Sounds like a lot of people are going to be good every other day, but allow themselves Thanksgiving and Christmas days to not worry about it. I think I will do exactly the same thing... and I'm not too worried about how much damage I'll do in 2 days, as, like some other people have mentioned, I know longer have the stomach capacity to eat too much. I get full ridiculously quickly, and I get tipsy after a single glass of wine (maybe because my stomach is rarely full??). Anyhow, that in itself will certainly curb excesses on my 'two days off'.
My goals are to exercise exercise exercise!! I want to look good in the pictures for the holidays so I will exercise and eat sensibly not denying but not over indulging (my body will reject the really unhealthy foods anyway)! It's going to be party after party and I barely squeeze into my Christmas dress now so I want to be kind of comfortable in it.
I have never been watching what I eat over the holidays so its new territory for me but I have set a couple rules for me to follow in place to ensure I don't over do it.
1) Skip the gravy! Its a topping I don't need and food is just as good without it!
2) Salad to start - hopefully having a nice bowl of salad right off the bat will help me eat less of the higher calorie foods.
3) If I want something bad like a treat keep my portions down and give my boyfriend at least half to cut calories. Although I am still going to try and stay away from the treats table!
4) Keep consistently working out
5) Try and go for the lower calorie treats instead of diving into the carrot cake and pie!
Above all I am going to give it my best try to stay on plan 99% of the time. Its going to be hard but I believe if I can get through this the rest of the year will be a breeze!
I've been thinking about my trip home for Christmas and New Year's and have decided that I'm going to do my damnedest to not overeat. I will eat my favorite foods because I freaking miss them–who wouldn't miss pineapple stuffing, Jello "salad" and honey baked ham at least a little?–but I won't eat just to keep tasting them. I will stop when I'm full because all the leftovers will still be there the next day.
I'll also be working out four days a week at my old gym which has way more equipment than my current one, so I'll fully utilize that in order to combat holiday laziness.
I have been mentally planning for the holidays for a couple of weeks now. I decided that I am going to allow myself to eat what I want but I am going to practice portion control. Stuffing is not my thing but oh the mash potatoes and gravy are. I love warm rolls with lots of butter. I am going to eat as many veggies before hand without ranch dressing. I am going to allow myself to sample so of the desserts but I am going to force myself to wait an hour or so after I eat before I hit the dessert table. After I have had my dessert then I am done. I have a bad habit of eating pie all night long. I have two teenage boys at home so hopefully any left over desserts will not last long.
I will exercise as usually on Thanksgiving but not Friday. I have lots of shopping to do, that will burn some calories.
Christmas here is going to be some nice reasonable food for my family/child, no 10 days+ worth of leftovers, just a typical one night meal (only a bit nicer), and that's it. No junk on the 24th and no junk on the 26th. I don't believe in making/baking insane amounts of food in December just because it's December. I'm not interested in gaining 5lbs "just because". If others can avoid eating it then that's their prerogative but I'm not going to kid myself, I will simply overeat
I try to limit my indulgences to a few days. Thanksgiving, Christmas eve, Christmas Day and our work Holiday party. I pretty much allow myself to eat (and drink) what I want on those days, but try to keep my portions sane. On all the other days, I try to keep with my regular plan as usual. That doesn't mean I don't cave in to the occasional Christmas cookie (or whatever), but I try to work it into my calories if I do.
I don't keep extra goodies in the house. Thankfully, I'm not expected to bake, so i don't. We host Thanksgiving dinner but try to send most of the leftover food home with guests. Refusing to take extra treats and such after Christmas dinner with the folks is hard...if I get too much, I'll freeze or give away what I can (work is always a good place to unload extra food!)
I am realistic in knowing that there are more temptations this time of year and that I won't be perfect. Thus, my primary goal between Thanksgiving and New Years will be to not gain. If I lose, great, but I'm not expecting it.
Last edited by NorthernExposure; 11-17-2011 at 10:39 AM.
Mom and I cook Thanksgiving dinner together and Christmas brunch. All dishes are relatively healthy, but there is just so much food and drink around.
Thanksgiving: Turkey, tofurkey, mushroom and turkey gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, vegetarian stuffing, sweet potatoes, whole grain cornbread, vegetarian collard greens, low cal green bean casserole, and desserts (I always make one that is low calorie/low sugar but I don't eat any of them), and plenty of wine and alcohol.
Christmas eve is usually appetizers and drinks. We make homemade guacamole w/tortilla chips, low cal mushroom strudel, low cal buffalo chicken dip w/celery, edamame potstickers, etc.
Christmas has been a brunch for the past few years, and I've been making a low cal egg/bread/cheese/veggie brunch casserole to go with our TJ turkey bacon, soysage, fruit, and homemade whole wheat savory and sweet waffles (which I never eat as I'm not a big waffle fan). I just have to watch for the mimosas and bloody mary's.
I don't eat much because it tends to make me feel stomach pain for days. I do, however, like to drink alcohol. That's where I need to watch my calories.
I plan on exercising the morning of Thanksgiving, and the day AFTER. Maybe get in a walk with the family after the big meal.
In general, I plan on bringing something healthy to all of my holiday gatherings. For Thanksgiving I am roasting a bunch of fall vegetables. Simple and delicious! I won't mind filling up on those instead of less healthy options. Realistically, I will eat some rich, buttery stuff, but I feel good about contributing something healthy & delicious to the table
Haha I'm having my boyfriend's parents meet mine for the first time ever this Thanksgiving. It's at my house... they're bringing the dog. I feel like the holiday's focus will be on conversations and uh happiness? lol so of course there will be red wine :P I'm vegetarian so we'll probably have something hamster-friendly (my boyfriend's words) like asparagus and gravy or spinach casserole or something hahaha
I plan to indulge a bit on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Christmas is my mother's birthday and New Years is my birthday, so I figure some of the holidays and birthdays are at least compacted into a smaller total of indulgent days.
I eat a vegan diet and my brother is vegetarian, so I will be cooking the food for the both of us separate from my mother and father's meals. The plus side to that is that, since half of the family is having a different meal than the other half, there will be smaller portions cooked all around and so less leftovers for me to pick on after the fact. I also will be cooking things that are generally just healthier than the average holiday fare, because that's just the way I eat now.
The downside? My experiments in vegan pie making have been so delicious that my mother has been relieved of her duties in non-vegan-holiday-pies, and therefore I will be in charge of the pumpkin and the pecan pie for Thanksgiving. Somehow when the pies are off limits because they're not vegan I have no problem not eating them, but when there are delicious vegan pies around we have a whole different story..
I'll also be making my mother either cupcakes or pie for her birthday on Christmas, and vegan chocolate cheesecake for myself on my birthday.
I just plan of having a bit of everything I cook on those three days and sending as much of the leftovers I can home with my brother.
it is going to be REALLY hard for me... we don't have Thanksgiving here, but my daughter and I are having a two weeks holiday at the end of December... which means to say that for a couple of weeks I will be eating in restaurants at least twice a day and my only exercise will be walking around.
So what I think i will do is to have breakfast and dinner, and to get just a little fruit for lunch. I am going to Florida: do you Americans think it's doable? any better suggestions? Should I start a new thread on this...?!??!?!!?
I use a combination of planning certain foods in my calorie plan, some foods are changed/substituted to fit into my low carb needs, and I allow a higher calorie amount on the actual day of the holiday, but I still count everything. For me it is about what my needs are at the time, right now, my needs are to lose weight so I will make sure I do not tempt myself unnecessarily (by baking) that I do find alternative foods and that I take the time to enjoy all that is a part of the holiday that isn't about food at all.
I like to remind myself that there are thousands of holiday recipes on the net that fit right into my diet plan and there is no reason not to use them to my advantage!
So I just found out that my gym is going to have a spin class on Thanksgiving morning! I'm totally psyched about this but I'm wondering if it's sad that I'm thrilled about being able to get up early on thanksgiving to exercise!
Oh well, my plan is going to stay the same. Tiny breakfast, thanksgiving meal and then pumpkin pie only then I'll feel better about about it all if I get to exercise!
