Beating the Winter Weight Gain - Results!

I blogged a bit back in November about my tips for beating the winter weight gain and I gave you a status update in mid-December, but I'm happy to report that today I have maintained my weight through the holidays!!!  Wahoo!

In my earlier article, I wrote up a list of things I was going to try to do to keep the weight off.  I wound up doing some, not doing others at all, inconsistently implementing some tricks, and even trying a few more.  Here's a list of what worked and what didn't:

1. Religious calorie counting on days you don't have parties/events (1600 calories and daily weigh ins) - I kind of did this.  I did my daily weigh ins except when we were out of town and no scale was available, but calorie counting went out the door for the most part.  I did it maybe 1-2 days a week.  The biggest change that helped me keep the weight off was filling half my plate with veggies at most meals and switching up my dinners at home (Instead of bigger meals for dinner, we ate bigger at lunch.  Mr. 3 and I made veggie smoothies using our Vitamix and at a small snack like crackers and hummus for dinner.).

2. Eat something healthy before a party - I kind of did this.  I managed to keep my blood sugar from falling, but we only had one party (our Christmas brunch) and everything else was Christmas lunches.

3. Eat 3-4 small servings of things you truly want to eat at the party - I sorta did this.  Since we didn't have very many parties, most of my heavy calorie days came from eating out with our parents.  I tried to focus on the foods I really wanted to eat at those meals.  Mr. 3 and I also split food a lot this season - steak and a side at the Capital Grille, a quesadilla at the Mexican restaurant on Christmas Eve, steak on New Year's Eve.  BUT I also had a great lobster bisque, a ton of chips and salsa, and a whole lobster to myself on each of those occasions.  As I mentioned in #1, I also filled half my plate with veggies and took a scoopful of the 3-4 things I really wanted to eat.

4. Cut back on your everyday treats - I did this. I switched from half and half to 2% milk in my coffee.  I also switched my daily Liberte yogurt to a lower calorie Brown Cow yogurt (both are equally delicious and have no artificial sweetners!).

5. Eat seafood at corporate events - I did this.

6. Stick to wine or hard cider - I did this.

7. Plan out where you can eat when you are running errands or Christmas shopping now - I did this.

8. Add on 15 mins to your work out time or another workout a week. If you can't do that, try to go for a walk at lunch during your work days. Also, try and have a nice walk (so relaxing!) or jog (if you feel so inclined, I rarely do) on the major holidays - Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.  - I sorta did this.  I had zero gym time.  That's right.  Zero.  I also didn't go outside and walk except at Thanksgiving.  I got super lazy, but also felt super busy.  I did go on walks at Thanksgiving, but that's about it.

9. Take none and leave all - I sorta did this one.  We had some leftovers from our Christmas brunch, but I wound up throwing most of them away (leftover shrimp and grits = yuck).  I also had one bag of leftover toffee so I put that in a box with the other presents for my friend Marie.  I also left most of the holiday food at mom's house and at my father-in-laws.

10. Plan a non-meal event for your girlfriend get togethers - I sorta did this.  I met up with three different girlfriends at Christmas.  One for lunch (egg salad on wheat, half order of fries, and sparking water to drink), one for coffee (tall one pump hazelnut latte with skim milk), and one for a drink (stuck to one glass of hard cider)...but that's better than three meals out!

11. Eat what you want on the main days - Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day.  - I did this.  Enough said.

12. Get back to your regular groove as soon as possible and don't beat yourself up - I'm working on this!  I'm going to share my goals for 2014 tomorrow, but I'm headed to the gym tonight...and really happy I don't have to buy new pants this weekend.

Did anyone else try out these tips?  What worked for you?  Let us know in the comments section below!