Newsgroups: alt.support.diet

Last year was my first holiday season at proper weight.  (The previous
year, I had started on the fast; an interesting tradeoff between
stress and pride [assuming I maintained the fast {which I did} and
my sanity {open to discussion :=).}  

I didn't attend much in the way of parties last year (I don't party much
to begin with), though goodies at work were always available, and there
was The Big Office Breakfast, which was semi-mandatory to attend.  (The
previous year, I worked the half-day and got my desk clean...)

Objective for the season was to stay with no gain.  The average person
gains 5-7 pounds over the holidays, but the above was reasonable *for me*.

My strategy was "fit the goodies in with the rest of the diet".  Now,
I'm at normal calories (circa 4000 a day depending on the day's activity
level), and my diet is quite low in fat, so there can be plenty of room
for goodies.  In general, I'll do a fairly elaborate confection 
for dessert, combining Simple Pleasures Ice "cream", cereal, a banana,
and the occasional partridge in a pear tree.  

I made a vow to (continue to) weigh everything, and my plan has always been
to keep calorie balance within a few tens of calories per day.  (I always
set things up so I'm even at the end of the week.  Your milage may vary,
but *I'm* trying to keep 200 pounds away..)  Any Christmas (Thanksgiving, 
Boxing Day, etc, etc) goodies got logged and charted.  If the daily subtotal
threatened to get a bit high, I'd tell myself "you're endangering your
dinner calories".  This would usually keep the wolves at bay.  [The previous
is all helped by a couple of fairly recent allergies; I discovered
that I'm "mildly" allergic to walnuts and most other nuts, quite allergic
to a few other nuts, and rather allergic to eggs - 1 egg = 1 day of misery.
This discovery helps me stay away from many goodies.  I can eat the
occasional walnut-enhanced goodie, but too many of them and I'd be
spending the next week in agony.  This strongly encourages moderation
in Christmas goodies.  Said allergy can be milked to help one to
refuse something from an over-solicitous host(ess)....]

So, between heavy-duty record keeping (one of my most valuable weight-control
tools), some behavior modification/brainwashing, and the occasional
pervarication, it worked.  BTW, for the Breakfast from Hell, I did the
following:  deficited (pre-dieted) a couple days ahead of time to give
myself 1000 spare calories, set up an activity plan for the rest of the
day, and brought my weighing and measurement tools along with.  Since
this was a buffet, I was able to avoid the worst of the nasty stuff,
especially considering that the omlettes were pretty wild (and full of
allergens...) and crazy with cheese.  I don't like red meat, so the
sausage was avoidable.  From what I recall, I had some fish, some
rolls, and a bunch of fruit.  Turns out I didn't need the spare calories,
so I put them to use later in the day...

So, for parties, I'd recommend:
0) Decide on objectives.  I planned to gain 0 weight for the holiday.  Doable
   in my case, though hardly realistic for people with less rigid eating
   habits.
1) Have a plan.  Look at a few days ahead if necessary.
2) Do a tactical plan the day of/before the party.  Get the menu if
   possible and look for alternates.
3) Prepare contingency plans ("Plan B").  I had the option of walking a
   few extra miles a day to help balance.  I also had my supplement
   available to me.  Don't recall if I used it.

Depending on your situation, you may consider it a victory to maintain
your weight, (or even to keep gain below historical levels).  Keep your
objectives reasonable so that you're not setting yourself up for
failure.  My fasting in December was wonderful, once I successfully
pulled it off.  If I hadn't, it would have been (potentially)
disasterous.

Pete Brooks