I'm following these tips to make it through the holidays.

1 Don't stress.
2. Create a calorie buffer.
3. Prioritize protein
4. Limit choices, not amounts.

from http://www.leangains.com/2010/11/cheat-day-strategies-for-hedonist.html

Yeah, bring on the homemade eggnog~you can kinda make that paleo if you try.

But I wont be eating gluten just cause its a holiday. GLUTEN IS EVIL!

im doing ok- we had a couple of family xmas parties; at the first (my-inlaws) most of the food was totally inedible anyway due to them being the worst cooks on earth. i stuck to some turkey and salad. i did have some gravy on my turkey though since it had been in the oven about two hours too long, and i know there was sugar in the home made dressing on the salad. dessert killed me though.

at the other family party (my family- much healthier eaters in general), there was a beautiful huge raw bar, so i parked myself next to that instead of by the cheese and crackers and did great. i was so busy managing my 3 and 1 year olds at dinner that i didnt get much time to stress, and just ate some of the carrots and chicken, leaving behind the risotto. due to the antics of afore mentioned kiddos, we left before dessert.

last night was our neighborhood tradition of "recession pizza night"- i got myself a salad with grilled chicken first so only ended up eating one piece of pizza and i made xmas cookies with my daughter and only ate one of those. xmas eve we are doing the traditional post-church chinese food thing, so im planning on doing some research before i hit the restaurant. then, im cooking xmas day brunch so its totally paleo (poached eggs with hollandaise sauce and roasted asparagus, smoked wild salmon with red onions, cream cheese and capers).

BUT, then we are off to the in-laws again where everything they eat comes out of a package and they dont eat any vegetables. NO vegetables and im not exaggerating- not a single one. EVER. and my diabetic mother in law makes a box of brownies every night. i hated eating up there even before i was paleo, so im kind of dreading it. they wont let my husband and i cook, and we have begged. im not really looking forward to navigating that cluster F. we have taled to them so much about their diet, and not in a preachy way, but they are both in VERY poor health. my mother in law eats a bowl of raisin bran and skim milk every morning and thinks she is being healthy (she is type II diabetic, not insulin dependent yet, hypertension, very high LDL, morbidly obese and can barely walk- cant get up the stairs in her house without a struggle. shes 63). its really quite frustrating. when i bring my own food for my family they throw a fit and accuse us of being passive aggressive, ungrateful, sanctimonious, etc. i ahve multiple sclerosis and have been in total remission with clean MRIs since going paleo, and ive told them that my diet is not just a hobby- its keeping me (literally) moving and im going to do anything i can to keep it that way.

anyway, this has turned into more of a vent and i dont mean to hijack- i just struggle with this every year, but especially this year.

I treat gluten like a celiac, even during the holidays. But I'm making ice cream with raw heavy cream, egg yolks, vanilla, and stevia. Also a chocolate and a cherry almond version.

I think if you have a level head about you and can get back on the diet after the holidays, then just enjoy the Xmas parties and dinner with family and friends. The problem comes with the food forward issue of the more junk you eat the more you crave it.

I've been treating myself here and there, but I don't eat every Xmas cookie that comes across my face! I try to stick to the homemade stuff then the store bought, especially things like eggnog.

Things are going great. We just had some people over for dinner and served them a paleo meal and we made paleo-ish treats( coconut/ dark chocolate macaroons) and a pear cobbler with almond crust for dessert. While the cobbler and treats are not normally on our diet..we stayed away from grains and refined sugar so I feel good about it.

I didn't do too well at Thanksgiving. I had to give myself a B-.

My family has three Christmas dinners coming up this weekend. I'll eat very little this week and try focus on meat and veggies over the weekend. I'm making a roasted veggie medley. My family knows I'm loosing weight and won't push anything on me, so I am my own worst enemy.

Coming from a binge eating background, that was usually triggered by stress, I AM DOING PHENOMENAL. No binges. I have full faith in my ability to avoid them now, which is new for me. I've sampled a Christmas cookie or two (but managed not to eat a dozen!). I ate completely Paleo at my company's annual award ceremony. I kind of pick and choose my battles. I used to eat something "bad" and let it roll into a bad day, then a bad weekend, then a bad month. Now, I am much better at keeping the cheats to sporadic and not letting them affect me emotionally. I usually try and make it out of December maintaining my weight. It's much less stressful for me than trying to be perfect.

I do plan on trying to go completely gluten/dairy free in January to see if it makes a difference. I have always been the type that if something was worth doing - it was worth doing RIGHT NOW, but I had to also be honest with myself that December was just not the right time to try something like that. Not if I wanted to be a part of my family traditions without causing more stress for myself. So, January it is!

Um, I'm kinda looking at baking-porn a lot. And in particular, trying not to be too disturbed by the fact that I keep looking at all these pictures of cookies. And reading cookie recipes. And lingering near magazines at the store that have pictures of Christmas cookies on the cover. And trying to figure out how many of the cookie recipes I can convert to Paleo cookie recipes (almost none as far as I can figure). BUT- ( and here's the kind of strong but sicko part) I HAVE NOT EATEN A SINGLE COOKIE, BECAUSE I AM A TRUE COOKIE-HOLIC, and even one cookie will shove me to the bottom of the slippery cookie slope.

So not gonna do it. Not gonna eat a single cookie this Christmas. Paleo has been too good to me.

BUT I CAN'T QUIT YOU COOKIES. At least not pictures of you.

I guess I'll find out this afternoon. Going to my first social event of the season (I'm a recluse). Soda water, anyone?

My biggest downfall at this time of the year is chocolate - everyone keeps waving it under my nose. I don't have a weight problem and I don't normally 'cheat' so I'm just giving in now and again and promising myself a 30 day 100% paleo in January. I will also indulge in my mother's Christmas pudding on Christmas day but there is so much fruit and booze in that there's no room for any flour!! Apart from that I will continue to avoid all grains. I think the point is when you do eat something 'bad' you do it consciously and with a regard for the consequences. Also these little indulgences now and again can be appreciated more than if I was just stuffing down chocolate and cake all the time.

I did these. They should be better than the SAD stuff laying around.

http://readgrice.wordpress.com/2010/12/19/fall-off-the-wagon-gracefully/

I'm working through the holidays 3,000 miles away from my family, so I only have myself to contend with! But I won't go overboard. I went to a gluten free bakery and got a small raspberry almond streusel muffin (it's pretty much cake) to have Christmas morning with my sausages. I used to be a real muffin fiend, but I haven't had one in over a year, so I'm pretty happy about it.

As far as gifts from friends and co-workers, I just bring them home and let the roomies take care of them. Although today I received a whole pumpkin pie and as I was walking to the train station after work I saw group of deer so I decided to see if they would eat it. It turns out deer are afraid of pumpkin pie...or maybe they're afraid of crazy humans who toss pies in their general direction. In any case, I know the squirrels will be happy when they discover the aftermath of my experiment tomorrow...