that's it - I'm on a break. Join me?

It's to hard to keep eating 1200 calories with such yummy food around so my goal this xmas is to maintain 160lbs at 1500 calories a day and IGNORING calories, but still making good choices on christmas day.

Anyone going to join me?

Stop tempting us you devil! :-)

I'm pretty much doing that too... 

See I'm a college student home for break, so not only do I have to deal with holiday parties and whatnot, but I am no longer cooking all my meals so my foods are at the mercy of my mother.  Plus anytime old friends want to get together its usually over dinner somewhere. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to eat myself into a coma everyday; I'm still going to eat small portions and make sensible choices since this lifestyle change is ingrained in me.  I'm just not counting calories or beating myself up over a trip to the Olive Garden.

I decided toward the beginning of December that my plan would just be to maintain through Christmas, and then I'd get back on track.  I wanted to bake Christmas cookies, and that's no fun if you can't eat them.  :)  And now I'm 'home' for a week, so I'm eating whatever other people are eating, plus I'm going out to eat at least once a day to meet up with high school or college friends.  I'm still logging, though.  (Although my average for this week is probably 2200 or more, and I only use 1700 a day if I'm sedentary, which I am this week.)  Sigh.  So maybe I will gain a pound or two...oh well.  I'll still be 15 pounds ahead when it comes to New Years resolutions to lose weight.

Not me. As it is, I'm already allowed to have 1,850 calories to lose weight :D, and that's with an 800 calorie deficit, so even if I go over a little, it doesn't matter. And anyway, we don't have any good cookies or anything here. We have gingerbread cookies but I don't like them; we have cheese popcorn, which I usually love, but I tried it and it didn't do anything for me; we have caramel popcorn but I got my craving for that conquered the other day when I had a little. On Christmas though, I asked my mother to make some cookies, and I'll have two of those probably.

I take a break on Thangsgiving Day, Christmas Day and my birthday.  That's it.  The whole thing of taking a break for the whole holiday season is not safe for me, it will turn into a huge months-long pigout.

And I still count on my break days, I just don't limit myself (don't really binge either, I just don't stop when I still want something else, like usual.) 

I'm joining you. Actually, I've been eating more than maintenance. I sort of need to stop... But it's the holiday season - delicious baked goods tempt me so.

Im basically doing that, but still logging...

come join the dark side.... MWHAHAHAHAHA

I figure if we all stick together then say on december 28th we can all start getting back on track. That way it wouldn't become a month-long break just a mini one... i started yesterday (I ate 1350 ish) and I figure one week isn't gonna hurt and it IS the season to be jolly :)

I understand the break with those having a shorter journey then I.  From 465 to 369, I wont be near goal until another year of dieting so Im not in a position to further delay it.  Im happy though for those with shorter time and understanding a week or two is understandable considering how much dieting they've ahead. 

Im though getting a jump on the new years resolutions and hoping to hit 100 lb loss goal by new years - something I set months ago and getting down to a tight squeeze now.

Enjoy your time off :D

Original Post by sun123:

I understand the break with those having a shorter journey then I.  From 465 to 369, I wont be near goal until another year of dieting so Im not in a position to further delay it. 

I admire you for that. Not that I look down on people who are taking a break, I've done it in the past myself. I've just realized that for me one benefit of being a slow loser (I started in May and just hit my goal of 36 pounds lost) is that by counting calories for such a long time, my eating patterns are more of a habit than a burden. Years ago I lost 30 pounds very quickly and I didn't really ever get used to what I was doing. I don't want to take a break from a good habit. Continued success to you sun123!

 

Waaait a minute. Maintaining 160 lbs at 1500 calories? Oh darling, I'm sorry...

yes yes i know it's closer to 1800 to maintain 160. but i want to aim to eat 1500 so i still loose some.

I knew i shouldn't have posted, i had hoped to form a group of small people who also wanted to take a short break, nothing detrimental, just allowing a few more calories and then get fully back on track. I should have known it would have gotten picked at I mean WTF, who writes: "FAIL!" thats horrible! I've lost 38lbs, I'm over half way there now and i wanted to enjoy christmas, I've made major life-style changes including exercise, more fruit and enjoying what I eat so screw you I'll do it on my own.

I'm all for upping your calories anywhere up to maintenance if you need to and even occasionally going over if there's some reason you want to and consider it to be worth the splurge.

You get far better quality of life and don't feel so restricted and frequently that results in having better control.

How tall are you?  You are sounding like my twin.

I think it's a good idea. I'm doing the same (or trying to ... I keep going way over my max of 2000). I'm not weighing myself until Jan, for sure! On 1500 a day you may be surprised and actually find yourself a little lighter after Christmas anyway. 1200 at 160lbs is hardly anything, ya know? Good luck :-).

Original Post by curalium_lacrimo:

It's to hard to keep eating 1200 calories with such yummy food around so my goal this xmas is to maintain 160lbs at 1500 calories a day and IGNORING calories, but still making good choices on christmas day.

Anyone going to join me?

 I would join you but eating 1500 cals a day would be 600 cals less than I should to lose weight on a regular basis ;)

I still don't understand how you can live by eating as little as 1200 cals a day, that just seems insane to me. I know, I know, as a girl and prolly not that tall so you need less cals to maintain your weight / lose weight. But still reading of people that consume 1200 cals a day just sounds crazy to me... (knowing that one of my meals can easily be worth that amount of cals)

As for christmas: Just stay away from cookies and everything will be fine, eat a few pieces of chocolate instead, but don't eat cookies, they are the worst thing on this planet, a few can easily get you to a plus of 1.000 cals...

I am definitely going to be on a break until after the New Year.

I've set myself a different goal - I will eat what I want, but:

a) not huuuuuuge amounts:  one slice of cake? Absolutely fine. Two slices of cake? Probably not. A couple of potatoes with my cod are fine (traditional Christmas Eve food where I'm going), but not a whole plateful. I will try to eat a bit of everything.

b) Remember to eat lots of veggies.  

c) I will try to keep active to keep my metabolism up: I don't have a bicycle available at my parents', and cycling is my main exercise, but  there will still be opportunities to walk. For example, walk around the city centre every day, or do a bit of stretching in the morning, get off the bus a stop early, that kind of thing....

I think with those two things in mind, I should be OK. In any case, I lost about 27 pounds since August, going from BMI of 29 to 24.6, and I should be proud of myself and enjoying a break. 

sorry for my previous rudeness, i was just frustrated by the lack of manners by some people but I'm taking some peoples advice and ignoring them.

I like the ideas of goals, smaller portions are a brilliant idea and I've come to the point here I ask myself "Do i really want that/ am i hungry/ is there something else i could have/ is there a healthy version... etc.

As for how I live on 1200 calories... I'm 5'2" tall.... and I guess it's just fairly easy for me. I mean, I had a big mac last night and stayed around my 1500 calorie mark, hopped on the scale this morning (i havent weighed myself since thursday and I was paranoid) but since i've half a pound less than I was... I figure I'm doing okay.

I'l stay away from cookies but I'm going to enjoy a good christmas dinner (mainly filling up on veggies of course... but i am going to have a couple of potatoes that were cooked i goose fat... rather than my normal healthy potato's, boiled.

Thanks so much for all the support and I welcome anyone who wants to join me! So far it's been really liberating, I eat when I'm hungry rather than when scheduled and indulge myself on occasion, meanwhile keeping calories in mind. It's honestly brilliant, I mean, I fit into jeans i havent fitted into since I was 15... I plan on still fitting into them after christmas too... and am hoping to put some xmas pics up soon!!!

Merry xmas all!!

I am taking a bit of a break from the calorie-counting thing.. I've been working out just about every day though since I've been home from school.  (I actually think I've lost a pound since being home!)  Right now I'm still eating roughly the same amount of calories, I'm just not logging.  Tomorrow and Xmas day will be bad though.. but I'll be working out tomorrow morning, and then I'm fully prepared to just relax enjoy myself.  =)

I've been on break since I got fired.  I go off break at the turn of the year.  Aaah, I'm looking forward to actually having the option of eating more than 1200 calories rather than resorting to peanut butter to get me over a 1000 every day.

And since I'm not home today, I'm relying on these sugar cookies my mom made to get my calories up.  No dinner tonight means stuff my face before I leave.  Five cookies and a spoonful of ice cream got me to 550.  Add in my toast for breakfast, I'm sittin' pretty at 600 so far.

Only 600 more to figure out how to get..

i am SO with you. i live in nyc and my parents and friends are taking me out alllll the time..i try to be healthy and not snack but the few things i do eat now are quuuuuite indulgent haha..and going to the gym is so not as fun anymore - i'd rather burn my calories by walking all around the beautiful decorated city than sweating it up in this stuffy gym (it's smaller than the one at school - with the crappiest machines!).

 

portion control is key...keep those measuring cups nearby! i'm going to keep trying to make my meals half veggies or fruit..and don't forget to drink lots of water!!!!!