Yeah, I don't worry too much about calories and such over Xmas, either. I bake tons of cookies--five or six different kinds, and several dozen of each--and give some away, but also eat as many as I like. (And there are always Hershey's Kisses and mini peanut butter cups in every stocking.) Granted, "as many as I like" is generally maybe five cookies over the course of the evening--I still don't eat during the day--but still. I do go for longer walks and play with the dog more, but if I gain a pound or two over the course of the week I know I'll lose it again once the cookies are gone and my eating is back to normal, so I don't care. And heh, I usually end up losing weight instead, too, because I'm constantly walking/busy in the kitchen/cleaning/whatever. The jeans I'm wearing now keep falling down; the other day I had to pee, and forgot to unzip them, and they still came right down. Our Christmas dinner is always the same: Xmas Eve we have cold cuts and cheese with crackers and warm bread, and I make scalloped potatoes for a hot side. (I also brine my own corned beef, so that's in the fridge right now, and I'll cook it on the 23rd so it's nice and cold for slicing on the 24th.) Christmas Day is a "fancy" beef bourguignon, ("fancy" meaning instead of just browning some meat and braising it in wine, I marinate the meat for 24 hours first and the stew has bacon, cocktail onions, and mushrooms as well) over rice. Sometimes for Yule I'll do slow-roasted pork with roast potatoes and parsnips and sprouts, too, but not this year. And New Year's Day I make a traditional (Marcella Hazan) lasagna: a slow-cooked bolognese with beef, pork, and veal, started with a soffritto and pancetta, then layered with pasta (sometimes home-made) and bechamel sauce, with a little fresh-grated parmesan--no ricotta or mozzarella here! Most years I'll make some bread to go with it, too, maybe with a little garlic butter. So yeah, I put a lot of effort into our holiday food, and I enjoy the results. I'm sure most fats would be shocked that our one pan of lasagna usually lasts three meals, or that I barely cook at all between Xmas and New Year because we have so many leftovers of cold cuts and bourguignon that we just eat that for the week...but as I said I want to enjoy the results of all my work, and enjoyment doesn't include making myself sick from overeating.