Anyone else nervous about the holidays?

I know I am. I've read tons of articles that talk about how people can gain as much as 10 lbs during the holiday season (Labor Day to New Years).

Plus the fact that I have non-supportive parents that push food on me, and will do so especially during the family holidays. Big extended network of family and friends; all eat delicious ethnic foods; and no one backs me up. *sobs*

So, am I the only one like this? Let's get some people in here for support!

Dependant upon the menu, you can still eat a really balanced diet. Holidays shouldn't be about the food, but they should be about the wonderful gift of spending time with friends and family! Food is just an added bonus.

If you look at the buffet table, you can surely spot a few reasonable items. Stick to simple dishes with little ingredients. The more ingredients in a dish (unless it's a very diverse veggie salad!), the more calories.

Make it a normal meal. Go for a protein source, carb, and veggie. Like another memeber had mentioned, aim for the following display: 1/4 plate carb, 1/4 plate protein, 1/2 plate veggie.

A nice dinner >500 calories could consist of turkey, mashed potatos drizzled in gravy, and green beans. Even roast beef is fairly lean, in addition to ham. Avoid sausages, porks, and the like though. Stay away from the "casserole" type of side dishes, even the pastas. You're more likely to overdo the pasta in a party enviroments.

As for dessert, you can have your cake (or pie, cookies, ect.) and eat it too! If you have to have cake, take a small sliver, which will cost you about 200 calories. Pair it with a BIG glass of diet soda to fill the void and still get the cake taste.

For pies, they're really not bad at all, until the crust comes into play. That's the main source of nasty fat and calories. So what are you to do? Eat just the filling! It tastes totally amazing :) There's even recipes for crustless pies as http://www/nestle.com.

If you want a cookie, take one, again, with an abundance of a zero calorie drink. The main importance is to savor the taste of a food, but fill yourself up with a fluid to eleminate "temptation hunger". This should keep you healthy and happy during the holiday season. Take care, and enjoy!

Julzdanceruns, those are very good suggestions :D.

I am going to North Carolina to visit relatives with my dad and stepmom. They dont know I have been trying to loose weight, and are used to me eating a ton so I will probably tell them im not feeling so well so they dont force the food on me! Haha, but anyways, were probably going to be eating out almost every meal, and the hotel were staying at has an ALL YOU CAN EAT BREAKFAST. You know the kind with huge make it yourself waffles, bacon, eggs, toast, sausages, bagels, doughnuts, everything! My plan is to have a fruit, and a yogurt for breakfast. Then for lunch and dinner at resteraunts ill try to get garden salads, or normal salads but im going to get them without crutons, cheese, and ask for the dressing on the side so I can control how much is on it. Im also going to get soup for dinner because its low calorie, and very filling. As for thanksgiving, i've never really eaten alot on it. Im usually a picky eater so all I used to have was some mashed potatoes, and rolls, and a peice of apple pie. But this year Im going to have some white meat turkey (cutting the skin off), and a lot of whatever vegetables they have (hopefully there not covered in butter :/). And with no dessert I think it will only be about 400 calories. XD

im scared for thanksgiving, christmas, and new years, to come because thanksgiving, i think im going to my aunt and uncles house and all my family will be there and stuff and there will be alot of food like always. then christmas comes and we eat a big breakfast then go to my grandma and grandpas house and open presents then we will eat lucnch then after that me and my family will go home then later that night we will prolly go out to dinner.then comes new years and ill be in fresno with my aunt and cousins and ill be like forced to eatr even if i dont want to. so i get what you mean lol.

When I come home for Christmas my moms going to flip about my weight loss and christmas dinner is going to be DREADFUL I need to do something to boost my metabolism before then or else I wont be able to eat dinner with them at all, any ideas?

No one has posted on this one for a while but I thought I would still share my advice. This is what I did last Christmas and it worked for me. I learned not to think about the food. I mean seriously.. How come American holidays are so based around food? We just make up excuses to over eat. Christmas isn't about eating whatsoever. I thought about this a lot last year and decided to eat just like any other day on Christmas. I ate the veggies and meat, and left out all the carbs and dessert since I don't usually eat those anyways. I walked at least a good half hour every day and I was fine. It's simple. Just don't make food a big deal during Christmas, because it's not. I hope that helped. It probably didn't but I thought I'd share my thoughts anyway.

Not nervous. I'm spending Christmas with my mother. Since she's dieting and her boyfriend has different tastes and my sister is a vegan, when we sit at the table there are four meals full of substitutions. I'm very glad my family isn't into giant get togethers and we're all pretty nutritionally autonomous....if I were at home with my dad, I'd be a bit more tempted, but it's not a stressful time of year. Like I mentioned, my parents are used to dealing with my sister's alternative food needs, so I don't feel pressured.