Thanks for starting this mitchdesj. I kept thinking about it at inconvenient times and forgetting when I was near the computer. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, just as a waist is a terrible thing to mind.

My sister and her family stay with us for 3-4 weeks over the holidays. I rarely go to the gym then because I don't want to miss any time with my niece & nephew. Even though I'm not working out, and I feel like I'm eating & drinking more than usual, I don't gain any weight. It's an Xmas miracle! Actually, I think it's because I'm so active playing with them. One year I was even 3 pounds lighter in January, which I credit to all our many spontaneous dance parties (one sister had a great, danceable cell phone ring. We would call her just to set it off and then break into dance.).

I do indulge in certain cookies but I try to stay mindful of quantity. I only make them when we have visitors so that I don't eat 99% of them myself. My MIL makes impressively thin cut-out cookies but I don't like them thin so I can admire them without being tempted to eat them.

I don't have any specific tips for staying on track. I look forward to seeing what the rest of you can offer.

It's hard for me at any time to stay on track, but it gets even harder this time of year. For some reason, this year, I have not been bombarded with as many "treats". Our parties really don't start until this weekend, which is late for us. I do have a luncheon later this week - but at a restaurant where I can make a healthy choice. I love sweets, so at this time of year, I have to be VERY CAREFUL and control myself. Actually, I had sinus surgery 11/1, and after weeks of meds, for some reason, my appetite just has not come back full force, nor have my cravings!! Which is a good thing. And that was even after weeks on steriods! Maybe the antibiotics counteracted the steriods LOL. I will pretty much eat what I want for Christmas dinner and pick and choose wisely for other gatherings. One thing I have to be careful about is I love lattes, hot chocolates, etc. once it gets cold, so I am going to have to really watch that. I need to find me some low cal/low sugar/low fat choices.

We've been so warm here until this week. This is really our first cold blast and it should warm up somewhat by end of the week. Because of that, we've still been able to spend a good bit of time outdoors, so walking, working in the yard, etc. (EXERCISE) has been easier. I'm much better about getting out and exercising than doing something indoors. My goal this winter is to really get dedicated to using my eliptical - consistently!!

tina

The last few years, I've actually lost weight over the holidays, I think because I'm so busy that I don't eat as much. However, I always gain the few pounds I lose back. I was horrified when I got on the scale this morning though and noticed I've gained a few pounds since I last weighed myself (I only weigh about once a month). I've been running regularly, but not my usual distances but also have not been eating well (not junk necessarily, but larger portions). I also haven't been doing any weight training. I knew I need to stop slacking but that weight on the scale was enough to freak me out. I usually hover around the same weight, give or take 2 lbs in either direction, but now I'm up about 4.5 lbs. I really don't have much weight to lose (10 lbs would be ideal, but even 8 would be great!), but I've just gotten really flabby and notice "spread" and extra flab.

After getting off the scale, I wanted to go put on my gym clothes, but unfortunately, I have a ton of errands to run. I'm going to NYC with my daughter's 8th grade class on Thurs/Fri on an overnight field trip so tomorrow I'll have to do an extra long run. I was going to do a weight training class today at the gym but knew I'd end up with muscles so sore that I'd be hurting for the field trip! So, watching my diet this week, then back to the gym Monday and a change up to my running schedule are in order!

My tip (for myself LOL) is to make sure and eat breakfast every day . I often skip breakfast then find myself grabbing a snack late morning that isn't as nutritious as a good breakfast would be. And keep hydrated! And watch my sugar intake - save the unnecessary sugar (like in my tea every day) for an occasional holiday treat instead.

I have had a rocky year weight wise and decided in August to have a lap sleeve done. Supposedly simple procedure with little to no risks for me because in the gastric surgery world i was a skinny girl lol

So the surgery was the end of August. It nearly killed me between the internal bleeding, leaking stomach sutures and collapsed lung I was bed ridden for almost 60 days a third of that in hospital, with the threat of losing my stomach all together. Talk about knocking some sense into yourself!

I highly regret having this done as it was such a horrible experience, but in the aftermath I have learned some important weight loss and health tips that are not only valuable for me but also for anyone even trying to maintain their weight during a challenging time.

I eat five small meals a day or four and a protein shake. Not the high sugar or high fat ones either (Costco has a great one that is ready made).

I eat protein first. Protein sits down into your stomach and sort of becomes a short term plug while it's being broken down. This, more than anything, will give you a feeling of fullness so you don't feel you want to over eat. If you are going to eat other things, fine, but eat a couple ounces of protein first, then the rest will pile on top and you'll stop earlier. Eat the potatoes first and they'll slide right on through your stomach leaving lots of room for more.

Don't drink a lot with your meal. This also pushes the food through your stomach. I sip on wine, but don't drink more than maybe half a glass during a meal.

Try not to eat more than a cup of food at a time. That is enough to fill the average human stomach and provide proper nutrition. We tend to eat far more than we need to. In the weight lose phase of my program I eat half a cup at each meal. I will go to a cup for maintenance.

And of course, drink water or clear liquids. I shoot for 48 oz a day in clear fluids, more is a bonus but I'm bad at it. I'd be better if wine counted :p

I've lost 45lbs so far, but I wouldn't recommend the surgery unless you had life threatening issues due to your weight. Had they done just one of the horrible things that had to be done to keep me here I'd have joined a gym in a New York second! I have a dear friend who is mimicking my program (as written above) and she's losing weight during the season :)

I do have the occasional treat...I actually eat anything I want, but I'm finding my new self does not like the feeling of being swollen up with things like pasta and bread (the white kinds....whole grain or wheat is ok). Since I had a serious carb addiction, this is a huge change for me, and probably why I've lost so much weight as they slide right through your stomach and provide very little nutrition value.

So those are my hints :) Tonight I'm taking DH to a wine dinner in Seattle so I'll break all of those rules aside from eating tiny amounts. Tis the season after all LOL

igloochic, I had no idea you were going through all that. I'm so sorry you've had such a rough go of it. My best healing thoughts to all you suffering with sinus issues too.

I usually make 3 kinds of delicious frosted cookies that are worth waiting all year for, and a pumpkin pie, and we get chocolates too. But DH & I have wedding clothes we need to look good in, so no goodies around the house right now & lots of salad for dinner. DS#1 is coming home soon; he has requested No Christmas Cookies so he won't gain weight while home. DS#3 will have to go along with the program when he comes home, I guess! I'm so excited about DS#2's wedding in two weeks that I'm not in the mood for Christmas treats, fortunately.

I'm taking kettle bells 2 & 3 times a week now, as of a couple of weeks ago, a big improvement in my fitness already -- stronger, more stable, better toned. Still spinning 3 times a week, & getting in an occasional bike ride, weather permitting.

Wow, igloo, I'm sorry about your experience! Glad you're okay now.

I always gain a few lbs over the holidays. I have no willpower when it comes to those tasty treats that make their way into my house. One strategy I'm using this year is to do less baking myself. Usually I make at least a few types of cookies, give some to neighbors and friends, and then the rest are here for all of us to eat. Meanwhile, neighbors and friends are also delivering treats to us, so we end up with SO many baked goods and of course I have to sample them all. So I figure if I make only enough treats to give away, and save none for us, then we will only have whatever treats are brought to us. The only house guests I will have for Christmas are my dad, who doesn't really eat sweets, and my SIL and her DH, who aren't looking to binge on cookies when they're here. So, that is one small step.

The other is to keep exercising. This morning I was feeling sort of icky and it was unseasonably warm but drizzling, but I forced myself to go on a 45-minute brisk walk anyway. Tomorrow I'll go to the gym. I have a great workout buddy, which makes all the difference for me in terms of being motivated to get up and go.

The only other thing I'm trying to do is simply be more mindful of what I'm eating on the non-party days!

igloo - sorry to hear about your troubles. Great lesson though for people about the risks of surgery. I'm amazed at the number of people I know who have some kind of gastric weight loss procedure. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. I think too many people consider it to be an "easier" way to lose weight than disciplined diet and exercise and that doesn't always turn out to be the case. A guy I work with had this done and he appears to be "growing" back to his original size.

I just got back from China where I ate a lot of great food, didn't get all that much exercise though I did a bit of walking (including a climb on the Great Wall) and some yoga in my hotel room. I completely had to give up on tracking what I was eating in my iPhone app - in part because I didn't know what I was eating. Oddly enough every hotel room I was in had a nice digital scale so I could see how much I was going out of control.

I got back on Sunday and getting back into a more regular eating mode now but not much exercise as I am just too tired after work - recovering from jet lag I guess. I have to say I'm not looking forward to all the holiday treats as I have very little self control when the food is right in front of me. So we'll see how it all goes. I did have a seasonal mint hershey kisses and mint M&M binge right before I left for China - very disgusting but I thoroughly enjoyed. I am clearly a cheap chocolate addict.

Igloo, sorry for your troubles. It sounds like you had a really rough go of it, glad you are OK now.

I'm still plugging away. I missed almost two weeks of Crossfit around Thanksgiving, which really hurt. Although I haven't really lost weight, I'm definitely losing inches and I do feel better. Today I am very sore from Monday's and today's workouts. It is fun, even if I am the weakest link. Everyone is kind and supportive.

Eating is a bit of a struggle still. Someday I will analyze all of the self sabotage that goes on, but for now I just do the best I can. My biggest goal is to get stronger.

DH and I just bought a waffle business in NH (we live in MA), so we will both be working here and in two different ski resorts in NH on weekends and holidays. We spend the weekends and holidays with my sister, BIL and niece. Sister and BIL are on lowcarb diets, so it should be an interesting winter of meat and veggies. In the past when we've been feeding a crowd up there we gravitate toward pasta. I think this winter will be much simpler, which is good.

Beth P.

Luckily I'm one who has never cared for sweets. Don't like cake, pies, cookies etc. They all taste too sweet to me. My idea of a treat is a piece of toasted raisin bread so I don't usually gain weight from those but I do love meat of any kind and I have to watch my portion. I always start the day with half a chicken sandwich or just the chicken alone. That's my breakfast with decaf coffee. Then at noon some kind of a light fare and a decent dinner. I try to never eat after six, I drink more water instead. I feel lucky that I'm not tempted.

I just ate two chocolate covered pretzels that were part of a a Tower of Treats sent to me. I gave most of it away but could not resist the pretzels.

I don't do any Christmas baking so I don't have that stuff to tempt me. Everything Yaya just listed as stuff she does not like is what I adore! I have asked to have my ashes scattered in a bakery when I die.

Igloochic, you are not the first person I have heard of having a bad result from gastric bypass. I would never consider doing that unless it was my only choice to save me from dying. Fortunately, I am not that heavy (yet).

If I owned a waffle business, I would eat nothing but waffles. I love them.

Good luck to all

ded, I just laughed out loud over your ashes/bakery comment.

I've been trying to avoid the scale because too much awareness of the numbers, I've realized, can work against me. But today I hopped on and was satisfied to see that I haven't gained any weight since October. (I had lost about 3-4 lbs. between Sept and Oct.) I kinda feel like that's all I can hope for right now because other than exercising, I'm not putting a lot of effort into losing. After Christmas, though, I need to establish some new habits and (here's the key!) STICK. WITH. THEM.

We have a tropical vacation coming up in two months. Need I say more?

Ded, too funny-ashes/bakery! Also, my son came to pick up his dog (I pick him up on Thursdays, so he can run in our yard with our maniacs) and he brought me a baggie with chocolate covered pretzels-yum, but so much for no snacking!

I haven't checked in much. Lost weight over the summer when I was in France. Lots of walking there and I ate whatever I wanted. We did have our big meal around noon or so, though. I have now gained a few pounds back, but I am trying to cut down on snacks and DH actually quit buying chips, etc. when I mentioned that we were eating too much junk.

I think I just need to force myself to exercise more. Walking would be great, but I leave for school at 7:15 and rarely get home before 5:00-ugh. Don't want to walk in the dark (yes, that is an excuse-I am just so lazy these days...tired, too. *sigh*

Igloo, I am so sorry you have had such a struggle. I hope I am right when I think from what you say that you are on the way back to feeling better! It sounds as though the worst is past. Still, you never should have had to go through it in the first place.

I wish I lived in the same neighborhood as some of you (still working on it, ded-the Rose Glen house with the finished barn is one of those little ones right on the road that, as you so accurately observed, no one wanted years ago). I need someone to force me into walking!

Cheers all.

I'm very proud that I've kept going to Pilates even though the first 6-week session nearly did me in. I felt SOOOO out of shape and weak! I am blessed with a slim frame and light appetite, so weight hasn't ever been a problem for me. However that is a decidedly mixed blessing; I am thin but not fit and it has been all too easy for me to avoid exercise because I don't 'need' it for weight control.

However it is a great feeling to be able to do things with my body that were literally impossible, or extremely difficult, when I first started Pilates. I'll be out of sessions for a holiday break (in the class schedule) lasting about a month. I want to start lifting light weights to work on upper body strength during that interstice, and start running again a little bit.

But my confidence has been quite boosted by doing these regular sessions. Wish I'd started sooner!

Ann

Thanks for the kind thoughts all. Though I still have a couple of issues (have to watch out for lung illnesses for a few years etc) I've been really lucky. I know of others who have spent months in nursing homes because they couldn't fix their leaks. Scary stuff...I thought that stuff only happened to the '"really fat" people (eyes rolling). I learned some great life lessons about not being invincible :)

FYI I did not have a bypass. Those require that you take vitamins for the rest of your life as you can not get enough healthy food in. THey have major malabsorption issues to deal with, etc. They are typically recommended for grossly obese people. The procedure I had is a new procedure that is pretty much replacing the lap band, which has turned out to be a bit of a failure long term as it requires too much maintenance and causes significant scaring long term which damages the stomach permanently. My procedure removes the stretchy part of your stomach, leaving a banana shaped muscle which functions as it always has, only can not stretch much. Lifelong you have no significant changes in how your body functions so it's healthier, safer, etc...unless you have all of the complications I had...then it's not so much :(

I would recommend the procedure to anyone who had comorbidities to deal with. High BP, sleep apnea, etc, which can be life threatening, not to mention diabetes. The rates people go off of medication with this surgery is amazing. I however had it more for cosmetic reasons...that I don't recommend...the risks and rewards don't pan out.

....and yes it's now seen as the easy way out. It's not actually easy, even for those who don't have complications. You still have to have self control, watch your diet, obey the rules, etc., but you really can't "cheat" until quite far out. 80% of people are successful long term...but some do gain back some of their weight. Very few ever gain it all back because you really have to work to make that happen. Success rates with dieting alone are rather abysmal...don't get me wrong, I wish I'd not have done this, but those are the facts, so it's just fair to share them.