"Train" now for holiday eating

No Snacks, no sweets, no seconds. Except on Days that start with S. Too simple for you? Simple is why it works. Look here for questions, introductions, support, success stories.

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oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

"Train" now for holiday eating

Post by oolala53 » Sat Sep 21, 2019 12:55 am

I could have sworn I started a thread on this last year but couldn't find it. Maybe it was in 2017? Well, onwards.

I'm pretty sure it was the author of Mindless Eating who found that it's really early in the fall that people need to get ready for the holidays by eating modestly. This can be further incentive for those who keep having false starts or a lot of failing. If you are already used to enjoying good meals with reasonable amounts, it's a lot less likely you will go crazy when the holiday plates come around. You will know that you will get plenty of pleasure by not overeating [much]. Some wild S days can actually help in giving those experiences that we might have more strength to avoid later.

So, fall officially starts in a few days. Let's use it to get ready to delight in the holiday season and not hit New Year's scrambling to completely revamp our efforts!
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

Soprano
Posts: 1184
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:56 pm
Location: UK

Re: "Train" now for holiday eating

Post by Soprano » Sat Sep 21, 2019 5:59 am

Great post!

This happened to me last year, the holiday season was compounded by work stress and change of job, then a house move.

I only now feel back on track. If I can get back to my lowest weight which I hit in November by Christmas that should be incentive enough to stay on track.

Jx
Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Re: "Train" now for holiday eating

Post by oolala53 » Sat Sep 21, 2019 10:07 pm

Well, the holiday eating starts earlier, for some people as early as Halloween. But if feeling back on track now feels good enough, it could carry you through. I had been way off from mid spring through to not that long ago, so I wanted to give myself a pep talk, too!
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

simmstone
Posts: 152
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 11:31 pm
Location: TX

Re: "Train" now for holiday eating

Post by simmstone » Tue Oct 15, 2019 2:43 pm

Inspiring post, oolala! I’m doubling down on vanilla No S through the holidays.
"No S is such a good way to combat the randomness, which is often the slide into more and more." - oolala53

kccc
Posts: 3957
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:12 am

Re: "Train" now for holiday eating

Post by kccc » Mon Nov 04, 2019 3:17 pm

How topical - I came back especially for the holiday season!

Last year, I went overboard and had to actually work on losing rather than maintaining once the New Year came... Did NOT like that.

My habits do get a little sloppy over the course of the year, and when in the normal course of things, it's okay. I've internalized moderation enough that an occasional non-S treat doesn't derail me.

But during the holiday season, those treats tend to increase to the point that they will overwhelm my habits if I'm not careful. So... Time to shore up the habits, and "build a fence around the rule"!

So I'm back.

automatedeating
Posts: 5305
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2013 2:16 pm

Re: "Train" now for holiday eating

Post by automatedeating » Tue Nov 05, 2019 1:52 pm

I'm in for this training session/season!

Here is a list of things I've been thinking about as we roll into the holidays:

1. I didn't take Halloween as an S Day! I haven't had any candy! My kids have mostly eaten through theirs, we handed out all of our neighborhood bags, and surprisingly there hasn't been as much in the work office as usual. The stuff that does show up is more like pies, cupcakes, breads, etc. - all "pumpkin" of course.

2. I'm not as concerned about the holiday meals because I limit my grains now. I feel so much better without them, which provides a carrot for avoiding. I get negative feedback on my blood glucose monitor when I eat them, which provides a stick for avoiding. So wish me luck. I've already decided I'll be making more variety of meats for Thanksgiving - turkey, ham, and sausages. I'll also make some nice green salads and lots of veggies and dip. This way, I can fill up on nutritious meats and veggies and forego (hopefully) the stuffing and mashed potatoes.

3. Holidays will be "modified" N Days. How about that? Just regular eating with one larger than normal meal, and maybe one S event if there's a dessert I just have to have.

4. Holiday get-togethers should be treated as N Days unless they actually are on a weekend, in which case no biggie.

This is doable. Haha! We shall see!
Month/Year-BMI
8/13-26.3
8/14-24.5
5/15-26.2
1/16-26.9; 9/16-25.6
8/17-25.8; 11/17-26.9
3/18-25.6; 8/18-24.5; 10/18-23.8;
3/19-22.1; 10/19-21.8
6/20-22.5; 7/20-23.0; 9/20-23.6
4/21 - 25.2

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Re: "Train" now for holiday eating

Post by oolala53 » Sat Nov 09, 2019 3:03 pm

Boy, I have to get on my own train! I haven't had many green days since I posted this. Going to be around a lot of food today. Hope I can be reasonable.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

sharon227
Posts: 292
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 12:13 pm

Re: "Train" now for holiday eating

Post by sharon227 » Tue Nov 12, 2019 2:30 am

Great thoughts, all! My focus for the holidays this year is going to be feeling as good as I can. How can I not want to do that??

I see now how I feel when I eat healthy food in moderation, and how I feel when I eat too much junk. So I think a key for me is going to be eating with intention, slowly, paying attention to how I feel.

On Halloween, I gave myself permission to have an S day and eat as much candy as I wanted. I had two of the small fun size packs of M&Ms, and I could quickly tell that was more than enough. Gorging on more candy really wasn’t going to be a “treat”.

I need to work to focus on that understanding on Thanksgiving, and then at the Christmas parties I’ll be attending.I’ll try to also keep in mind my imaginary svelte French acquaintance who always eats in a traditional manner and never over stuffs. I want to be like her.

oolala53
Posts: 10059
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:46 am
Location: San Diego, CA USA

Re: "Train" now for holiday eating

Post by oolala53 » Sat Nov 30, 2019 11:06 pm

I am so glad that I enjoyed the food I had on Txgiving but did not feel stuffed at any point in the day. Am feeling pretty good about the next few weeks, though as I'm not even working anymore, have very few social eating events to look forward to. That's a coin with two sides!
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

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