What are your "realistic" holiday goals?

Thanksgiving:

Mine is to not gain over 5# for Thanksgiving and hope it will be sodium and come off within the following week. I refuse to pass up sharing a good meal with family I only see once a year.

Christmas:

This is harder. Again family I only see once a yr but the visit is longer and already we are talking about new recipes. I will try for portion control plus get in some walking, but with New Years following so closely, I expect to return home, January 2, 2008, 10# over my current (pre Thanksgiving) weight. Realistically expect to lose this within the following...........month! (on quick, off quick)

My New Years resolution is to be back to todays weight by February 1, 2008.

This allows for eggnog with bourbon, having pie, stuffing and all the things I haven't had since a year ago. Oh, and the cutout, decorated, Christmas cookies.

I skipped EVERYTHING one year and after the holidays felt sad as though I missed out on the holiday. Life is too short to miss out on the good things.

What are your realistic goals?

At this point, I'd just be happy to lose one pound.  I've been at this calorie restriction and exercisng 40-45 min. six days a week for nearly two weeks now with no loss.  So, my goal is to lose a pound before Thanksgiving, I guess.  I'd really like to lose 10 by the end of the year, but that goal appears to be a pipe dream!

 I'm not prone to overeating or excessive indulgence in the really bad stuff, so I doubt I will gain over the holidays.  I'm a potatoes and gravy kind of girl, not so much for the pies and cakes and such.  That makes the holidays much easier for me than many others, I think, since it's generally the room temperature food laying around that tempts.

I couldn't possibly skip EVERYTHING like you did.  You've got to live too, and food is practically the only pleasure that's still legal!

This may not be as disciplined as some here are. But, I seriously intend to indulge in turkey, dumplings, mac & cheese, cheese pie, cranberry sauce, dressing, and all the good stuff. On Christmas, we have ham instead of turkey. I don't intend to eat an entire ham, but I do intend to eat until I'm full. I WILL have dessert too! Afterall, it's only two times a year. It'll set me back a little bit in my weight loss goals, but that can be made up for afterwards.

I personally think that if we strive all year long to eat healthy and eat at a deficit, twice a year should be a given for enjoying ourselves while eating. That isn't to say we should eat a whole pie...but, enjoy a piece!

I am just going to keep it in my head that these next two holidays need to be about my family, and now what I am putting in my mouth. I am going to keep in mind that this food isn't going anywhere. It isn't just exclusive to november and december and I will be able to eat it any other time of the year so it is unreasonable for me to stuff myself to misery.

New Years seems easier for some reason.  We put out shrimp, swedish meatballs, etc. and not so much the high sugar, high carb foods.

I used to be able to be in the kitchen all day cooking, during holidays, without eating the entire time.  That can be one goal starting Thanksgiving.

And, I used to fix huge amounts of everything which we'd eat for the next 3 days.  This yr I could cut back and not have all that good food left over!  That will be another goal.

We don't have Thanksgiving here in England, and I'm planning to loose anything between 7 - 14lbs before Christmas. I will *definitely* not watch myself during that period, since as vmcbutterfly put it very nicely: Christmas is about family, not about what you put into yourself. Furthermore, I'm going to visit my family in Poland for Christmas, and the food there isn't as unhealthy as I here in the UK I imagine. So I can get stuffed with roasts, jellied meats, fish, poppy seed cakes, and beetroot / mushroom soup and still not gain too much. Hooray! :D

I think if I hold steady at my current weight of 422 I will be happy.  And if i lose a few pounds??  I will be thrilled!!!

duke:  good for you.  maybe I should lower my goal, but I just don't want to feel all that guilt after holidays.

e-a-t:  mushroom soup sounds so good and I love poppyseed breads.

vmc:  yes, that's good to remember the joy is family, not  of food.

momof 2:  I forgot about cranberrys.  I may try to use a little sweetner this yr, in place of all that sugar.

pennsylvanian:  can't remember when I've had white potatoes last, so definately eating them.  I eat sweet potatoes, so maybe will skip those. 

Weight-wise I don't really have to worry.  My family doesn't do much in the way of big get-togethers with tons of food.  It's just normal dinner for us.  Whether it's Christmas or Thanksgiving, we just all corral to one persons house and eat a normal dinner together, and I think my only battle the holiday season will be egg nog.  I love it.  I adore it.  I abuse it.

So my goal will be to limit myself to two gallons of egg nog throughout the holidays.  And to not forever turn my cheek to Canadian hockey because they let me down last night.

I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, THE RANGERS ARE ON STEROIDS >__<;!!!!!

cellulitedelight:  someone just told me about a soy eggnog.  I'm going to checkout the calories when i buy it next week.

oh, maybe will watch a hocky match next time I have a chance!

I'm not going to worry about my weight during this time. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing --and this is exercising 6 days a week & having one splurge meal a week which will be Christmas & Thanksgiving--and keep doing what I'm doing. No added pressure.

Pfft.  Don't watch a Flames game.  Calgary embarassed me last night.  I'm boycotting them for two weeks.  Unless there's a really good game on, then I'll have to overlook my anguish.

If you do check into that soy nog, and if it's tastey and low in calorie, don't hesitate to send me a message.  My record is three gallons of nog in a week, and it's a pretty easy record to beat.  I loooove that egg nog.

I don't plan to change anything over Thanksgiving. I have an advantage because we aren't going to a big gathering where overeating is encouraged. I want to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal with small portions. Call me an idealist but that's my plan. ;-)

I'm from England too and just basically planning to really enjoy christmas! Big meals with family are fantastic... and just because there might be a lot of different things and several courses it doesn't mean you can't eat just a bit of each. Personally I'm just planning to relax and only eat when I'm hungry and until I'm full. I have actually really started noticing that when I eat and I'm not hungry I don't enjoy things nearly as much... so if I just focus on enjoying my food and listen to my body it should be really fun. :)

       &nb sp;    mmm I eat a baked potatoe white ones a lot. They are healthy for you and have different essential vitamins and minerals then sweet potatoes. I usually put just a bit of butter in the mddle with garli and onion poweder and some salt. absolutely scrumptious.

       &nb sp;   Dont worry about gaining. I went crazy with my diet for the past couple of weeks went completely off then splurged in the alcohol and sweet treat sections. Hoped on the scale and am only one pound over my last weight and that could be water retention.

cellulitedelight:  ok, will let you know about the soy eggnog.

bootser:  wish I could learn to be like you without all this worry.

SC guy:  also I'm afraid I'll hurt someone's feeling if I don't taste everything and say how wonderful it is.  Yes, small portions are the answer.

greenmonkey: I hate eating when I'm not hungry and have done too much of that, (or I wouldn't be on this site).

angel_eyes:  I could live on potatoes.  Scalloped, potato soup, potato salad.  I was putting chili over baked ones, or sourcream and cheddar cheese.  I've tried to eliminate them till I got some of this weight knocked off.  You're right........no use in worrying.

It's looking like my new year's goal is not going to happen -  I've been pretty much plateauing for about two weeks. I'd like to lose 10 by new year's, though.

I ate two huge meals for Canadian thanskgiving and still lost 8 lbs in October... (though one has since rejoined me, so maybe I have to call it 7? Naah. ) :)

Okay,  Friday was my wife's birthday.  We celebrated on Saturday starting with a pancake breakfast (the syrup is at least as bad as the pancakes) and ended with a pretty good meal at the Olive Garden.  We also had cheesecake Friday night and Chocolate cake Saturday and Sunday.  These are a few of her favorite things.

Friday, my daughter got back from 4 months in Baghdad so I will be spending Thanksgiving with her and her family.  Tough to keep up the exercise routines in those circumstances.

Christmas is an unknown -- We might have a family get together with one of the other daughters.  Or we might get together at my brother's house.  Or both.  Oh yeah, the big company party is the week after Thanksgiving.

So here are the standard tips: Remember the point of holiday getogethers is to renew relationships and to enjoy the company.  Eating and drinking are not actual requirements.  Small portions -- enjoy all those delicious holiday specials but in moderation.  Eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly.  Minimize snacking between meals.  Use those snacks to fit in your raw fruit and veggies.  Get some exercise everyday, even if it's only walking a mile or 5.

In addition, average calories are at least as important as single meal or single day calories.  So in between the big bashes, cut back a little to compensate for the overindulgences at the big gatherings.  Cutting 125 calories per day will offset 500 excess calories over a 4 day period.

To answer the question, my goal is to continue edging my weight down toward 165.  Last year, I managed to hold the line at a 5 pound weight gain.  I think I can do better this year.

Realistically I will just try and maintain the weight that I am at right now. I am still working on my weightloss and my exercise program. Holidays are for family and friends and to enjoy great eats......I dont intend to hurt family members feelings by not eating stuff they so lovingly prepared. I am however planning on eating smaller portions of everything this yr. I know I will be over my cal limits for about a month time during all the holiday festivities. I just plan on trying to do the maintanance cals of what I am now so that I dont gain a bunch of weight........I also plan on throwing an extra exercise workout in per week that should help with all the splurging.

Great thread! 

My food goal is to eat up to and not over maintenance calories for the holidays.  That includes Thanksiving day, all 7 days that I will be at my parents' house over Christmas, and New Year's Eve - so 9 days total of maintenance, and probably 3 days (thanksgiving, christmas day, and new year's eve) a little over maintenance. 

My activity goal is to keep working out through the entire holiday season as I have been all along.  This should be easier for me than the eating! 

I REALLY don't want to do what I did last year and gain 10lbs between thanksgiving and new years...I'm just now finishing losing that...so I plan on being pretty good, keep up my exercise and not going back for seconds.  The problem is that I will be in South Africa visiting my family for three weeks over X-Mas.  I don't like calling this a problem because I love going there and love seeing my family but the food that my family cooks is ungodly fattening and there is really no escaping it...and little by way of exercise.  I'll just see if I can do without gaining 10# again! 

Great thread!  Good luck everyone!