Christmas Countdown

In a month's time, chances are you won't be working because it will be Boxing Day. Yep! Christmas will soon be upon us.

Christmas seems to be a real dealbreaker for dieters, particularly those in abstinence. When I started LighterLife, I absorbed every blog possible and most of them discussed what would happen on the BIG DAY ie Christmas Day. Some caved in, had a few days off and then got straight back on the wagon, some stayed abstinence (awesome!) and some jumped ship. Permanently.

And now, on the forum, the discussions have started; to eat or not to eat on December 25th. I don't know what I would have done; I think I would have done my damndest to stay clean! I did it at Easter - it was hideous, painful but I had to dig deep and remove myself from the festive meals. I've also sat through a three course meal or two so it IS possible. Of course, the Christmas meal is THE meal of the year for many people.

What I have noticed is that there is a pressure to eat, a pressure to join in and be like everyone else. And then there are our own feelings - feeling deprived, feeling resentful, feeling miserable - if we 'can't' eat what we like.

I am no longer abstinent so, in theory, I shouldn't be agonising but with all this festive chat, it IS on my mind. Last Christmas I put on half a stone - lots of rich meals, cheese straws, champagne and a few cheeky sweet treats. We did a lot of entertaining and I picked my way through everything we served.

What I don't want to do is wake up in January thinking about how much weight I have to lose. I don't want another year of thinking, THIS will be the year I nail it. I've lost the weight but it's creeping back on already.

I haven't learnt yet what is going to work for me in the longer term; I don't know how much I will be able to eat and drink to keep my weight steady, combined with reasonable exercise, etc, etc.

But Christmas is coming and I will need a strategy and so will you!

Comments

[Peridot]

Good for you - typical Mrs L to approach it so sensibly and thoughtfully. Personally - and I always seem to take the easy option and path of least resistance - I am accepting that over Christmas (and on holiday) I will be like the rest of the world and put on weight. This is true of "normal" people too so I'm determined not to stress about it but do what those "normal" people do and diet a bit (harder) afterwards. After all, January is basically the month where EVERYONE in on a diet! Even the smack table calms down - once people have offloaded the chocs etc they don't want to eat themselves that is!!

love
Peridot x

[porkchop]

Hola Mrs L - I say eat loads of the stuff you love and know is good/not outrageously bad for you - veggies, low fat protein (some stuffing) and fruit - so you are eating with others but not in the calorietastic cheese straw way. Have reserves in stock so that you can have a nibble without snapping elastic in the New Year - low cal alcohol could be the answer! In a way I think like alcohol, tricky to recover from an eating binge because the demons in your head are not there to help you and your body will be saying - more of that fat and sugar combo please...NOWWWWWWWWWWW.
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