Holidays are hard...

Holidays are hard. They are difficult for many people for many different reasons. They are hard for me, because most holidays involve food. The food is so intertwined with the holiday, that it makes it extremely difficult to stay true to eating healthy. But what is the alternative? Taking a "diet holiday"? I know people who do exactly that. "Oh, it's too hard to be good, I'll go back on my diet when the holiday is over!". I've tried it myself. It didn't work out that well. It is very hard to get back on that horse again. So what to do? The year is filled with holidays. There always seems to be some special occasion coming up.
I've tried various strategies with mixed success rates.
1) Skipping an event where I know there will be a lot of great food: I've stayed home and been miserable, feeling sorry for myself, while my friends were off celebrating. I was extremely grouchy and made myself and my family miserable. I wound up stuffing my face in frustration.
2) Going and "toughing it out": Attending the party, dinner, etc. and eating like a bird. Refusing all forbidden foods and sitting there with a martyred look on my face and a glass of water in my hand trying not to look at all the food displayed around me. This backfired. Although I did not cheat and got through the night, I was like a tea kettle coming to a boil. The next day I totally went off my diet and probably ate twice what I would have had at the party.
3) Going and maintaining my diet, but allowing myself to have a little "something" extra. The trick is to limit this and not go crazy. Having a small slice of of birthday cake, or a second slice of Thanksgiving turkey. (Indulging yourself with protein is always better than with carbs.)
I've had better results with this method. It works best for me, if I decide in advance what my treat will be. An example of this is my decision in advance to allow myself one of those wonderful cheese biscuits when my family dined out at Red Lobster. I adhered strictly to my diet for the rest of the meal but did not feel deprived.
4) Bringing your own food. This probably works the best. If you are going to a party and are suppose to bring a dish, bring something YOU can eat. That way you know there is at least one thing you can have. If you are going over someone's house and you are not sure what's on the menu, ask. Plan your meal in advance. Know what your choices are.
Desserts are especially hard to deal with. I have found many delicious sugar-free dessert recipes online. I make one and bring it along. (Just have to remember to still maintain portion size even for sugar-free recipes.)
If I am going out to a restaurant, I like to go where I know the menu and know there is something there I can eat. Going somewhere new is more of a challenge. I've learned not to be afraid to ask the wait staff questions about what's in the dishes presented. Most restaurants post their menus online with nutritional facts. Take a look BEFORE you go, so there are no surprises.
My husband took me out to a popular steak house, and feeling secure that I could maintain my diet there, I planned to ordered a steak, a baked sweet potato, and a salad. For my allowed portion, I would eat 1/2 my steak and potato and bring the rest home. Well, once there I was chatting with the waitress and found out that when the steaks are cooked they are seasoned with salt and basted in butter just before serving. They only used salted butter, even on the sweet potato. Although the menu said they had a vinaigrette dressing, it was very fattening. (Just because it's called vinaigrette you can't assume it is a light dressing.) So what did I do? Asked for my steak to be cooked with no butter or salt. No butter on the sweet potato either, simple vinegar and oil on my salad. Even plain, the steak tasted great, but I felt discontented.
Dining out is a challenge, but holidays are hardest. It's so hard to make some of the family's favorite holiday dishes, and not sample them yourself. I've started "slimming down" family recipes to make them better for myself. Hopefully your family will be supportive of you in this. When I lightened up a favorite broccoli and cheese casserole recipe for Thanksgiving, I warned my family first what I was doing. I was so worried they would be upset with me, but they were OK with it, and the dish came out great.
Still sometimes the easiest thing is to just not make that favorite dish and avoid temptation.
Basically, my goal is to get through the best that I can. Sometimes I sail through, and sometimes I mess up. Maybe someday holidays won't be such a challenge to me, but right now they still are.