'll fill my plate with the food I want (I won't take it if it doesn't appeal to me). I won't have seconds. I'll make healthy choices (small portions of the fatty, calorie laden stuff). I'll skip the roll and butter. I will have pie (afterall, I'm baking 6 different pies this year!), but I'll skip the whipped cream. I will remember that this is just one meal and I will eat until I am content. I will not overdo it.

After Thanksgiving, I'll return to my new eating plan and will not overindulge in anything. But I will not deprive myself of anything either. I will taste it if I crave it, but I will not go overboard. I have only 2 pounds to go to reach goal and I'm not going to sabotage it now!

Be good today everyone! Here's a visual for ya .... Imagine that one of us is at the festivities with you and watching you load that plate and nibble off the trays ...
Seriously, enjoy Thanksgiving everyone!

I love the idea that you can splurge on "Holi-DAYS", and not "Holi-MONTHS", but honestly, I don't think it's very practical. I suppose it could be if you were very determined, but I'm a sucker at holiday parties and events. I suppose it's not a good idea to think of eating as an integral part of "celebrating the Holidays".

Well, anyway, my plan for the Holidays is:

1) Go to the Gym! (When I'm eating alot, I tend to stay away from the gym - totally twisted thinking, I know - but I'm like "well, I'm not eating healthy so screw exercise too...")

2) Don't drink Alcoholic Beverages During the Week (With after work drinks and dinners with friends on weekdays, it's often hard to restrict myself, but this month I have to...)

3) Enjoy the parties and dinners - but eat well and healthy when I'm at home and I can.

YAY for making a plan!

* No baking (except for the pumpkin pie I promised my bf months ago, which I will have ONE crustless peice of ). Everyone else bakes like crazy in my family, so this is really not necessary. Plus, baking is one of my weaknesses, and there are only two of us in my house, so it's just too hard to keep the indulgences at a reasonable proportion.
* No candy (and no unplanned treats). There's just too much of it and too much temptation, so I am staying away! I've promised myself that if I stay away from chocolate until Valentine's Day, I can have ONE treat and just completely enjoy it, no matter what it is.
* This Christmas, focus on communicating with my family members rather than stuffing my face.
* Practice the one/two bite rule, NO exceptions. I know that I won't have to worry about insulting my sister (the family's #1 cook), because she is trying to eat healthier, too.
* Take a veggy platter to my company's potluck & eat a healthy lunch beforehand. That way, I won't have to be the odd one out not eating anything, and I also won't indulge in any of the fatty dishes everyone else brings.

1) Think about what I want to eat from the menu BEFORE it's sitting in front of me at the table.
2) Eat lots of the healthy stuff: I had a lot of turkey breast and veggies on Thanksgiving.

When I'm home, I'll be on plan. My family is 2000 miles away in Chicago and my SO only has his mom and, well, we don't like her very much so won't be spending much time with her. We also don't have many holiday parties to go to--in fact, I'm not sure we have any. The only one I went to was a business event and I was speaking at it, so I didn't eat anything (never eat before speaking to a group or you'll have to worry you have food in your teeth the whole time).

My problem will be when I am out of town. I have two trips planned, one to Chicago to see the family and one to NY for New Years Eve. Both are sure to involve lots of restaurant food and other food that is bad for you. For the Chicago trip, though, I think I am going to bring my own cereal and stop at the grocery store for lean lunch meat, Laughing Cow cheeses, low calorie bread, and some apples. That way I can at least be on plan for breakfast and lunch. There is also a gym near my parent's house that has a day rate, so I'll get in as many days there as I can.

For NY, all bets are off. We'll be eating out for every meal and we are staying with a friend for two nights so I won't even be able to exercise on those days. And I definitely plan on consuming my share of high calorie alcoholic beverages on New Year's Eve. Once we are checked into our hotel, I'll at least get back on track for exercising. If the weather isn't horrible, I even hope to go for a run in Central Park--the quintessential NY experience for a fitness buff!

One tactic I've found helpful at parties is to get myself a diet soda before hitting the buffet. It's really hard to hold a drink and a plate of food at the same time, so this keeps me from eating but yet I still have something to put in my mouth when I am talking to other people that are eating.

I won't be doing any baking, since I can't eat that stuff, except for possibly one batch of cookies to give to the neighbors. I'm planning a nice meal for Christmas day, but it will just be my SO and I and I plan for it to fit in my calorie plan. Right now I'm thinking maybe beef tenderloin; either that or Coq Au Vin (I have a recipe that is only 330 calories per serving).

When I'm home, I'll be on plan. My family is 2000 miles away in Chicago and my SO only has his mom and, well, we don't like her very much so won't be spending much time with her. We also don't have many holiday parties to go to--in fact, I'm not sure we have any. The only one I went to was a business event and I was speaking at it, so I didn't eat anything (never eat before speaking to a group or you'll have to worry you have food in your teeth the whole time).

My problem will be when I am out of town. I have two trips planned, one to Chicago to see the family and one to NY for New Years Eve. Both are sure to involve lots of restaurant food and other food that is bad for you. For the Chicago trip, though, I think I am going to bring my own cereal and stop at the grocery store for lean lunch meat, Laughing Cow cheeses, low calorie bread, and some apples. That way I can at least be on plan for breakfast and lunch. There is also a gym near my parent's house that has a day rate, so I'll get in as many days there as I can.

For NY, all bets are off. We'll be eating out for every meal and we are staying with a friend for two nights so I won't even be able to exercise on those days. And I definitely plan on consuming my share of high calorie alcoholic beverages on New Year's Eve. Once we are checked into our hotel, I'll at least get back on track for exercising. If the weather isn't horrible, I even hope to go for a run in Central Park--the quintessential NY experience for a fitness buff!

One tactic I've found helpful at parties is to get myself a diet soda before hitting the buffet. It's really hard to hold a drink and a plate of food at the same time, so this keeps me from eating but yet I still have something to put in my mouth when I am talking to other people that are eating.

I won't be doing any baking, since I can't eat that stuff, except for possibly one batch of cookies to give to the neighbors. I'm planning a nice meal for Christmas day, but it will just be my SO and I and I plan for it to fit in my calorie plan. Right now I'm thinking maybe beef tenderloin; either that or Coq Au Vin (I have a recipe that is only 330 calories per serving).