^^^I do this. I try to pick a few healthy items and eat them first then continue on to the cookies.
Exactly! Portion control is key.
And if you decide to work out to lose weight, then you need to be careful not to eat more after a workout.
Abstainer here as well. You don’t get to be 50 lbs too heavy by mastering the whole moderation thing. The answer is no…really freeing to not have to wrestle with decisions.
I decided on bringing a salad to my potluck tomorrow. I’ve made a apple cider vinegar/olive oil dressing with a dash of maple syrup. I will top baby spinach with roasted butternut squash and red onion, goat cheese and dried cranberries. I roasted the vegetables and made the dressing so should be an easy pull it all together in the morning.
Abasket- I needed the reminder to drink more water. The last several days I’ve filled my Hydro Flask water bottle several times a day. I haven’t been getting enough fluids and I’ve felt it in my joints. Plus water is good for my kidneys.
Tonight we are going out to dinner with my S and his fiancé to celebrate a birthday. They picked a place we haven’t been but the menu looks to be high calorie. It is known for its cocktails and hipster comfort food. I think I’ll suggest I split with my H one comfort food entree and a salad. I think this is a place where H and I will be the oldest diners in the place. It will be fun to try somewhere new.
I am a very bad “sampler”. Its all or nothing for me, so I can’t let myself start. One of the offices next to mine has a lot of holiday treats. When I go in there, I purposely clasp my hands behind my back. Otherwise my hands have been known to somehow grab a doughnut, candy cane or chocolate ball.
An organization I’m involved in had their holiday potluck dinner tonight. Its usually a very fun affair with all sorts of great dishes and desserts. There might be a salad or two, but most of the food is pretty unhealthy. I knew I didn’t have the willpower to just eat the salads, so I decided not to go. I’ll catch up with my friends later in a non-food environment.
Wow, kudos to the last few posters! Recognizing your strengths AND faults is half the battle!
Ha Ha am laughing as the fact is I am overweight by 15 lbs and am trying hard to get on top of things.
But! I simply have always hated buffets. I hate that the food may or may have not been kept at the right temperature.
I hate that so many people have touched the utensils.
I hate! potlucks as who knows what kitchen it all came from–were there cats walking on the counters?
That said! I love my own cooking (bragging, I know). I love to make new and interesting dishes.
I love to cook for others.
As I said, I am here for my own weight need to lose issues. And am doing well just for the last 5 days --this is actually not a bad time for me to embark on a calorie counting escapade.
My saving grace is that I truly do not like sweets. At all. I like one single bite of H’s.
I hate cookies and cakes.
We all have our foods that tempt us and carry us over our calorie count.
I think my craziness about the cleanliness of other’s preparations could be useful when you
are tempted 
:))
^^Don’t like sweets?! You are being banned from this thread !!! 
Just kidding of course.
Good job on the last 5 days @oregon101
Ok I just looked at my calendar for the next two weeks, and my heart sank. No less than three food centric events, plus a family gathering to bake cookies. In years past I’d be looking forward to these events. So, I’ve decided that while I do want to enjoy and partake, I am going to need to really pre plan my approach in order to not negate all my progress to date (20 lbs :-).) I do that anyway for a meal out, but this is a lot to deal with in a short time frame. I’ve committed to this: the day prior to an event I will do a very light day (a 2 day in the 5-2). And the day following as well. That way I hope to avoid the old “what the heck, I’ve blown it so I may as well ride that snack train a little farther” mentality which has plagued me over the years. Planning is my new mission!
Would the lighter day before the event make you hungrier and more tempted to eat more?
@Pterosaur Maybe. The funny thing is, over the weekend I had an unintended light day, and the next day I found it hard to eat as much as I normally do. Now, the third day I was pretty hungry. So, I guess we shall see!
I think one of my biggest takeaways from getting healthy and losing weight myself is just how individual that journey is, and how you have to work with yourself - so, if you found a strategy that works for you, that’s fantastic!
What has worked for me is to limit my added sugar, and it’s a set amount, regardless of food events. That limits junk food too, because it’s loaded with it.
So have any of you encountered a Halo Top ice cream? 60-70 calories per half cup depending on flavor. Real food based ingredients, no chemicals or artificial anything, but low sugar and 6 gms of dairy based protein per serving. Does it taste like Hagan Diaz, of course not. But it tastes like real ice cream, cause it is, tastes good and your eyes will fall out of your head when you see the size of the serving you can get away with without blowing up out of control with your holiday desert eating. Sometimes the name of the game is smart choices, not abstention and denial, not eating at starvation levels in preparation for binging. Just saying, there are options.
I think it depends. I don’t cut calories or starve, but health is the name of the game for me - whole, real foods. So, I have very strict limits on processed and added-sugar foods, regardless of calories. And healthier junk is still junk to me - not a fan of eating plans where you eat healthier versions of unhealthy food.
@shellz , if you can get past all those events pretty successfully food wise, you’ll be mentally on cloud nine!
MK, did you find Halo in your regular grocery store - or a specialty store??
A lot of my running friends swear by Halo Top. I think it is in regular stores.
@abasket That’s the plan…I am not going to let my progress be hampered by giving in to my old ways. Thx for the encouragement. @Pterosaur I have also cut out most “white” foods–basically sugar, potatoes (which makes me sad), bread except for whole wheat or rye on a very limited basis, and anything processed (no more chips, cookies or crackers). It’s been rough, but I’m over the hump so I am bound and determined to make it through the holidays by really paying attention to what I am eating. I absolutely will have some Sees Candy and prime rib with all the trimmings. Mimosas on Christmas morning are happening as well. That said, we are limiting the indulging days to just Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Ditto for New Years Eve. I’m looking forward to those days with a plan that works for me!
@MichaelNKat I’m not sure if you were referring to my post about eating light the days before/after a food event, when you mentioned the idea of doing so to binge the next day. To be clear, that’s not my plan. The day of the events will still be carefully accounted for…just with a little added calorie bonus. The idea being to balance out the calorie budget over a few days. Just wanted to clarify…binging is fortunately not a habit of mine. I’ve got plenty of bad habits with eating, but not that one.
Got the Halo Top at Whole Foods but it’s at other markets too.
Shelz, I think that “I’ve blown it so I will ride the snack train” mentality is the root of the problem. A few days of eating too much during the holidays isn’t a big deal, but if that continues the whole month of December and then goes into January and February, yeah, it will be a problem. I know the attitude. It is easy for me to just write off the whole period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. If I would just enjoy myself without guilt the five or six days when I have special events, I would be fine, no weight gain. It is those in between days that get me in trouble.