Share your plans for surviving the holidays.

Good morning Delaware. Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you all enjoyed the day and did not overeat.

I have a question for you all; what was your strategy for your Thanksgiving dinner?

Thanksgiving was my first holiday since getting banded in June and I cooked. There were only 5 of us here with one being my 6 year old grandson. So tell me, why did I buy a 21.50 pound turkey? Why did I buy a 5 pound bag of potatoes? Why did I buy 3 packs of brown and serve rolls? Why did I make 2 pounds of cole slaw? And why in the world did my daughter bring 2 desserts? (OK, one was a low calorie pumpkin pie.)
I guess some old traditions are hard to break.

My strategy was going to be just simply don't overeat! Did I succeed? Maybe. I like to think I didn't overeat but my silly scale is telling me something different. I am having such a hard time breaking that 25 pound mark! But I had to smile to myself on Thanksgiving night because I realized that my 21.5 pound turkey plus about 2 pounds of stuffing is what I have lost so far. And that bird was heavy getting it in and out of the oven! So that made me feel really good about my weight loss so far.

Since the average person will gain around 10 pounds during the holiday season let's exchange ideas, strategies and/or stories about how we have survived or are going to survive the season.

Oh BTW, on my large Thanksgiving meal? My daughter took most of the leftovers home with her and that was part of my plan. I have one more turkey dinner planned for tonight and later this weekend I'll make my famous turkey barley soup and that will be the end of the leftovers. YAY

So come, share.

Marie

Hi Marie, my main strategy is an extremely small taste of everything I want except the deserts.  I try to stay away from them.  Just keep reminding yourself about how much that turkey and stuffing weighed and how that use to be on your body and how you felt carrying around all that extra weight, then think about your goal.  Your goal will out weigh the turkey and stuffing.  Old habits are hard to break, but now you have your first holiday under your belt and you know what you did wrong and what you did right.  Try to do the right things for the next holiday and keep the bad things away.  It isn't easy, but with strong will power you will be a success. Keep up the good job and Happy Holidays.

I really don't have a set strategy because my tummy still works...it tells me what to do.  I put a tiny amount of everything on my plate and ended up leaving most of it behind.  That's just the way it works out for me.  I did all of the cooking and baking so I know exactly what I could and couldn't have.  My pumpkin pie was made with Splenda and I bought myself and my step-son a tub of sugar free Cool-Whip.  I make a really yummy sweet potato hash that has brown sugar..I used Splenda blend so that was safe.  I ate the turkey first to make sure I got the protein in first, took two bites of stuffing, potatoes and gravy, then had maybe one spoonful of green bean casserole.  One deviled egg.  That was it.  Took me about 45 minutes until I couldn't eat any more.  Later on, I had my pie and cool whip.  It took me 2 "shifts" to finish the pie, and it was really good.  I used my good dishes and put my food on the salad plate.  It was still pretty loaded when I stopped eating.  I love it.  I had a taste of almost everything and was satisfied. For Christmas, I will do the same thing.  I plan to make some varieties of Splenda cookies.  I bought some homemade fudge, which is so damn close to what my Gramma used to make that I will NOT deprive myself of that memory.  I WILL have a small piece.  I love chocolate and struggle at the checkout to NOT get a Hershey's.  If I do, I only eat one tiny square, and that satisfies me.   This is my 2nd Holiday Season post RNY and feel very mu*****ontrol.  My tummy is taking good care of me.  Simply put, I hate to puke and I hate nausea so much that I just don't set myself up to feel that way.  If I am chewing and feel too full, SPIT IT OUT.  Thank you, God for giving me this gift of self-control. KathyG

Marie,

Next year will be eaiser for you during the holidays.  It took me a good year to get sufficient "restriction" .  I still put food on my plate but was only able to eat a fraction of it. 

I have to ask, would you share your famous turkey barley soup recipe with me?  I just love any kind of soup.

Have a Merry Christmas

Dee