Is anyone else scared of the holidays?

[Jayne]

I have attempted this WOE more times than I can count, and this has been my most successful shot at it so far, but I gotta admit, I am terrified of the upcoming holidays. Mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and worst of all CHRISTMAS COOKIES! I'm interested in hearing from those of you that have successfully whipped their cravings in years past so I can bolster my confidence and make this work!

[cleochatra]

You know why you get through the holidays?

You do it because this is the new you, not the old you in the expando pants with the Jaws of Life removing you from the lazy-girl recliner after your 4th plate of nuclear cooling tower cranberry schmooze!

This year you are in control.

That's right. This year holidays are about the events and the people in your life and not food. What is food? Nourishment. Fuel for your body. Not for your soul. People and good times. That is food for your soul.

I actually wrote this for New Year's but why not set a mini-goal to get yourself through the holidays?

YEAH!

HEY! Instead of spending NYE with regret shoot to hit a goal BY NYE! December 31 will never be so sweet, nor will your resolve ever be better to hit that goal! You can do it!

How many times have we spent New Year’s Eve in the wake of a carb hangover, promising ourselves we will do better in the next year? The truth is, many resolutions are either made in haste, or they are made with so little planning that we expect magically the sounding of the grandfather clock in the hall will sound a new lifestyle with little or no effort. The key to success is preparedness, common sense, and very rarely the emotional let-downs we create those failing Resolutions around.

• Make realistic goals. If your goal is to weigh what you did when you were 16, but you’re peri-menopausal, chances are that’s just not reasonable. Instead go for a weight which is healthy for your fitness level, age, and which takes your medical history into account.

• Make specific goals. If you say you’re going to stop smoking this year, that’s just not good enough. What’s your actual game plan? The same goes for diet and exercise. Don’t merely state that you’re going to make this your year. Write down very specific steps you plan to take to achieve these goals. Language like, “I will take off 20 pounds by walking 3 days per week, sticking to this way of eating, gathering the support I need and by drinking 100 ounces per day of water” are the kinds of goals which you can stick with.

• Write it down. Those resolutions we whisper like sweet nothings in the ear of 2006 mean nothing. Words disappear when spoken. Show yourself some real resolve by writing down your resolutions with specificity and post them on the refrigerator or in some other place where you can refer to them often.

• Motivate Yourself. What motivates you? Are they small goals you plan to reach? Is it a slinky new dress for Valentine’s Day? Is it looking at your “before” pictures? Whatever works to motivate you, use it to your advantage. It will help to pull you through those weak moments.

• Get a Support System. Do you have a support group in your spouse? Friends? A not-for-profit eating group? Use these resources to keep you going. Positive peer pressure and acknowledgement of your small successes are fundamental in continuing on, even when you find you are faced with a donut and a weak moment.

• Keep Accountable. It is difficult to slide when you’re recording what you’re eating and your exercise. Why not give yourself a gold star on your calendar for every day you stick to plan? While they don’t seem like much right now, when you flip through the pages of your journal or your calendar, you’ll see that your work has paid, off be it in weight loss markers, gold stars, or a leaner you!
• Change your lifestyle to reflect your goals. Are you going to be fitter and leaner this year? Then when you get home change into those exercise clothes. Do you always snack after dinner? Limit foods only to the kitchen, and after dinner exercise while you watch television. If you’re popping back the cheesy puffs from your recliner, you’re not changing your life to adapt to the new you. You’re hoping for change but not doing anything to get there.

• Don’t give up. There are days, especially in the midst of the darker days of winter, where you just don’t feel like getting on the treadmill. Or maybe you think phoning for pizza wouldn’t be so bad…just this once. Maybe you’ve noticed the scale just isn’t moving, or you’re not hitting your goals precisely as you had hoped you would. Congratulations. You’re human. During these trying times, it is good to look back at those gold stars, successes and rely on your support circle to keep you going. Know the feelings of frustration are extremely temporary and minimal in the overall scheme of things; so why ruin progress you’ve made with that cigarette or that candy bar?

• Like Yourself. Give yourself credit. You’re working towards a new you in 2006! And you are going to do wonderfully.Look at how far you have come already!

[Moochiecat]

For me, the reformed sweet treats junkie, I look at all that stuff and ask myself what it ever did for me....well, it gave me bad skin, it packed 70 pounds onto my body and it made me crazy, obsessing over it the way I did.

Do I miss it? Sort of.
I miss the 'specialness' of the treats that seem to only surface at Christmas time...the whole "Oh, I baked this for you!" where you eat the treat and praise your friends for doing such a nice thing...you know..all the emotional baggage wrapped up in it all.
I also realized the other day that it's not really the food I miss, it's the wanton gluttony that the holiday season seems full of. It was like permission to gorge, because, hey, it's the holidays!

I look at food now so differently....and quite frankly, there is just no point in indulging in that sort of stuff anymore. I don't want to play that one step forward two steps back game.
And holiday food...well, I look at the holidays as a time for re-connecting with friends, and that if we are meeting for dinner, that the purpose of it all is to socialize, and that it's not all about the food.

Sure there might be mashed potatos, gravy and stuffing...but there's also salad, veggies, olives, pickles, turkey, pumpkin (which can be made sweet or savoury) and if you are on the right rung, you can even make your own cranberry sauce with cranberries and splenda! Look at what you CAN have, and forget about what you can't have..and if you find yourself looking, ask yourself what it will do for you to eat it...and why are you letting this food control your life.
Stay strong, and think of what you'll be looking like in a few months...let that be your motivation also.

[ttdriver]

Just imagine how great you'll look and feel come January!!

The holidays are NOT about food!!!!

Betty

[not2late]

I'm a starchy carb addict. I would choose potatoes, rice and pasta over chocolate, cake, cookies any day. BUT, I also know that potatoes, rice and pasta (in the amount and frequency I used to eat them) aren't healthy for my body.

When I was on Induction, I was scared of the holiday season because all my favorite starchy carb foods were always staring at me during the dinners, challenging me to take one bite. But I ignored them because I knew it was eating those things that helped to make me fat and unhealthy. My goal is to be fit and healthy.

I'm in OWL now and I've gone through all the rungs and know which foods affect me. I was initially hesistant to re-introduce potatoes because I thought I would lose control. I cautiously reintroduced them and guess what? They didn't taste as good as I used to think they did. The same thing goes for rice and the pasta. I'd rather have an extra serving of steamed asparagus with Hollandaise sauce than a mouthful of potatoes. While it's a "relief" to know I can eat them, I'm not very enthusiastic to eat them. And I think that's the main difference between me now and me before Atkins: I control the food, the food doesn't control me.

[ladyinred]

I was going to start a thread on this, but it's just my two cents about faux food so I'll just post here.

There are all kinds of recipes for "faux" (which means fake) things like mashed potatoes etc. These are not satisfying to me when I call them that. Fake mashed potatoes don't taste like mashed potatoes at all. So it's disappointing to me. The reality is...you can't have this stuff (eventually you can have everything, but not right now).

BUT, there are so many yummy things you can have. I didn't know until a couple of weeks ago that sauteed cabbage would be the most heavenly thing to eat. And sauteed cauliflower fried up with garlic and green peppers. Mmmmm. And cauliflower cooked with garlic, mashed and mixed with butter is great! But it's mashed cauliflower and it deserves it's own recognition. It doesn't deserve to be called faux anything. Turnip fries would never be mistaken for french fries and a good thing too because they are so wonderful.

I think what you need to do is re-assess how you look at food. As others have said, the holidays are about celebrating the day and the people you want to spend time with. Make some yummy stuff to add to the table. Make enough for everyone because it's not gross or yucky - it's delicious and if you don't make enough then everyone else is going to eat your legal food and leave you with nothing. I guarantee it. Look on the recipe forum for ideas for sweets if you need them. Other than that, accept that certain things are not for you anymore, but you can replace them with so many wonderful new things. Lucky you.