I'm a little late to the party, but I try not to let the holidays derail me. I tend to do what makes the holidays good for the family and myself, without adding a ton of weight to my own body. I do some baking, but not a lot and now that my kids are grown, I do even less. Although my daughter is close enough to come spend Thanksgiving and Christmas Days with us, our gatherings are usually relatively short because she, typically, has other places to go (when she was married, it was in-laws now it's getting her daughter to her ex's...) so we, basically, have time for a meal, short visit, with dessert and that's about it. They've even been known to take dessert with them!!
Aside from all that, I'm lucky that sweets aren't my craving. For me, it's the mashed potatoes and gravy, sandwiches, baked potatoes and sour cream, mac and cheese - all those good comfort foods. Ever since I've had hypothyroidism and am much more susceptible to weight gain than I was prior, I've tried to focus on portion size more than anything else, but also figuring out healthier ways to fix some of those comfort foods. It just seems that they aren't as comforting if they're not made the "old fashioned" way so I go back to portion size.
The holidays are a time to be enjoyed and for me, it's best to just go ahead and eat what I want (within reason) and try to add a few more veggies, so I don't ruin everything with "dieting" or feeling deprived.
There are times throughout the year when I get in the mood to bake; thankfully, I, typically, end up giving away most of what I make because husband and I can't eat it all, even though he loves his sweets. I do have a calligraphy guild meeting and we have a woodworking meeting every month and I can always take my offerings to a meeting to be eaten. :-)
Just recently, I decided to try not eating anything that tastes sweet. There is hidden sugar in a lot of foods, but at least I can avoid the overt sugar. We'll see how that goes! lol