Holiday food question

[warmsummerfall]

I would like to know how everyone handles holiday eating. Do you enjoy anything you want on the holiday? Do you abstain from all foods not friendly? When I lost my weight prior I would eat on the holidays but was very healthy all the other days. But even though I lost 50 pounds I did stall. So I am living differently now. I would love everyones opinion.

[adreliluc]

Re: Holiday food question

I always stuck to my plan. Never ate off plan at all. The holidays for me became less food focused and more family/friend focused.
I would make do with what was Atkins friendly, and what wasn't I'd skip it. After a few holiday parties my family not only quit bothering me about it but also started making sure to have Atkins friendly foods.
At first it's kind of hard but soon it becomes no big deal at all.
Being thin really does taste better than all that yummy yummy holiday food.

[Suzanne_H]

Re: Holiday food question

Fortunately I don't feel deprived at all doing Atkins. I honestly don't know that I could come back from a cheat. Last time I had the attitude that it was ok to have a cheat day it didn't take long before I had more cheat days than diet days and regained all I had lost plus 20 lbs on top of it. I was miserable, depressed... why risk what I have for a cheat day? I know others have more willpower than I do, but I must be true to myself. I'm doing Atkins over the holidays and eating very, very well.

[mission to lose]

Re: Holiday food question

Atkins every day for me---No excuses---There will be some food I can eat at Christmas brought by others, and I am bringing veggies & dip, deviled eggs, cole slaw, and cheesecake...all Atkins friendly.


If I cheat on Christmas, how about Thanksgiving, Easter, 4 of July, My birthday, My husband's birthday, my two son's birthdays, my Wedding Anniversary, New Years, Valentine's Day. Also we celebrate birthdays with food for my Mom, my 2 sisters, 2 Brother in laws, 2 nieces. That's 18 occasions associated with food in our family. We like to cook and eat a lot...Who doesn't???......If I cheated each occasion, I'd NEVER lose any weight.

[warmsummerfall]

Re: Holiday food question

I never thought about it like that. Boy when you add all the days to possibly celebrate your right, thanks for that input it was eye opening.

[Kntrylady]

Re: Holiday food question

Absolutely on plan... NO CHEATS.

I have declared many times that I am a Carb addict. If I was an alcoholic who had quit, or a drug addict that had quit, or a smoker.... You get the idea. Just one day would/could spiral out of control into days, weeks, maybe months or years (2 years last time). No Cheat tastes that good.

[JulieB]

Re: Holiday food question

I'm on plan for the holidays...I do sometimes make myself legal deserts for those special occasions mentioned above. I don't often otherwise. For Christmas, I went all-out and made Linda's Orange Cream Desert. It is one of those multi-layer deals that has you making three recipes & putting it all together. I rarely bother with anything that time-consuming/complex, but what the heck...it is Christmas

[JulieB]

Re: Holiday food question

If I cheat on Christmas, how about Thanksgiving, Easter, 4 of July, My birthday, My husband's birthday, my two son's birthdays, my Wedding Anniversary, New Years, Valentine's Day. Also we celebrate birthdays with food for my Mom, my 2 sisters, 2 Brother in laws, 2 nieces. That's 18 occasions associated with food in our family. We like to cook and eat a lot...Who doesn't???......If I cheated each occasion, I'd NEVER lose any weight.

That is a VERY good way to put it!

[stephbob]

Re: Holiday food question

I stick to plan. I'm actually not tempted by anything on the holidays, anyway. I'm happy enough with my veggies and meat on Christmas day, and I've not got much of a sweet tooth anymore as it is, so I'm safe from all those delicious yet deadly cakes

[barrnone]

Re: Holiday food question

Always PLAN to stay on track! The better I am prepared, the better I am.

For christmas day dinner, the plan is lasagna. I told my family that I would bring a low carb version. I found a recipe on Lindas site for Lasagna Stuffed Peppers; they look fabulous and I'm very excited to take them. I bought red/yellow/green and orange peppers...I'll be curious to see if I have any leftovers.

For christmas eve, I'm taking a relish tray [olives, pickles, herring] and a veggie tray.

No worries!

[liv]

Re: Holiday food question

I stick to the plan too. I do not find it that hard with turkey dinners. But there are a lot of extra parties around this holiday when I sometimes have to just abstain. Like the eggnog and cookie get together the other day. But I find people don't really care or are very understanding if I just have coffee or water. It is a about the warm feeling from the hearts.

[Suzanne_H]

Re: Holiday food question

I would like to know how everyone handles holiday eating. Do you enjoy anything you want on the holiday? Do you abstain from all foods not friendly? When I lost my weight prior I would eat on the holidays but was very healthy all the other days. But even though I lost 50 pounds I did stall. So I am living differently now. I would love everyones opinion.

Since my long-range plan is to form permanent lifestyle changes, I won't partake of typical "holiday" fare that doesn't support my goals. Thing is, since I have so many choices on this WOE, I honestly don't feel deprived and have no cravings.

[d33na]

Re: Holiday food question

Its not that hard....its very hot here so its cold chicken and legal ham and salads anyway....and legal cheesecake...not a biggie....its what we've always done

[Elizellen]

Re: Holiday food question

I shall stick to my usual food choices - easy today as we are at home but a bit more challenging tomorrow as we are invited to a buffet lunch and tea at relatives' houses. However my niece-in-law knows what I eat and has promised lots of Atkins choices, and I intend to take some of my parmesan/pork rind/flax crackers plus some unroasted almonds with me for emergency snacks.

[Suzanne_H]

Re: Holiday food question

This morning folks wanted my sausage gravy and biscuits. It's Christmas... I made what they wanted.

However, I used canned biscuits and a gravy mix so I wouldn't have to taste anything. Before pouring the gravy mix into the cooked sausage, I pulled out a serving of sausage and put it in a bowl. While the family dipped up the gravy over their biscuits, I took my bowl of sausage and added a quarter cup of flax meal, half a teaspoon of baking powder, an egg... stirred it up and nuked it for a minute. Basically made my muffin in a minute with sausage mixed in. Snarfed it down and oh it was GOOD.

The longer I go on this WOE the easier it is to make good choices and not feel deprived. I know I won't miss the acid reflux I'd have been suffering from had I eaten the biscuits and gravy!