Holiday Tips and Tricks

Good Morning everyone!!

I was just hoping some people might share some tips and tricks they use to keep from gaining during this festive time of year.

Between the baking and the drinking I am usually no way near my calories for the day really anytime in the month of December (not to mention the end of November). Companies send goodie bags and baskets to my office filled with all kind of wonderful yet horrible foods. Then I go home to cookies and pies and homemade ice cream. This time of year is a nightmare!!!

Any help, advice or dialogue would be most helpful!! Thanks- and happy Holidays!!!

Good morning, 

I've been exercising more to compensate for my loss of self control during the holidays.

I also have the simpler goal of not to gain during the season, and save the loss goals for gentler times of the year.

So far, so good, but the holiday season has only just begun. 

Best wishes!!

My best tip... plan on enjoying yourself Thanksgiving and Christmas. Don't sweat one meal. Make sure to enjoy those meals to their utmost. And then get right back on the wagon afterwards. :)

For office treats - when a goodie basket arrives, eat what you want (within limits) and then throw the rest out so that you are not tempted to eat it again the following day.  Also, if you get more than one treat in a single day, choose which you will eat and give or throw the other one away. 

For at home treats - Similar rules apply.  Enjoy the treats but don't gorge yourself.  Only make enough for that one activity or evening, so you don't have leftovers around the house.  If people bring you goodies, limit yourself.  Decide what on that platter you really love and eat one piece of it, throw the rest away. 

Finally, don't worry about wasting food- IT'S SUGAR AND FAT- delicious but not necessary.  You won't eat food out of the trash, so throw it out when you've had enough.  Listen to your body - don't overeat.  If you select a treat and it's not satisfying you, don't eat it!  Remember that sometimes one bite is enough to fill the craving. 

Also, stock up and force yourself to eat the healthy things.  If you bring a yogurt and a banana for breakfast make sure you eat that before diving into the donuts your co-worker brought in.  Eat all of your vegetable soup before tucking in to the potato rolls and butter.  Make sure you always have some kind of healthy snack with you for when hunger strikes and you'll eat just about anything - an orange or some carrots are better than a snickers.

Good luck! 

The Holidays are a hard one for me I have to admit. I am going with what worked for me over Halloween and Thanksgiving. I put out a bowl of premeasured and pre calorie counted snacks like trail mix or fruit. If I have a real sweet tooth, I might put out fruit loops or some thing like that. Whenever I get a craving for that wonderfully fattening carmel covered cheesecake, or the incredable fattening popcorn balls I make for my kids, I go for my bowl...

Hi Clmartin8,

I build the treats I want to have into my calorie budget. So for example if I want to have wine, I make sure I have the calories for it by eating less elsewhere.

Every year my mom makes some Aunt Bill's fudge (family recipe, family tradition), and I do eat a couple of pieces. But again, I make sure I have the room for it in my calories for the day.

To Hkellick's point, I am less strict for the actual holiday dinner although I also am probably closer to my calorie budget than I realize; I'm used to eating this amount of food and eating more makes me feel pretty yucky. But on Thanksgiving, I didn't log my calories at all and I didn't gain weight. It was moderation, very small portions of all the traditional foods I love and zero guilt.

I don't slack off on my exercise routine though. Partly that's because it's a fantastic stress reliever, and partly because I worked way too hard to get in shape.

Hi, everyone.

I got through Thanksgiving without any weight gain.  Here's what worked for me.  I cut back my calories the two days before by about 200 a day.  (From about 1400 to 1200) Thanksgiving day,  I ate a little bit of everything (the pies, the cookies, all of it) and ate until I was satisfied, but no more.  Friday was all about eating leftovers, but I was pretty careful about selection and quantity.  When I weighed myself Saturday morning, I was less than a pound more than I had been on Thursday morning.

Christmas will be harder, because it will be longer.  Holiday parties.  We host Christmas with the in-laws, so I'll be cooking and baking.  But I plan to limit my weight gain to the temporary bump, and by December 27, be back to the weight I was on December 21.

 

I remember the tempting stuff sent to the office.  I gave a lot away.  If the box wsn't opened it wasn't as tempting.  I did like a platter of wonderful homemade treats.  Factory candy isn't as tempting.  As for things at home, we don't keep too much here.

I have a major sweet tooth, so the Holidays are super challenging for me.

Whenever I am tempted with something yummy, I always try to walk away or decline it at first. Surprising, I often forget about the treat... you know, "out of sight, out of mind". This lets me know that I really didn't want the treat that badly. I'd rather consume calories for something that I really want.

But if I keep thinking about the treat and craving it, then I let myself enjoy some... I know that if I feel deprived, then I will over-compensate later. So I get a small portion of the treat. And, this is the key, I really FOCUS on it while I eat it. No distractions; if I am distracted by the computer, tv, other people, etc., then I'll gobble something down without even realizing it or tasting it and then I'm left wanting more. I take my time enjoying the treat. I try not to be obvious about it, but I take really small bites and chew really slowly. I pause between bites and I savor the taste every bite that I take. Also, if the treat turns out to be that not yummy after all, then I throw the rest away (or offer it to my boyfriend). Again, I'd rather consume calories for something that I really want.

It probably took me at least 5 minutes to eat a small piece of the home-made chocolate that my co-worker brought in yesterday. It was so good and the treat was very rewarding. I fulfilled my sweet tooth and I felt very satisfied. I didn't go overboard with extra calories and I didn't feel guilty later.

That's what works for me. Hope that everyone takes the time to really enjoy the Holidays.. including the yummiest of the goodies and treats!

An excellent post, anh011!  That's become my approach to all my sweet cravings.  I regularly eat small amounts of the really good stuff (the premium chocolates and ice cream) and when you eat very slowly and savor it, it's satisfying.  It's enough. 

These are all great tips! I've been trying to eat more mindfully, but it's hard with all the holiday treats in the office. I've started asking myself questions before I take anything. The first is "Am I really hungry?" If I am actually hungry (not just craving the treat) I go eat something else, like oatmeal or cottage cheese, because if I start eating treats while I am actually hungry, I tend to go overboard. Then I wait a bit and ask myself if I really want the treat, or if I just want to eat it because it's there. Often, I don't even really want a cookie, it's just a tempting idea. Finally, if I do decide I want the cookie, I'll go ahead and eat it, but try to do so slowly, usually with a big mug of hot tea.

Good luck everyone, and keep the tips coming! 

This may sound completely deranged, but cold medicine surpresses my appetite.  Sudaphed to be exact.  I'm not recommending it as a weight loss pill or anything.  I just happened to notice when I take it I snack less.  Interesting huh?

hey everyone! here are a few helpful tips

Remember that just because it is FINALLY the holiday season, IT DOESNT MEAN THAT WE HAVE TO GAIN WEIGHT! =)

1.   Even though big family meals & parties are coming up, dont stuff yourself (because you always regret it later.) Have a little bit of everything that you want, which should equal a good sized meal but not too big.

2.  Also keep in mind.. SWEETS have the MOST calories!! one or maybe 2 cookies are ok but sometimes during this time of year we eat 5 or 6!! eat the sweets slow too, savor the flavor so you don't feel like eating more of them.

bIGGEST TIP OF ALL= eat slowly!! trust me! this allows you to realize when you are full, before you get 2nds.(When we eat fast it takes the stomach a little b4 it realizes its full, and sometimes by then, sadly we have already blown it.)        &nb sp;          &nb sp;          &nb sp;          &nb sp;       -Also, most people eat so fast that they are up to get seconds within 10 min. and if you eat solwer than them, you'll finish your first plate by the time they are in the middle of their 2nd, so, all you have to do is not get up for seconds!

Don't add too much to your course already prepared...

It usually doesn't need all that salt and butter and gravy we love to splash on our plates!!!

i usually have an iron will resisting foods, even during the holidays. but im going to let myself have a nice christmas day breakfast and dinner with my family, then go back to dieting. if i gain a pound or two, no big deal. it's worth the tradeoff to me and i'll get it back off soon enough.

I thought not one breath about calories on Thanksgiving and I didn't gain any.  My weight fluctuated within a few lbs. up and down for about 4 weeks prior (the same few lbs up and down) and it didn't get any higher or any lower following Thanksgiving.  The next week it stopped bouncing around and I stayed at the lower number of that range.  Within a few days following that I'd actually lost 2lbs. and now I'm down another 1.5lbs.  I'm following my calorie limits on most days but today is my nephew's bday party which I won't be counting calories for and I won't be counting on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day.  The rest of the time I'm managing to be within range or at least not over maintenance.  The drinks I'll likely have on New Years Eve will hopefully finish up my holiday splurging and I can hit it hard again.  I really wanna lose these last 47lbs. by the end of next summer.

This year at Thanksgiving I was pretty much able to treat dinner like any other meal I'd eat on any other day. Take lots of veggies, at least 2/3 of the plate and 1/3 for tiny servings of potatoes, beets, cranberries, coleslaw and all those little things (I'm veg so no meat or gravies) and it worked really well... till dessert came out. I almost never have dessert at home so the crazy little binge monster jumped out and scarfed a big piece of cheesecake, then seconds was pumpkin pie, then 3rds was more cheescake and later a big chunk of mocha chocolate cake for 4ths. Ugh.

So, Christmas. Same meal plan, but no dessert at my bf's family dinner (on dec 25th) and tiny servings of dessert on boxing day at my families dinner.

I can accept that this is just food. Same as I eat every other day of the year. Just because its a holiday doesn't mean I have some sort of magical right to scarf everything in sight. This year I refuse to binge!!

Also, boxing day morning if its above 0'C, I'm going outside for a run first thing, if its too cold I will go into my parents weight room and do some intense shadow kickboxing for like an hour. If I work really hard on health in the morning, I won't want to ruin it that night.

Well theres always a first time ^_^

One thing helping me through the holiday eating is not denying myself.  First, I volunteer to bring an item that I know is healthy.  Just this weekend I had a Christmas Party with my husband, and I brought a beautiful fruit salad of blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and pineapple.  I used no added sugar, no other ingredients.  This is high in fiber, high in flavor, and beautiful on a plate.  Yes, it's got a lot of natural sugars, but the calorie content is low.  A 1 cup serving of this is only 100 calories, but it also covers 2 fruit servings for the day, and packs a total of 9 grams of fiber!  So, I ate dinner before the party, kept my back to the food at the party, and stayed engaged in great conversation.  I was able to limit myself to 1 cookie at the party and 1 cup of fruit salad.  This was my snack for the day -- 200 calories, and I kept that in mind as I ate earlier in the day. 

As for Christmas and New Years as they approach, I have the same strategy.  I am celebrating Christmas dinner with my neighbors (family is too far to fly this year with 2 little ones).  We agreed to split the cooking.  I am bringing a ham (they did the turkey for Thanksgiving), and we are both bringing a few sides.  To ensure that I have something healthy, I selected the ham and I am bringing a big crunchy salad with red, green, and yellow peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, and fresh greens.  My kids eat it with a little dressing, and I can fill the majority of my plate with it before being tempted by her great rolls.  Also, I will keep my breakfast to only 300 calories (no-fat yogurt, frozen berries, and low-fat granola) so that I can enjoy the energy, the happiness, and the great foods at dinner, with room for dessert!

Enjoy!

I was eating out with my colleagues yesterday, because of our yearly xmas party. Well I ate a good soup then a salad and some grilled meat with potatoes. After that I was full, I get full much faster now than I got last year, well I weighted about 40lbs more last year, that might be the reason for this. So I just skipped the desert(which was about aprox. 1000 cals lol) and therefore I didn't blew my 2000 cal limit for that day eather :)

Moral of the story: Skip the desert and you don't have to fear anything.

I eat a small breakfast (200-300 cal) and drink LOTS of water(2 03 3 glasses before each meal).  I also like to snack on a grapefruit about 1 hour before the meal, then I don't eat as much.  Works for me.  I actually lost over Thanksgiving, and I have lost 5 more lbs since then.  I only have 15 left to go, so I am slowing down anyway.  My Christmas goal was 155 and I hit that last week, so I am happy to hold steady at 155 till after Christmas!

Now these days in holiday seasons weight management problems are increasing and many people become over weight because they don’t have any idea about holiday health management. I was reading a great article few days ago about how can you control your weight in holiday season. Here I am writing some lines…. “The key to successfully navigating the holiday season for your family is to plan ahead by outlining a practical weight-management strategy that doesn’t leave you and your children feeling deprived, but will help kids and their parents to avoid weight gain during the next couple of months,” for more tips and idea about holiday weight management visit www.organicauthority.com/blog/?p=633%22http://www.organicauthority.com

thanks!