Actually christmas time should be the best time of the year. But for me it is absolutely not concerning the food. I really try to avoid dispensable calories, but it is not working at all. I just can't resist all these christmas cookies. I hate myself for this and hate hate my body. I want to lose weight-honestly-but it is so difficult right now...
Christmas time
- Thread starter Jane1975
- Start date
maverick2
New member
Yeah dude, I totally feel you. I live in a family of Southern gourmands for whom food isn't just nutrition, it's a major experience and a hobby. I like to cook a little, too, but my skills aren't nearly on the level of some of my family. So naturally, Christmas is a really exciting time for them, a two-month marathon of preparation, baking, and feasting (since I like to eat as well as cook, exciting for me too).
Homemade breads, upside-down cakes, sausage balls, clove-and-sugar baked ham, oh my!
This year I have to keep losing weight throughout the holidays, because I'm on a six-month time frame to lose thirty pounds for the military. So this is what I'm doing for countermeasures:
- Doubling up on exercise.
- Allowing myself absolutely any Christmas food I want (in moderation) so I don't binge out of feeling sad and deprived.
- Making sure to eat "healthy" foods to the point of near-fullness before a holiday meal, so I can just graze and not be completely starving. (This is the opposite of my usual holiday ritual, which is a nice day-long fast before a holiday meal so I can glut myself.
)
- Making sure to gently but firmly resist friendly sabotage (grandmothers shoving that extra roll on your plate, ribbing from people who say things like, "You sure aren't eating very much...", etc...)
- Drinking lots of water. In the excitement of wine, spirits, punches, and other holiday fare, I have the tendency to let water fall by the wayside.
Homemade breads, upside-down cakes, sausage balls, clove-and-sugar baked ham, oh my!
This year I have to keep losing weight throughout the holidays, because I'm on a six-month time frame to lose thirty pounds for the military. So this is what I'm doing for countermeasures:
- Doubling up on exercise.
- Allowing myself absolutely any Christmas food I want (in moderation) so I don't binge out of feeling sad and deprived.
- Making sure to eat "healthy" foods to the point of near-fullness before a holiday meal, so I can just graze and not be completely starving. (This is the opposite of my usual holiday ritual, which is a nice day-long fast before a holiday meal so I can glut myself.
)- Making sure to gently but firmly resist friendly sabotage (grandmothers shoving that extra roll on your plate, ribbing from people who say things like, "You sure aren't eating very much...", etc...)
- Drinking lots of water. In the excitement of wine, spirits, punches, and other holiday fare, I have the tendency to let water fall by the wayside.
Thanks you so much for your quick response as I am very frustrated. Yeah there is all the lovely food-honestly it is really good to hear that somebody has the same problem like me. And thanks so much for sharing you ideas with me! Maybe it would be possible for me as well to do some more sports. And there are so other good points too which encourage me quite much. Thanks! Good luck for you weight loss!
maverick2
New member
Good luck to you too! Yeah, the food aspect of Christmas is SO hard for me to resist compared to the rest of the year, it's a little ridiculous and it does have the tendency to discourage me. But we can't give up, because then we'll just sabotage all the hard work we've put in before the holidays.
Because of my issues with holiday food, though, I've decided mainly to focus on the exercise part of my program.
Starting this week I'm going to try to work out twice a day (a bit extreme for you probably, but you gotta remember I'm in military training, so I have to build muscle and stamina as well as lose inches). I think I'm going to start walking/jogging my golden retriever more regularly, too, at least while the weather is nice.
We can do it!
Because of my issues with holiday food, though, I've decided mainly to focus on the exercise part of my program.
Starting this week I'm going to try to work out twice a day (a bit extreme for you probably, but you gotta remember I'm in military training, so I have to build muscle and stamina as well as lose inches). I think I'm going to start walking/jogging my golden retriever more regularly, too, at least while the weather is nice.
We can do it!
One "trick" if you can call it that that works for me is when you see something - ask yourself if you could get it any day of the year... for instance, chocolate brownies or chocolate chip cookies are available year round - so they're pretty ordinary (even the spectacular ones that I make) - If you can get the treat any day of the year, with minimal effort, then pass on it at christmas time and use christmas for those extra special treats.
and just because it's in front of you, doesn't mean you have to eat it...
and just because it's in front of you, doesn't mean you have to eat it...
maverick2
New member
Great advice, Mal. Anything tasty that I can get in the months of January-November does NOT go into my mouth in December.
I think it's just a matter of being conscious of what you're eating no matter what it is, and not getting swept up in the glitz and cheer of it all into thinking that you can eat holiday foods in the same proportions that you eat during the rest of the year. Usually for me, holidays are the season when everything from entrees to desserts come in multiples, and everything looks so delicious you're tempted to try a little of everything. But when your family sets out an uber buffet, a little of everything turns out to be a lot!
I'm of the opinion that it's perfectly okay to eat a few sausage balls or something similar during the holidays, as long as you recognize that a sausage ball is a sausage ball, and not a potato chip. Heh.
I think it's just a matter of being conscious of what you're eating no matter what it is, and not getting swept up in the glitz and cheer of it all into thinking that you can eat holiday foods in the same proportions that you eat during the rest of the year. Usually for me, holidays are the season when everything from entrees to desserts come in multiples, and everything looks so delicious you're tempted to try a little of everything. But when your family sets out an uber buffet, a little of everything turns out to be a lot!
I'm of the opinion that it's perfectly okay to eat a few sausage balls or something similar during the holidays, as long as you recognize that a sausage ball is a sausage ball, and not a potato chip. Heh.
sirant
New member
Christmas no big deal here.... Literally!
Probably one of the best aspects of living in China. Christmas day is just a regular work day here. No cakes, cookies and bevy of beautiful baking! In fact this year my daughter will be in school, my wife will be at university and I will be in the office with all my coworkers. Some might say that kind of sucks, but from a temptation standpoint it is awesome!!!
However, back to the original point. Here is what I used to do back home at Christmas, and it was really quite effective.
Veggie plates! Veggie plates! And yet more Veggie plates!!!!
This is something I learned frm my Grandparents. At every single meal, including breakfast, all year long, there was a huge plate of fresh from the garden raw veggies on the table. No dips, suaces or flavorings mind you, just veggies. The idea being if you were hungry enough to need a second helping, you could eat the veggies to bulk up on. Out of my whole family, the grandfolks were always the thinnest by far.
So I decided to do the same at Christmas. I would make a huge veggie plate and keep it in the fridge. As soon as the stock got low, I would refill it. Everytime during the holiday season I would come in from work or play, I would haul out the huge dish and just leave it staring at me on the coffee table. Then when I felt the urge for some of my mothers amazingly (too) delicious xmas baking, I would hit the veggie plate first.
Now that works fine in the house, but what about the company dinners, parties and family festivities? Well, once again, I would hit that plate like a starving man looking at a buffet line for the first time in his life. Slam down a moutain of carrots, celery and other various veggies before heading out the the party, and it was just that much easier to "just say no" on a fuller stomach.
Of course I wouldn't be in this group today if that has always worked, but who knows, might work for you.
sirant
Probably one of the best aspects of living in China. Christmas day is just a regular work day here. No cakes, cookies and bevy of beautiful baking! In fact this year my daughter will be in school, my wife will be at university and I will be in the office with all my coworkers. Some might say that kind of sucks, but from a temptation standpoint it is awesome!!!
However, back to the original point. Here is what I used to do back home at Christmas, and it was really quite effective.
Veggie plates! Veggie plates! And yet more Veggie plates!!!!
This is something I learned frm my Grandparents. At every single meal, including breakfast, all year long, there was a huge plate of fresh from the garden raw veggies on the table. No dips, suaces or flavorings mind you, just veggies. The idea being if you were hungry enough to need a second helping, you could eat the veggies to bulk up on. Out of my whole family, the grandfolks were always the thinnest by far.
So I decided to do the same at Christmas. I would make a huge veggie plate and keep it in the fridge. As soon as the stock got low, I would refill it. Everytime during the holiday season I would come in from work or play, I would haul out the huge dish and just leave it staring at me on the coffee table. Then when I felt the urge for some of my mothers amazingly (too) delicious xmas baking, I would hit the veggie plate first.
Now that works fine in the house, but what about the company dinners, parties and family festivities? Well, once again, I would hit that plate like a starving man looking at a buffet line for the first time in his life. Slam down a moutain of carrots, celery and other various veggies before heading out the the party, and it was just that much easier to "just say no" on a fuller stomach.
Of course I wouldn't be in this group today if that has always worked, but who knows, might work for you.
sirant