I think that depriving yourself of Thanksgiving dinner is a good way to make yourself miserable and set yourself up for an eventual binge. I think it's best to just eat whatever you want. One Thanksgiving dinner won't de-rail your weight loss efforts, and I don't think successful weight loss demands 100% adherence to plan 100% of the time. It's okay to eat big, hearty meals once in a while. You can still lose weight even if you occasionally eat a big, hearty meal -- yeah, rolls and pie included. Eating rolls and pie in moderation will not wreck your diet.

There is no need to go overboard and gorge yourself. The holidays shouldn't be about stuffing yourself to the point of sickness and discomfort. Just eat until you're content, and then stop.

Also, the holidays shouldn't be weeks on end of endlessly bingeing. On Thanksgiving, just plan to take a single day off your diet, and eat to the point of contentedness on that day. You can stick to your ordinary diet the rest of the time.

I'm not that worried about Thanksgiving or Christmas, because my family doesn't eat many heavy or fattening foods at holiday meals. Our Thanksgiving dinner consists mainly of vegetables - squash, peas, pearl onions and sweet potatoes. You might consider cutting out fattening side dishes and adding loads of veggies to your holiday meals?

We also have turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, gravy and two kinds of pie. I'm planning on freely indulging in all of these foods, and I'm going to feel fine about it, because it won't ruin my weight loss efforts. The worst thing that'll happen is that I won't lose as much next week as I'd ordinarily hope to lose in a week, but that's okay. There's no big rush to lose weight.

For Christmas, I'm planning on baking healthy, wholesome cookies. In my family, Christmas dinner is generally pretty minimal (roast beef, brussels sprouts, and yorkshire pudding). We always have Christmas pudding for dessert, and portion-control will be key with that. Everyone in my orbit knows about my weight loss efforts, so they won't be gifting me with food/candy/chocolates. I used to do a candy-binge on Christmas morning, but this year I plan on cooking a festive and wholesome breakfast.

I realize that I'll gain back every single bit of my lost weight if I don't find permanent new ways to deal with Christmas. It's easy to fall into thinking "I'll just suffer through this one Christmas and then, after I've lost the weight, I'll be able to pig out next year!" Nope, that's a recipe for regain. If I want to keep the weight off, Christmas will need to be forever different. How ever you decide to handle the holidays, it needs to be something that you can sustainably do for the rest of your life. So, don't make it too grueling, and don't deprive yourself too much.

Also, the entire month of December doesn't need to be a binge-a-thon. You can do your normal dieting most days of the month. If you need to go to a Christmas party, bake something wholesome and delicious, and bring that to the party so you'll have something to eat. Also, eating your normal dinner before heading out to a party can take the edge off your appetite.

I'm going to do my best to stay on plan during the holidays by eating those lovely holiday foods in moderation. I don't know if I'll be successful, but that is my plan. I will probably slack a bit on Thanksgiving day and Christmas day, but other than that, moderation and normal plan the rest of the holiday season. My goal is not to gain anything - if I lose, great. As long as I don't gain, it is a success.

I haven't had a chance to read all the replies, so perhaps others have already suggested what I'm going to suggest: Distribute your calories so that you have some low days to make up for the high days (as long as this isn't a trigger for you to binge, as I know it is for some). I have been maintaining for two years, and what has gotten me through the holidays without gaining has been to have a few low days to make up for the high days. Also, I don't use the holidays as a reason to eat anything and everything, as I used to. I mean, prior to losing, I would actually just eat fattening foods that had nothing to do with the holidays simply because it was the holiday! Now, though, I usually eat just what I know is special for the season. For instance, I know that I'll want to have some egg nog and there's a recipe for gingerbread I want to try. Also, of course I will eat whatever I really want during the main holiday meals. I refuse not to have those enjoyments as they are part of the fun of the holidays. However, I also won't be just drinking or eating it up during my regular workweek with no parties or events scheduled. What's the point?

So far, balancing it out like this has worked for me.

ETA: I just wanted to point out that no matter how much I eat, though (e.g., 4000 calories last Christmas Day), I always log my food. Hiding my head in the sand about how much I've eaten does not work for me.

One day of eating isn't the problem for me. It's leftovers! And lots of them. And in my family everyone gives everyone food as gifts. I bake gingerbread cakes and make cookies and I get several platters of cookies between Thanksgiving and Christmas. My MIL alone supplies me with a whole pumpkin pie, cookies and enough left overs to feed a small village.

Lately I've gotten in the habit of drinking richly spiced tea (cinammon, cardamom, etc) in the afternoon. Its a very nice warm soothing cup of tea that satisfies sweetness and carries me through from lunch to dinner. I have a feeling I'll be drinking a lot of spiced tea during the holidays.

I typically eat the veggies, the turkey, a little bit of gravy, and my homemade cranberry sauce. The cornbread, stuffing/dressing, sweet potatoes, and desserts aren't really that appealing to me, even though I spend so much time making them.

When I was in high school, we had homecoming on Thanksgiving night, so I'm used to not really eating much Thanksgiving dinner in order to fit into a fancy dress!

I'll go for a bit of champagne too.

I love Christmas because the menu always changes. My family is really fairly healthy and always has been, so I never worry too much about our meals. Usually it's healthy appetizers, wine/champagne/beer for Christmas eve at my parents' house, then healthy brunch at my house on Christmas day with mimosas and bloody marys.

I LOVE the leftovers! The first thing I do is make a big pot of turkey stock, then I will make gluten free baked turkey croquettes, turkey soup (of course), turkey pot pie, and I will try to make an Asian coconut curry soup with turkey. All of this depends on how many leftovers there are and how many I can take home. I will probably take as much as possible, then cook and bring over half of everything to my parents.

I should say leftover turkey is good. Left over pumpkin pie is dangerous.

Well, I am nervous, because all of the sensible advice everyone has shared? I know all that stuff! I've told myself all of that before! But it never fails... by January, I will have exactly one pair of jeans that fit.

Having a plan is one thing. Sticking to it is a whole 'nother.

One of my challenges is that, like many others, I associate the run-up to the holidays with baking. I love making and decorating cookies, making food gifts (last year I made homemade marshmallows for my kids' teachers), etc. I am torn -- I like to share this with my kids (they especially love rolling out, cutting and decorating cookies), but I don't want to set them up for a lifetime of associating the holidays with fattening foods (for the record, they are all thin and eat healthfully, same with my husband -- I just worry about the future). And then I think -- I'm overthinking this -- everyone associates the holidays with indulgence, I just have to teach them moderation! (there could not be a worse possible teacher)

I am planning on replacing some of the baking with other traditions -- working a holiday puzzle, making some decorative crafts, visiting the festival of lights at the botanic gardens, etc.

Like others have said, leftovers are a challenge. We hosted Christmas Eve last year and I was eating leftover White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cheesecake (which I made from scratch, right down to the peppermint bark) for days.

To make a long story short -- I am thinking of something like a goal and a sticker chart. Plan food in advance + 25 days on plan in December? That allows for Christmas Eve and Christmas, plus a handful of parties.

I know this may not help, but you can freeze pie slices for individual warm up.

I really don't like pumpkin pie, but I am making pumpkin swirl cheesecakes. I don't have a sweet tooth, but my diabetic grandmother does and these only have 6.5 g of sugar each and they're individually portioned.

If you have the power to make your own holiday desserts, or decide what your holiday desserts will be, then don't make super-rich and super-fatty desserts. Pumpkin pie, for instance, is relatively nutritious and non-diet-ruining. It's easy to make a lower-fat, whole-wheat pie crust for it. Don't choose to bake things like deep-dish-cheesecake-brownie pie for Thanksgiving.

I think it's important to get away from the idea that Thanksgiving and Christmas are supposed to be all-out binge-fests full of unhealthy foods. There's so much food out there that's both yummy and healthy that it's not really necessary to bake unhealthy desserts in order to have a satisfying holiday.

For Christmas this year, I'm not going to bake cheesecakes or ultra-mega-butter-cookies. I'm going to bake wholesome lowfat gingerbread cookies and other wholesome low-sugar, whole-grain baked goods.

If possible, don't choose to bake unhealthy desserts. That way, you won't have to worry too much. If you have a slice of pumpkin pie for dessert every night for a week, your weight loss might be a little slower-than-usual, but you won't ruin your entire weight loss effort.

Or, take the leftovers to work. Or bring them to a neighbor. Or if friends and relatives bring over a bunch of unhealthy desserts, send them back home with the leftovers.

Make sure everyone in your orbit knows about your diet. If they're kind and considerate people, they'll be respectful of your need to eat healthily! I think it's mean to give someone a fattening food gift if they're trying hard to lose weight and be healthy. Most people don't want to be mean, so let everyone know that you're not interested in receiving food gifts, and they'll probably oblige.

Apart from desserts, other Thanksgiving leftovers are good. Eaten in moderation, you can have wholesome and yummy dinners for an entire week after Thanksgiving. I shoot for a well-balanced 600-calorie dinner every night, and I think I'll make it with Thanksgiving leftovers.

For Christmas, my family never really has leftovers. Our Christmas dinner is really minimal, and there's never much leftover because we cook so little to start with (roast beef, brussels sprouts, yorkshire pudding - we make enough for that one meal only). Also, on Christmas Eve, we usually have fondue, and we only make enough fondue for that one meal.

My mother's birthday is December 29th, so we always go out for dinner and then have cake, so I'm just accepting the fact that I won't be losing any weight the week after Christmas.

On New Year's, I plan to go out. I plan on eating a normal dinner before heading out, but, I'll probably be bringing healthy treats to the party with me. I don't really drink alcohol, so that's not a problem. On New Year's Day, my family will cook enough New Year's dinner for one meal only. Generally, we don't have New Year's leftovers either.

Munchy, that pumpkin cheesecake recipe looks mega-awesome! If I didn't have a full roster of desserts for Thanksgiving already, I'd make that! Maybe I'll just make pumpkin cheesecakes for the heck of it some weeknight.

If you want to make one that is quicker and super delicious, try this one Pumpkin spice no bake cheesecake. It has been requested for the past 3 years, but this year I'm going with the other one

I'm not into whole wheat dessert or healthy dessert. I don't ever eat dessert so on a holiday I like to splurge. No way am I choosing smile fat anything over homemade bread pudding with salted gingerbread syrup. And it's all well and good that your family eats so light on a holiday but mine doesn't. I don't make announcements about my diet because that's such a downer, brings on unwanted attention and is kind of anrudenthing to talk about at dinner anyway. It's a major pet peeve of mine when people talk about their diets in a dinner party. I do refuse a lot of things but its rude to not accept a gift of baked goods. Maybe it's a cultural thing but refusing someone's cookies is like refusing any other gift.

I'm not making excuses, I will do my best to eat sensibly, I don't over eat at one meal but I'm jut being honest that having leftovers around is difficult for me.

Following Weight Watchers, I usually do lose weight over the holidays. I think one reason that I do is that I am very vigilant during that time period.

First, I make sure to go to WW meetings. It keeps me in the losing frame of mind.

Second, I am very careful of what food I let sit around the house. I avoid getting too many sweets and other things that are easy to mindlessly munch on.

I actually try to avoid going to too many events that would be hard to handle foodwise. Yes, if I really want to go to the event, I go. But, I don't go to those that really aren't important to me.

For Thanksgiving and Christmas day, I am fortunate that I have the meal at my house so I can make what I want. However, even when I've sometimes gone elsewhere I've found that most things can be handled through portion control. And, frankly, if you overeat on just those two days and you stay on your food plan otherwise for the next 6 weeks you will still lose weight.

Avoid leftovers. Get rid of uneaten food as soon as possible (preferably not be eating it). Better to throw it way than eat it yourself.

If your family isn't a light-eating family, then it's going to be really difficult to avoid weight gain during the holiday. If the people in your life are unwilling to have a healthy holiday, then that's not really fair to you. If I were you, I'd sit them down and I'd tell them that your health is really important and that they might need to sacrifice some of those tasty desserts for the sake of your health (and their health, too!!!!) I wonder why they feel like it's so important to eat so heavily during the holidays?

Could it be possible to cook a heavy dinner with a decadent dessert, but only cook enough for that one meal? If you're family's really attached to having leftovers to eat for days on end, though, then I don't think there's anything you'll be able to do about that apart from sitting them down and having a talk.

I definitely get where you're coming from! I live with my father, and my father hates the idea of healthy eating, and he feels like it's very important to eat heavily all the time, and he often complains about the food I make him eat. I don't really understand it, but it's one of the biggest obstacles I'm dealing with. I cook/plan/purchase/control most of the meals that are eaten in my home, though, so I am able to stick to plan in spite of him, but only "in spite of" him. I wish he cared more about his own health, but it frustrates me when he gets in the way of me taking care of mine.

About food gifts, I don't mean that you need to be rude to anyone, or rudely turn down gifts, or incessantly talk about your weight loss. I just mean that people in your life should generally be aware of what's been going on with you, just like you're generally aware of the important things that are happening in your friends' lives. If friends give you a fattening food gift in spite of their awareness, then that's kind of mean and thoughtless on their part. You don't have to rudely turn the gift down, but you don't need to feel guilty about throwing it out, or bringing it to work, or giving it to someone else. I have a lot of friends and family who live far away and don't know about my weight loss efforts . If any of them sends me a food gift in the mail, I won't feel guilty about giving it away, because they'll never know that I gave it away. I'll send them a lovely thank-you note right after Christmas, but I won't feel obligated to eat the gift.

Americans definitely do have a lot of screwed-up ideas about eating during holidays. A lot of us have this idea that we're supposed to gorge and gorge and gorge during holidays and I don't think it's necessarily the best approach. I really dislike going to parties where there's an enormous spread of food, because it's like "How am I supposed to handle this with moderation? What's even the point of this much food?" I wish that our holidays didn't have to be so full of debauchery and over-the-top excess.