I will not gain weight this winter, I will not gain weight this winter, I WILL NOT GAIN WEIGHT THIS WINTER!

I've been testing recipes for my October 22nd Today show appearance all week. It's been a blast of course but I'm a little full as you can imagine. The demo will be Baby Pumpkin Cheesecakes. VERY CUTE so don't miss the segment!

Anyway, I realized that Halloween is just around the corner (it's been hot here so I've been in complete denial of fall) which means I've got to come up with this winters exercise plan, this winters eating, shopping, prepping and cooking plan.

Every winter is different. I'm a little older and wiser. I have different needs and a different schedule. I like different things, I have less energy than I used to etc...Plus, if I don't put REAL thought and REAL energy into WHAT I'm going to do, I will do EXACTLY NOTHING.

What are some of the ways you will avoid holiday weight gain this year?

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Also… in the past, I used to think that being a good host meant that you had to provide WAY TOO MUCH food. My mil still thinks like this… she will make a turkey, a ham and a roast beef for Thanksgiving… for 6 people. In the past I used to serve 3-4 desserts and make/buy enough for every one to have 3 or 4 servings… PLUS candy and cookies. If 8 people were coming for a holiday dinner… I literally might have 50 servings of dessert available… I thought it was being a “good hostess”.

Welcome to any meal at my parents' house. The amount of food they prepare is absolutely ridiculous. There is always enough to feed an army and honestly, they could pull off a dinner party for 12 (maybe even more) with no notice any day of the week because they have that much food in their house at any given time.

It was a very hard adjustment for me to go to having the "right" amount of food at dinner parties. The last time we had a party, my dad was mortified that I was going to run out of chicken. Their feeling is that you should have enough of every single thing for everyone (even though 1/2 our guests are children and didn't touch anything but the turkey hot dogs). Not only did we not run out of chicken but there were enough left overs for four more days of meals for the three of us and then I started throwing things away.

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Originally posted by kd:
I've been testing recipes for my October 22nd Today show appearance all week. It's been a blast of course but I'm a little full as you can imagine. The demo will be Baby Pumpkin Cheesecakes. VERY CUTE so don't miss the segment!

PS… this reminds me… I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the idea of baby cheesecakes or individual servings.

Also… in the past, I used to think that being a good host meant that you had to provide WAY TOO MUCH food. My mil still thinks like this… she will make a turkey, a ham and a roast beef for Thanksgiving… for 6 people. In the past I used to serve 3-4 desserts and make/buy enough for every one to have 3 or 4 servings… PLUS candy and cookies. If 8 people were coming for a holiday dinner… I literally might have 50 servings of dessert available… I thought it was being a “good hostess”.

I went to a dinner last January and I was signed up to bring dessert and for 12 people… I brought a home made angel food cake that served (gasp!) 12 people. And fruit.

Nobody in America is lives thru the month of December and experiences sugar deprivation. I don’t need to participate in the overfeeding of my friends and relatives.

PS… The only good side I can see to testing recipes is that at some point, I’d burn out… and a month from now… I’d want like, 1 bite of pumpkin cheesecake… or I’d never want to see pumpkin cheesecake ever again.

(Mostly, this is cut and pasted from another post… with some additions.)

October is an easy month for me to maintain or lose… not too much going on.

Only thing different in October is there is more candy in more places. Like there is candy in the office at school, as well as the teachers’ lounge. However, MANY of my co-workers are overweight… and watching people standing around eating miniature sized candy bars saying, “I shouldn’t be eating this…” makes me not want to join them. The same strategy I use ALL YEAR LONG… “If I didn’t bring it. It isn’t mine. And I’m not going to eat it” works all thru the month of October.

In November, I sit down with a calendar and figure out the rest of the year. How many days we are out of town, the community band potluck, going to the city with friends, family in town, days at my mil’s, actual holidays, my birthday, etc. etc. Since, I have a fairly predictable life… I can usually say with a fair degree of certainty that between Nov. 9th and January 5th, I will have about 19 days or meals were there is the opportunity to overeat… HOWEVER… just because I’m out of town and eating in a restaurant, it does not mean that I MUST have dessert or that I MUST eat burgers and fries, or “splurge”. Not all of these 19 days/meals are SPECIAL. Nothing special about the Saturday after Thanksgiving. No reason why I can’t make a plan and stick to it. The Saturday after Thanksgiving is just another day. Thanksgiving is NOT a 5 day eating fest. It is one day.

AND since I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks a day… between November 9 - January 5... I will eat approximately 290 times. If I slightly overeat 19 times… I also have 271 opportunities to eat clean. I often eat in losing mode many those 271 times… and this makes up for an extra slice of pie on Thanksgiving or an egg roll at a pot luck.

On actual holidays… Like Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years… My goal has been to eat to the point where I am NOT stuffed. My goal is to stop eating before I have to undo my pants. I’ve been a (secret) pants undo-er in the past… and it actually kind of grosses me out now to see people undoing their pants and saying, “I’m sooooo stuffed… past the dressing and gravy back this way”.

I’ve been to WW meetings and the “dieting strategies” of lowering the points on everything and making everything lowfat and only eating 3 bites of dessert and bringing a pumpkin pie made with Spenda don’t do anything for me. My grandparents were a healthy weight all of their lives… and ate 2-3 slices of pie on Thanksgiving and had seconds on turkey and stuffing. My grandmother never heard of s/f ff “Pumpkin Fluff”.

But they didn’t eat like it was Thanksgiving every single day of the year. They didn’t have dessert after lunch and dinner and donuts for breakfast EVERY single day. I don’t remember them having seconds at dinner… except at holiday meals.

My goal is to eat like my grandparents. Eat on Christmas, and Thanksgiving like a “normal” person… and eat during the rest of the 6-8 week “Holiday Season” like a “normal” person - albeit a “normal” person in 1957 or 1967... Not the average, “normal” person in 2007.

There is a concept in weight control called Flexible Restraint… and I try and practice that during the holidays (and all year, really). BUT to practice it… you (and I mean me… or anyone) have to have a good handle on BLT’s and emotional eating. To practice Flexible Restraint… and bank some calories and save up a few days for a special occasion… you have to have BLT’s and stress eating under control. If a person squanders their banked up calories eating cookies in the car after a fight with their husband, it makes if pretty hard to save up some calories for the Band Potluck. Or if you nibble away, while cleaning up the kitchen after dinner… or leftover pizza crusts… ditto. Hard to bank calories for an extra piece of pie on Thanksgiving.

Personally, I also think that if you MUST have sweets or chocolate or empty calories EVERY single day of the week… It is difficult to save up for a night out with friends, you only see once a year. Even things like Skinny Cows and other “diet” or “WW friendly” treats… a person eats a Skinny Cow every single day… that is 770 calories a week. Personally, ESPECIALLY during the holidays… but really all year round… I think that it works better to skip that 100-200 calories worth of treats… and use them out with friends and family and special occasions. Watching TV on a Tuesday night… isn’t worthy of using up 100-200 calories. Especially if you know you are going to a nice dinner out or a party or out for drinks on the weekend. It is REALLY hard to have enough empty expendable calories to do both… the sweet after dinner every night… and party with friends on the weekends. In my not so humble opinion.

The Washington Post Lean Plate has a Holiday Challenge every year… and the goal is to maintain over the holidays. That is my goal.

I print out this weight maint chart… and I even go as far as to color it in… (this is one of Nelson’s charts).



It is a lot easier to pass up Santa cookies and chocolate dreydls at the December Band Directors “Working Dinner” meeting… when I’m looking at this weight chart ever day and watching my weight slowly rise out of the green, thru the yellow, into the red zone. Personally, I’d rather be in the green… than eat chocolate with coworkers.

I also think that there is something to be said for a FIRM commitment.
I WILL NOT GAIN WEIGHT THIS WINTER! Rather than, “I’m really going to try really hard this winter not to gain… It is really hard because I have a lot of work and family parties… and I really can’t resist cookies and egg nog… and I’m not sure that I really want to do it… I don’t want to be a party pooper or anything… but I think I might try and maintain this holiday season… I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes.”

I make it every year and don‘t gain… January 5 or 7th, I’m at the same weight as I was on November 8th. I might make it by the skin of my teeth… and I‘ve never ended the holidays losing weight… but in 4 holiday seasons… I have not gained.

I take immense personal satisfaction in this. This is sort of sick and mean, but I REALLY like to get on the scale on January 7th and saying, neeeeener, neeeeeener, neeeeeener!!!! I didn’t gain!!!!

Beck tools will be my friend. I'm making a response card to take when we travel for Thanksgiving. I'll pack items that require buttoning and zipping to make sure I don't get that stretchy-comfy-pants-bloat. I'm taking my shoes and some workout clothes.

I'm also taking some time to myself.

Thanksgiving will be an on-plan day.

Holidays are not an excuse to binge on things I wouldn't normally eat, or to be sick with fullness and upset with myself for eating too much. That is NOT how I'd like to spend the holidays.

You mean you can actually avoid gaining weight during holiday season? Do other people know about this?

Just kidding. I am going one day at a time. If I plan one day at a time and exercise one day at a time I can stick to plan. If I start thinking about what I won't allow myself to have in November today, then I'll go nuts. I can eat healthy today. Then tomorrow I will make the same commitment. That way when I do decide to splurge one day it won't ruin 2 whole weeks.

Aside from that I am (until I get sick of it) making a big pot of soup at the beginning of the week and eating it all week for lunch. I am also keeping some veggie slaws/sides in the fridge for munching. One day at a time only works if I have healthy food ready to eat.

Kathy

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Originally posted by kd:
What are some of the ways you will avoid holiday weight gain this year?

Funny you should ask that, KD, because I was just thinking of asking for your help!

The West Coast may be the only part of the country actually experiencing fall weather, but it's getting chillier here -- and I've been thinking about my soups and stews recipes. Love them at this time of year! There's a sweet potato stew in the Joy of Cooking that my family likes, as long as I tone down the spiciness for DS. And I've tried a lot of the soups in Getting Thin and Loving Food.

Can you help me expand my repertoire for fall with some lightened-up-as-much-as-possible-but-still-hearty soups and stews?

Actually, that question is not just for KD -- anyone?

I am just really diving into the Beck book and hope it helps keep the holidays in check. I did pretty well last year so i am optimistic this year. I love the smell of the cool weather, and the feel of cool air on my face.

Winter is usually easier for me - less outings, fewer sporting events, fewer parties which all equal fewer opportunities to go off plan.

I enjoy running more in the winter (I'm not a fan of running in the heat of summer) so exercise isn't a problem for me. So between cooler running weather and the gym, working out isn't an issue.

The most temptation I usually have are x-mas cookies. If dd cons me into making them, we keep just a few and give the rest away. If we get them as gifts, they are sent to work with dh (or last year I actually threw some away).

Halloween is usually OK too - we only buy stuff I don't like, dd isn't usually too fond of the chocolate bars (weird I know) and those get sent to work with dh too.

I keep to my "one splurge meal/month" plan throughout the holidays and that helps me stay out of trouble too.

PS KD - I would have big time trouble having to taste test cheesecake!

To avoid weight gain, I am sticking with my Beck plan. That includes:

making a daily food plan within my calories range.

sticking to said food plan.

weighing myself each day.

reading my response cards.

getting support here.

sticking with my exercise plan.