<p>Our wellness center at work has this challenge right now - encouraging staff to “maintain” weight over the holidays, “don’t gain” weight! </p>
<p>While I enjoy holiday treats I’ve done a pretty good job of managing to maintain or very little gain over the holidays for the last few years. I DO eat Christmas cookies. I DO enjoy holiday appetizer spreads. I DO enjoy family get-togethers! But I understand that I have to do other things - exercise more, walk more, eat better at all three meals on non-treat/special occasion days, etc. Planning now gets you one step ahead when others around you are complaining, going on liquid diets, joining the gym, etc. on January 5!!!</p>
<p>Anyone interested in a thread that allows you to enjoy SOME holiday treats but motivates to “maintain, don’t gain”!?</p>
<p>Post your tips. Share recipes. Tell of a party you succeeded at with eating. And share a time you failed. Post your weight status if you care to. Say if you maintain, lose or gain. Whatever floats your boat!</p>
<p>Parties have already started - can you “maintain, not gain”??? </p>
<p>I’ve lost 28 pounds over the last 4 months, something I haven’t been able to do in the past. This puts me about 6-8 pounds away from my ideal weight. Here’s what’s working for me. I’ve cut out desserts, junk food and diet soda. Otherwise I exercise moderately and I eat when I’m hungry. When I’m not particularly hungry I eat more sparingly and I try to make my snacks healthy. After struggling somewhat with weight for most of my adult life, but maintaining a basically healthy weight I gained about 20 pounds over the last 2-3 years. Now I’m surprised at how easy it has been for me to lose.</p>
<p>Why I think it’s working:
I think for me jettisoning the diet soda is key. Not only has there been recent research indicating that diet soda tricks your body into thinking it’s about to get calories, which turns on your hunger when those soda calories don’t arrive, but I realized that in my mind soda is paired with sugar and/or junk food. Drinking a soda of any type kicked in a desire for junk. Staying away from it has made it much easier to avoid junk food and I’m finding that although I used to have a major sugar addiction I haven’t been bothered by cravings at all. Strangely enough my brain seems to have reset and I’m waking up jonesing for a bowl of plain oatmeal and a glass of milk. Lest you think I’m some kind of diet saint you should know I used to be able to polish off a box of Milanos by 10 AM.</p>
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<li>I’m trying not to go to extremes. I eat a reasonable breakfast every morning, and as I’ve said, if I’m hungry I eat something. A yoghurt, a piece of cheese, some crackers, fruit, nuts. If I don’t let myself get too hungry there’s no need to binge like I did in the past when I went on a real diet. A couple of times when I was at a special event where a dessert was part of the celebration I’ve eaten it, and because I’m not on a diet that’s okay. I don’t have to feel guilty because I haven’t broken my diet. At parties I eat, just a little of most things. I gained a pound or so around Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving plus a leftovers party) but it came off in a couple of days and a week later I was lighter than before the holiday.</li>
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<p>Good luck to all of those hoping to maintain a healthy weight over the holidays!</p>
<p>Ooh, love this idea for a thread! I have been very successful with weight loss this year and I’m terrified of gaining it back. Holidays can be my downfall as I love to bake.</p>
<p>I agree that the key to being successful is to plan on increasing exercise to compensate and eating right at all the non-special meals. </p>
<p>So far I have maintained since Thanksgiving but I haven’t gotten to the hard part yet - most of our festive occasions don’t start until next week.</p>
<p>Yes, this is a great thread! I also lost some weight this past year (about 30 pounds) and I’m terrified of gaining some of it back over the holidays and the winter, in general. Interesting about the diet soda. I really want to give that up. You’re inspiring me!</p>
<p>Wonderful start! I’ll check back in a bit to read your stories - let’s keep it holiday focussed in some way (as you have above) - not just a weight loss or exercise thread (which I do participate in and love) but tied to the next month or so and all the calories often put before us - and the temptation to be “too busy” to exercise. :)</p>
<p>I’m just sliding into some bad habits. I don’t know whether I’m anticipating some holiday challenges and I’m starting early or I’m just a bit bored. Either way, I need some motivation. Maybe I’ll find it on this thread. </p>
<p>Since I had to unbutton my pants this afternoon to sit comfortably at my desk, I think I better sign up for this. I don’t know what the heck is happening. I don’t think I’ve indulged that much, and I’ve kept up with my usual exercise, but I’m gaining. Water weight, right??</p>
<p>I exercise pretty consistently. Every other day I get a good sweaty workout in pretty much without fail. Today was a sweaty “off” day - but it wasn’t too bad outside when I got home from work so I went out and walked a quick 2 miles. Wasn’t in the plans, but the plans allowed for an extra exercise boost. My 2 miles might be your 10 min walk or 4 mile walk - do EXTRA what you can. It’s like putting money in the bank. </p>
<p>“Maintain” might mean weighing yourself and maintaining or it might be “maintaining” the ability to get the pant button buttoned. Your plan, YOUR CHOICE! I am not one to weigh myself much - I don’t want to be a slave to a number. BUT I have a keen sense to how my clothes fit, how I look in the mirror, how flat or not flat my belly might be. (increase in carbs = increased belly EVERY. TIME.!) </p>
<p>But if the scale is what works for you, weigh yourself NOW so you know what you are trying to maintain. Whatever time of day you weigh yourself - you choose - that’s the time you should weigh yourself through the holidays. Check in with your scale every few days - I personally don’t believe in a daily weigh in - you’ll gain/lose the same two pounds over and over - and over! </p>
<p>I’m right there with you. I am pretty sure I’m not doing anything different, and I had maintained about the same weight for more than 15 years, but this past year i have put on about 20 pounds. It just seems to show up every once in a while in 5 pound increments. My H and I decided to do a low carb diet since TG–he’d always scoffed at it, but his own recent mid-life gain has made him decide to try. Basically we are shoehorning in a South Beach phase One that started a week after TG, and will end a week before Christmas. So this “maintaining” will hopefully beat back the TG bump, and train us to eat mindfully in late Dec–early Jan.</p>
<p>I weigh every day. It’s so easy for me to gain, so hard to lose, that I need to see every increment. If I feel clothes getting tighter, I’ve already lost a battle.</p>
<p>I live in New England, so one of the challenges to regular exercise at this time of the year is the weather. Today it was in the 30’s and pouring. I get out to walk my dog every day but there ain’t no way I was going to go out in that weather! Just scurrying from my house to the car and my car to the store was challenging enough. I’m trying to build up some stamina so on the few days when I can’t get out for at least half an hour’s walk I’ve been doing stairs. Run up and down the staircase a half dozen times and your heart will be pumping for the next 15 minutes.</p>
<p>I’ve always been able to tell whether I’ve gained, lost or maintained weight by how certain pairs of pants fit. I’m also not a big fan of daily weigh-ins. I’ve found they tend to make me obsess over my weight which, in my case at least, hasn’t been good.</p>
<p>I have been on a weight loss plan since mid October…doing ok, not great. I have lost 15 lbs and dropped a pant size ( depending on the pants, two sizes ) This month will be challenging so the title of this thread happens to be my goal ! The way I see it, I already have the head start on the usual January / resolution trend !
It isn’t sweets so much that get me, but the snacks-appetizer / holiday comfort food that will be my weak points.
I am working out almost daily and I think that will be a good thing for me to keep weight from keeping on…I have a smaller appetite , so I will just have to be really careful</p>
<p>Well we are going away for the holidays, and since food someone else cook does not have any calories, I should be just fine.
Plus I may be cross country skiing which burns a lot.</p>
<p>Please report the successes as well as the weak moments - make the goal for there to be more successes than weak moments. Be accountable to yourself first. Then here! </p>
<p>Food choices are one hurdle. Portion size is another. Remember those two things. </p>
<p>Count me in. I tried to expand my palate from the very limited foods I ate while losing weight, but there are just some things I.cannot.have. Makes me crave more. I avoid the sweets just fine (and I can avoid the latkes). It’s the pasta/grains/potatoes that nail me. </p>
<p>Gotta kick up the exercise. It has been hard the past couple of weeks as I have been making stuff for a couple of holidays craft shows. The weather has also been lousy.</p>
<p>So lousy weather is going to get in the way this time of year. Indoor exercise choices become necessary. What an indoors exercise that works for you - anybody? </p>
<p>I belong to a fitness center. That’s inside! Bad weather is not going to keep you from eating so you’ve got to find a solution!</p>
<p>Thanks for starting this thread. I just told my husband last week that I am planning to join Weight Watchers in January to help me deal with the 15 pounds that I seem to have added in the last year. I work with a trainer two hours a week and I told him a month ago that I needed to ramp up the intensity of my workouts. For the past two weeks, I have added another 30 minutes of resistance training and I am really trying to use my elliptical at least 3 days a week. I do weigh myself every day. During my cross country drive to LA in October and the week visiting my son when I couldn’t weigh myself, I gained 5 pounds. When I got my most recent blood test results, my a1c (diabetes), although comparatively low, had hit a new high. It seems like this last 10 pounds that I lose and regain repeatedly has the most effect on my health and appearance.</p>
<p>My calendar this month is crazy. This week I have book club (dessert), a neighborhood cocktail party(BYOB so I take club soda), and a church women’s association holiday party (I was assigned to bring candy). Next week I have a holiday party given by my trainer (should be healthy food) on Friday, two open house Christmas parties on Saturday, and my husband’s birthday on Sunday. Oh, and my son is coming home from LA on Sunday.</p>
<p>Extra exercise, drinking extra water ( I am using the app waterlogged to remind me), and MINDFUL eating is my plan so far. I look forward to some new ideas and encouragement from this thread.</p>
<p>I haven’t been exercising like I need to especially at this time of year. I work at home so one thing I do is if I feel like I need a break, I pick up a kettleball and do some squats or swings. If I do one set at a time I don’t get sweaty, but it seems to bump up my metabolism. </p>
<p>My party advice is to drink a glass of water or two before you go, and alternate water with the caloric beverage of your choice. I eat all the healthy food choices at a party, but if all the desserts look great I’ll take a teeny tiny taste of every single one of them.</p>
<p>Exercising is rough right now. I’m in nearing the end of my most labor-intensive semester ever. Seem like I’m working all day and all weekend. It was easy to work walking/biking in when it was warmer, but this nasty weather is really slowing me down. I have a Nordictrak that I need to dump the laundry off and start using, but it’s soooo boring, and after a long teaching/grading day, it’s hard to motivate myself. but, I will try. Soon!</p>
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