How do you not gain weight at Christmas?

[malificent7]

It has taken me a year to loose 2 stone...im not tiny bit much happier at about 10 stone 8. Last Christmas i put on half a stone and it took me 6 months to shift.
This Christmas i just want to maintain as much as possible. But i can feel the temptation all around. I love mince pies, chocolate, cheese etc and I don't want to feel deprived. How can i have fun without it piling it on?
I posted here for traffic than weight loss so any tips, recipes etc are most gratefully received.

So 3500 calories roughly equals one pound of extra weight

Meaning you can allow yourself a Christmas treat every day up to 350 calories for 10 days

You just have to be strict on counting

That's what I used to do (before bariatric surgery and I can now eat what I like )

@SSOYS

I normally eat whatever I want on Christmas Day- the trick is not to let Christmas turn into the whole of December.

So true!

Just remember how much better you feel now with being lighter.constantly tell youself,all that sugary stuff is really awful and not worth eating.visualise your new slimmer self and feel really good about it.concentrate on happy,meaninful conversation with people on your party and put eating on the back burner in your mind.good luck.

Last year I was still trying to lose weight so only indulged on Christmas Day. This year I’m maintaining and it feels a lot harder! I’ve decided to keep the reins on right up to Christmas Day (but not go crazy) again but allow a bit more flexibility on Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve. I’m also upping my exercise anyway so hopefully that will offset things a bit.

Basically I’m going to enjoy myself but with smaller portions and some restraint!

Haha, we purchased some lovely treats, lots of chocs, gingers, marzipan, etc, not forgetting some special booze. We have no kids though and are spending this xmas just the two of us, so perhaps easier to control what come into the house..

That said i am a chocolate nibbler and would literally graze them ALL away before xmas if i didnt have a handy glass linen cabinet with a key. So i got DP to lock the fucker and hide the key, or i would have to re-purchase the chocolate collection and whiskey all over again.

It is a good idea if you can vouch that the key will not be handed over to you if you stamp your feet

Other than that, there is no reason to go mad, every day, over the entire period. It is a lovely time to put feet up and self indulge, but if you are concerned about self control, i can see this would be a very difficult temptation to avoid. We tend not to perceive xmas a a time to restrict, it is emotional as well as traditional!
My advice would be to keep the indulgence to xmas day and boxing day only, then again at NY. And don't eat for the sake of it, either. I don't have to watch weight but i do get hideous IBS if i go crazy, especially with seasonal veg/sugar.

@malificent7 well done on your fabulous achievement. Remember how far you have come and how hard it was to shift half a stone in 6months last Christmas.

We find it's not Christmas Day that's the problem but the run up to Christmas.

Think about what your trigger foods are and decide what you really want.

Do not graze! It is very easy to pass stuff on the table and grab a handful of nuts or an extra mince pie.

Just buy 1 packet of whatever it is and that is your limit.

If it's not in the house you cant eat it!

Good luck you are not alone.

I’ve fallen pregnant after Christmas/ early January twice. I would recommend not doing that if you don’t want to cling on to that cheese board chub

You can still eat all the foods you've described in your op, op!
Just dont be a piggy and go overboard
Eat a bite. Half a size. Share a piece etc
Food is amazing but gaining all the weight you worked so hard for to lose, isnt worth it

X

Save the fun foods for when you are doing fun stuff. If its a normal Wednesday night in December then just do the same as you'd do any Wednesday night. Yes eat the nice food, drink the nice drinks, but only during the times when socialising or seeing family. So when the day is a bit different than a normal day.

when dC were little, I was too busy supervising them to stop & eat.

I think that's my short answer -- keep yourself busy with stuff to do & you won't be busy over-eating.

By not overeating. I do not understand why some people are in denial about how much they are consuming.

Be sensible. To be fair, you know if you're gonna eat 6 mince pies instead of 1 you know you're going to pile on the pounds back on. Have a little of what you fancy but just don't over do it.

And I totally feel your pain!! It's taken me a year to lose 3 stones so I've decided to stay away from all Xmas

Sorry posted too soon

I've just bought in any Xmas crap so it's not in the house to graze on and currently have a shitty cold so I'm not going out. Sounds a bit miserable but I'm relieved if I'm honest means I can't undo all my hard work

I've just NOT bought....

Jeez, I'll learn to type one day!!

I'm planning to have treats but not graze. So I might have a mince pie for breakfast and a slightly smaller lunch so I can finish it off with some cake etc but I am going to try not to snack and just mindlessly eat stuff just because we are stuck indoors surrounded by food

Its really easy to say but just allow yourself enough to let your body feel satisfied. Definitely do not deny yourself, but earlier in the day grab some fruit or water when you feel like eg a mince pie (I know it's not ideal eating rubbish later but I find the earlier you start the more you eat)

@HarlanPepper

On Christmas Day and Boxing Day I enjoy all manner of festive snackery, double helpings of dessert, cheese course etc, but otherwise I just eat normally. It's not like the clock strikes midnight on 30th November and you have to start mainlining mince pies.

Pretty much this but I do Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then it's just normal food until New year's Eve (which is mostly about leftover cheese and Pringles so not too bad ). I try not to get the Christmas junk food in the house too early because I would probably be tempted to eat it. Also it's like with anything Christmassy really, if you do it too early you'll be bored of it by Christmas, so I wait. I have, however, already munched my way through almost a whole tub of Heroes but that started weeks ago so I've been moderating quite nicely. Haha.

I've lost 35kg this year so also not wanting to undo the hard work.

I go to the gym 4 days a week and I've just increased the distance I normally do on the treadmill 3 days a week. I'm letting myself indulge and not feel guilty, if I put on a few pounds it's not the end of the world as I'd rather enjoy Christmas time.

But I am limiting myself to Xmas Eve to Boxing Day for chocolates, cheese etc.

I’m “lucky” in that I don’t really like Christmas foods and treats. And we never buy treat/snack food (don’t need it), and don’t change that at Christmas time.

The thing about it is that while it’s quite moreish, a lot of the commercial stuff (shop-bought mince pies, chocolates, etc), is not actually that nice. I find if I reflect on the taste or texture of the food, it’s not as satisfying and tasty as it seems. I think we get tricked by the sugar and fat or whatever. Once you realise that, it’s easy to refuse it.

Just eat normally. Cannot understand over indulging in food.

@opinionminion

Just eat normally. Cannot understand over indulging in food.

Wow 🤔

@Notwithittoday

I find stopping at 6 pm helps somewhat

I don’t start till 4pm!

@SSOYS

I normally eat whatever I want on Christmas Day- the trick is not to let Christmas turn into the whole of December.

This, so I have been “on plan” all the way through December and will until 22nd. I will have lots of walks to try to help counter any weight gain. I’m sure I will put on weight over christmas but I am hoping to do damage limitation ! Then straight back on it 2nd January. So it’s just under two weeks. I like the sound of 16:8 tho!

@SSOYS

I normally eat whatever I want on Christmas Day- the trick is not to let Christmas turn into the whole of December.

And don't let the excess you bought in a panic drift into January/early February.

I tend to eat what I like but not in a gluttony way, I much prefer cheese to chocolate/sweet stuff so I will have cheese or a dessert. If I have chocolate it will be one or two rather than the whole tub. My major downfall is crisps and nuts so I only buy a small amount and when its gone, no more.

I also continue with my runs and weights, and even manage to rope the family in for some great walks rather than sit down and watch tv.

Mentally I am much happier to eat the more calorific food if I have had some exercise.