Dieting during the Holidays

7th Dec 2009

This is the subject we talked about on the radioshow, “Seth and Kitty Weighing In” on WONA last Thursday and I felt it deserved a blog.

Should you or shouldn’t you even attempt this? I mean there are so many temptations around this time of year and a feeling of deprivation could take over easily if you start saying NO to everything. I know that I was always afraid of the Holidays. I knew what I was capable of regarding food, so as Halloween ended and I saw Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching - I would almost panic wondering what kind of mischief Fat Kitty would get me in to this year. She rarely let me down. So I’d come out on the other end of January ALWAYS heavier.

So is it a good idea to actually diet as the Holidays approach? That’s a question only you can answer but I do have some thoughts on what you can do.

I was always afraid of failure, so rather than all out diet during this time of year, maybe pick a few days each week that you know you’ll be strong on. I have already done that and mine are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. If you wonder why I didn’t put Wednesday in there, well this is because I know myself so well now - and I know that if I put too many days together in a row I might feel trapped and do something I shouldn’t. Now this doesn’t mean I plan to overeat on Wednesday - it just means I am giving myself that day to think about it. And I don’t even plan to overeat on the other remaining days, but what I have discovered is that if I give myself the chance to stay focused and not put too much pressure on myself, I’m more likely to not eat wrong any day of the week.

So this works for me and I thought I should share it because it might not be something you thought about. In the days to come, heading up to Christmas, I’ll share more tips of what I do during the Holidays, to stay on track. My recipes have made my life so doable - but I don’t kid myself that the grocery stores full of candy canes don’t have a pull on me. They do and I still have to enter them to buy the food I do eat.

If you are struggling - write me with your struggle and I’ll try to figure a way to help you too. Losing weight is not easy and keeping it off is even harder - but it IS something you can do. I failed my whole life till now - so if you feel like one more try is more than you want to attempt during the Holidays, why not try just one day a week - then add another day you feel you’ll be strong - a month might go by and you’ll wake up and you’re strong more days than you’re not. We have been programmed to think that dieting and losing weight is all or nothing. Well, how well is that working out for our nation that is 66% overweight or obese? Not so good I fear.

My way is certainly food for thought - pun intended.

Happy Holidays!