hey, I'm a fitness and health food addict too, but even I can relax for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. I think sometimes people like us just have to let go and stop trying to control everything. I would never ask my grandma how she cooked the food. That kind of makes me "fittingly mad". Sorry Fit, I normally agree with you all on topics, but this post was kind of ridiculous and rude.

I just assume "over 400 calories" for anything which looks vaguely fatty or sugary and then get back to the gym routine as soon as the holiday is over!

Oh boo-hoo, like you really planned on eating it anyway. Yeah riiiiight!

I agree, ash_marisa. Maybe it's one thing if you're over for your grandmother's house for dinner every week, but once or twice a year on a major holiday, just relax. If you're healthy 364 days a year, just let it go and don't bother others to find out if the soup was made with cream rather than yogurt. Regardless of how health conscious you may be, I think it's rude to expect or encourage others to sacrifice taste and change their recipes for a major holiday get-together.
Sure, your grandmother may be flattered if you have a big piece of pie and rave about how wonderful it was and ask what is in it, but mine certainly would not be flattered if I asked what was in it and then declined having any, explaining that I don't eat things cooked with whatever ingredient.

I used to be kind of a food Nazi for holiday meals too...I would ask EVERYONE exactly how they made their dishes: Did you use real butter? How much? How much cream? How much sugar did you put in?

But then I realized that it's sort of rude to ask people that sort of stuff sometimes, especially around the holidays. Most of the dishes that my relatives bring are really rich because they figure we aren't eating them every day. So I've actually relaxed quite a bit.

Now, I'm sort of following the lead of my family...this year, I made a shoofly pie for dessert and the recipe called for a half pound of butter PER pie! Everyone LOVED it and said it was delicious, but most people only took a small piece and commented on how lovely and rich it was. They asked me why it was so good, so I told them: "2 sticks of butter makes anything taste good!"

So yeah, on holidays I pretty much just eat a LITTLE bit of everything yummy and work it off the next day when I work out. It's just food; it's not gonna kill you.

It seems a little crazy to be "fittingly mad" over not knowing exactly how many calories, grams of fat and sugar is in a slice of your grandma's pie. It's a holiday--just relax, enjoy the food, and get back to the gym the next day.

i agree with everyone else, as long as you don't eat too much of it you should be fine if you're healthy all the rest of the time. But I would advise you not to live in Europe (I'm on junior year abroad) where if there is a nutrition label with calorie count, it is either a)in kilojoules, which I still have yet to find a conversion rate for b) per 100 grams, which requires some mental gymnastics if you are dealing with a random number of grams in the particular item (this can also get hairy because there's nothing that says what a serving size is...uh oh) c) it's there, it's correct, it's helpful...but something else is missing, like ingredients, or fat grams, or vitamin counts, or other helpful nutritional info. I have to chalk it up to being in a foreign country, and just utilize my student gym membership that much more!!

what are you expecting, to ask what went into making the pie and have gram respond "oh, pureed prunes and diced broccoli"? if you're going to eat pie, you shouldn't have to "put your mind at ease" by quizzing whoever brought it what's on the ingredient list - pie is not a health food, regardless of the recipe. if it bothers you that much, there's an easy solution - DON'T EAT THE PIE. otherwise, chill.

Hey magpie--to get to Calories from kilojoules, divide the kilojoules by 4 to get a rough number. I can't help you too much on the 100 gm thing...that threw me for a loop when I went to Europe too.

Doesn't the label say how many serves in one packet? So if the packet of biscuit is x number of serves, then just divide in by that? I don't know, I must be spoilt with good labels...

But back to topic. I have sooo much trouble with all the chinese food my mum cooks, like, how much do I add for chicken cooked in soy sauce?

I always read labels then say I'm checking the sodium and protein levels if anyone asks. When I'm grocery shopping I even do it even though I get really self conscious if there's other people in the isle. Holidays only happy so often so I throw my reading and counting out the window for a day since a day never hurts or just on the holidays. Still I tend to look at the foods when choosing and calculate which ones would be healthiest or have the least calories.

The only things I'm really nervous about accidentally ingesting in holiday meals are high fructose corn syrup and aspartame, because I'm hypersensitive to both and avoid them at all costs. As far as fat, carbs, and calories go, I just don't care--it's the holidays!

In my experience with weight loss and healthy eating, the occasional indulgence is just as important as constant vigilance. Though obviously indulging every day is going to pile on the pounds, I think that life isn't living if you're overly obsessed with every calorie.

I'm disappointed in this Fittingly Mad...it makes me feel like I'm reading a vapid, diet-obsessed "fitness" magazine that is more about punishing ourselves for enjoying food than nurturing beautiful, lively women.

anything that is homemade is not bad for you.

regardless of how much white sugar is in that pie, it is AMILLION times better than even the smallest amount of high-fructose-corn-syrup and other processed artificial ingredients that are in even healthier non-homemade foods.

ahh moderation. my frienemy. how i wish i could commit to you.

My grandmother would have a heart attack if I suggested she use yogurt or sugar subsitute in her traditional thanksgiving dinner. Christmas and Thanksgiving are two days a year that I eat what I want and then hit the gym the day after. Relax, a single bad for you meal isn't going to hurt you...just don't make it a habit.

I also hate that I don't know what is in the food but I don't ask, I just eat it not to be rude...
I remember once my friend's grandma made a really delicious soup, I loved it and had two big servings. I didn't eat up my second serving and when it got cold I could see it turned all stiff cause it was so loaded with cream!! I think one serving must have been like 600 calories or something! But well still I ate it and survived, just once won't kill you... but at times like Christmas I am more careful with portions because I eat many meals outside home that's to say I don't know what's in the food. But I would never ask and then decline. that's too rude!

I agree with these posts...it's the holidays! Chill out! I also think it's really rude to ask a cook what's in the meal, unless you have an allergy or something. I didn't even weigh myself for a couple days after Thanksgiving. Who cares?

Great tips but sometimes you just have to indulge and well holiday time I let myself go wild, well not too wild.