Countdown to CHRISTMAS and thriving TOGETHER through the festive season - WE CAN DO IT!!!

[loveyouradvice]

Hello lovely people

Wow - how did that happen so fast?

Come and share your plans on here for December - some of us are aiming to lose a few pounds and then relaxing over the Christmas period.... All of us are creating strategies and plans that we believe will work for us.

Come and join us!! We’re a friendly group that uses Fasting in one form or another to lose weight or maintain our weight loss. We all have our ups and downs, and welcome insights from others and laughter along the way.... pirates and dachshunds will pop their heads up, we're in awe of those shredding with Jillian and lifting significant weights (beyond our own!) and impressed when we get our steps in.

Fridays are our informal day for weighing-in (optional) and reflecting on the week – often with ideas for self-care and new goals for the coming week.
We cheer each other on, and commiserate when things don't go to plan.
If you’re new to this group, do introduce yourself and share your hopes and plans.

Some of us find daily posting helpful for accountability - others just pop in every now and then

I for one will be posting everyday from 20 December and know the accountability and encouragement from you all really helps. Meanwhile, I'm aiming to stay at 10.12 AND enjoy parties and festive meals... mainly by balancing indulgent days with lowish-calorie/low carb fasting days. And my Christmas approach is to Eat consciously... and enjoy EVERY mouthful. As soon as I notice myself eating unconsciously, I'm having a few quiet minutes by myself - even if midst cooking Christmas dinner!!

@2Early4Breakfast
@bott
@Herewegoagaintake3
@IDareSay
@catsrus
@Dliplop
@JadeVS72
@StealthSightHound
@thenewaveragebear1983
@tiredwitless

@catsrus I'm another who's inspired by your journey... I SO love this way of life but feel as if I'm still on the novice slopes. I've lost the weight but it's precarious - a misstep or two and 3 lbs leap back on. I'm another Michael Mosley fan and have most of his books.

So my questions!! How do you approach Christmas? And is it easy now, or do you still put strategies in place?

I'd also love to know how you manage to have cake or ice cream daily - wow!! What kinds of cake? I cook masses and have stopped calorie counting but I'm still on "just one or two mouthfuls" of occasional cake rather than it being my daily norm, which would be lovely. I so enjoy my 2 dark squares of chocolate and a few almonds as my daily treat.

Hope that's not too many questions - your experience is SO helpful!!

Hi @loveyouradvice

My basic rule now is that everything I eat has to give me good nutrition. All my cakes/brownies are made with things like ground almonds / tiger nut flour / chestnut flour. This means that they are also much more filling!

I make a version of Nigella's lemon drizzle (almond flour and polenta) and cut the sugar in half. I've found that most recipes can lose 50% of their sugar for my tastes. I might use dates or bananas instead of sugar to sweeten something. I love black bean brownies, again made with Almond flour as well as the beans.
There is a variety of japanese sweet potato called Murasaki which is REALLY sweet - so that also works well to add bulk and sweetness. I'm currently eating a poppy seed cake which has grated sweet potato in it (think carrot cake)

this is a great cookbook - the author did Zoe, is an ex cookery teacher so started a great FB group for healthy gut friendly recipes. All of the recipes get tested by volunteers in the group. https://amzn.eu/d/cb8YFxN

re ice cream I got a Ninja creami - so I can make ice creams that suit my way of eating. I've just finished one was that made with creamed cashews, fresh figs and a tablespoon of a fig conserve (one of the ones sweetened with apple juice). A lot of people make a very simple frozen yoghurt.

Post dog walk this morning I had a chunk of the poppy seed cake, yoghurt and a dollop of blackberry chia seed "jam" (sweetened with dates).

good luck!

ooh and christmas.... yes, it's quite easy now to be honest. My tastes have very much changed since I started Zoe three years ago. So my diet is very whole food plant based. I do eat other foods when I'm out and about, so will very happily eat the after eight at the end of a meal at my local thai restaurant - but it would not occur to me to buy a box of them at Christmas.

I did make a rather indulgent, whole food, christmas cake a couple of years ago - and it was fabulous - but I was eating it forever (had to freeze it) as I am the only person in the family who likes it.......

This year I'm going to a family member for the day, who also fasts and eats a whole food diet - so I know there will be no pressure to eat food I don't want.

So basically I do eat what I want - but what I want to eat has changed.

Getting up earlier for a calmer start to the day. Last food has been around 6.30-7pm, which I want to change to 6pm at the latest. I have set an alarm for this.

Thanks @loveyouradvice

i had a maintain overall in November which to be fair I probably did deserve. If not a small gain. I am determined now to have a good 3 weeks before the madness. I stuck to 1200 cals today.

on the positives though, I have been making some really good improvements in my overall general health. I have been taking iron and collagen for a month now and i noticed today that I am getting a lot of new hair growth around my hairline, I am not anywhere as tired as I was, and generally feel much better. I’ve been gluten free for over 2 months now and I am also really noticing the difference, plus it definitely helps when it comes to Christmas things as everything has gluten in!

Hii happy December all! The batteries have run out in my scales so my Friday weigh in didn't happen- need to get that sorted! Last week was busy as had to travel for work and ate out a lot. But have managed a couple of fast days (5:2) since including today that went quite well.
@catsrus some great ideas there thanks! I eat a lot of sweet potato and find broccoli_mum on instagram great for those wfpb recipes (I have one of her ebooks too) my husband also made a really delicious lentil and root veg stew last week.
Festive season continues to be difficult with plans and parties but I am really trying with the slow and steady and hope I can keep up the fasting long ish term, especially after going through my old clothes the other day that look so small but did fit once!!

Today was a fast day… but I was getting too weak and dizzy (recovering from hemmorage). So had to eat more. I’m maintaining the 2-3 pounds lost which is very important to me

I had a good day today, came in at 1500 cals. Went for a run. I haven’t run for a week and I was absolutely blowing, I think I’m coming down with something. Meals were good though and I fasted til 11 then stopped eating at 6.

tomorrow we have a team meeting with breakfast rolls, and I’ve prepped my dinner already so no thinking to do, which is good.

Please may I join?

I will do 8:16.

I occasionally do 36 hour fast for health benefits.

Weight loss has stalled for me recently. This is a great idea for keeping on track over the festive period.

Grumpy cats are the best. Tiniest smidge of affection is amazing.

I stop eating 8pm on Sunday, WFH on Monday and break fast at 8am on Tuesday morning.

I have black coffee and water. I have just ordered some sugar free cordial to mix things up. If I'm really struggling, I have a miso soup before bed on the second day.

They others sort their own dinner out. My partner eats snacks in the kitchen. I have a bath with candles and go to bed early.

I was late closing my kitchen window just before 7pm. My alarm is now set for 5.30 and that should make it easier to finish by 6pm.

I think weekly would be optimal. Every fortnight, monthly is a good protocol. This is all I can manage.

I find the day ok. Dinner time at night is the hardest.

12:12 on Tuesday
8:16 rest of the time.

Sounds darn impressive @RickertyRocker ... I used to do that occasionally but with the dark days and rain, I am definitely looking for more sustenance. I am aiming though to do a 500 calorie in a one hour window once a week which typically gives me a 24h fast, and keeps my weight in check.. and is curiously satisfying. And a big WELCOME - it's great to have you on board!

Love that Hissy Fit has joined your life @StealthSightHound - just magnificent imagining the two of you together. What a great early `christmas present from your DVetFriend. And congrats on getting a CGM - is it easy to do? I had one as part of Zoe and fancy doing it again... I was fascinating to see how my blood sugar leapt up with porridge but was unaffected by 85pc chocolate - every 5 whole squares of it!!

Those all sound super-yummy @catsrus . Never used tiger nut flour but think Im going to seek some out!! I love that observation that you eat what you want but what you want has changed... I think I am on that journey, I found myself watching a Mary Berry cookery programme and thinking I can't imagine eating a big slice of chocolate cake or Victoria sponge now, no desire... ice cream and chocolate though, that's another matter. Tis an interesting journey we are all on.

@2Early4Breakfast - how are your calmer days going? And what time do you get up? So impressed... I'm a resistant riser when the weather is so dark.

A gluten-free Christmas @thenewaveragebear1983 sounds good - and so great to hear your energies up with iron and collagen. Sounds like you are flourishing at the moment!

Okay ... let's start building those festive season strategies. 20 Dec - 4 Jan is my real risk time, so I'm going to get in some practise before then - couple of parties coming up.

I'd love to hear your plans and thoughts - Im looking forward to adding them to mine as I create a really robust plan - core to which is coming on here daily from 20 December to declare what I'm going to do - and hopefully then come back and say Ive done it!! Great accountability. It helps me enormously to have an overall plan, but also to decide each day what I'm going to eat, or how I plan to approach each event.

So for the three parties Ive got coming up in the next 10 days: I am going to eat modestly at each (even as I type the word modest, I realise that is so NOT me and how I live my life!!)... I'm going to enjoy what's on offer, eat lowish carb and not too much. My DH is at each of these too, so I will tell him how I'm going to eat just before we go in, each time.

And then next day, I'll eat in a 4-6h window, and rather less than normal if the scales have gone up.

My other key tactic for those festive days so I can really enjoy them is to fill the house with "as much as I want" things - at the mo, bowls of cherry tomatoes, olives (which I adore!!), physalis and clementines ... what else can I add?? Oooh, radishes... got into the habit of eating them in France, and love how beautiful they look and how crunchy they are.

And last year we came up with ideas for wonderfully festive things that don't involve food... my list so far: Lots of Christmas music that I can dance around the kitchen too, and other I-just-want-to-dance music - what gets your feet moving? Im looking for new ideas: Caro Emerald I adore. Buying something aromatic and gorgeous for Christmas baths - and I've just ordered a pile of good crime fiction. Mmmmm.... Love to hear your thoughts!!

Actually @loveyouradvice I think I will take your advice and do a 500 cal in one hour. It makes more sense when the days are gloomy and cold. I find a clear and consistent meal plan is super helpful. Soups are great, I like tomato protein with cottage cheese) and Scottish lentil. I can easily meal plan and batch cook something for the freezer.

@StealthSightHound what is CGM please?

i feel good today. I bought some functional mushrooms after seeing them on my Facebook feed, I did my research and put it off for a while, but I decided to order some. I only took one a day not 2 but I definitely notice a difference, I feel quite ‘sharp’ and awake in quite a clean way. It’s a bit of a weird feeling actually, like when you go out for a walk in the wind on a cold day and you come in feeling really fresh. Not sure if I’ll continue with them and I definitely won’t be taking 2 a day!

my Christmas plans are to have the things I want, I’m moderation, and guilt free. But not to have the things I don’t want. The ‘just because’, the extras, the ones I don’t really fancy but have anyway, or the things where I feel I don’t want them
but i just can’t stop myself. That says a lot about the way I eat. But so much of what I eat is not actually what I want, and then I feel worse after eating it. I also have decided (I did this last year as well) that actually spacing the foods out and having things early in December rather than waiting for this big week of festivities. So for example we have some nice cheese and biscuits for this weekend.

i break up from work on the 19th and go back on 29th, which does mean at least I won’t have a full 2 weeks of madness. But I have had a really tough year and actually I’m quite looking forward to the madness. I was really poorly last year, on 20th December I developed Bell’s palsy and had total facial paralysis over Christmas, I couldn’t even blink or close my mouth, and ended up having 5 weeks off work.

if I can end December near enough what I started it I will be ecstatic. However i am realistic.

Just checking in for a minute on the new thread. Thank you @loveyouradvice
My Christmas strategy of not buying any of the typical Christmas goodies like mince pies, Christmas cake , which I love,until week of Christmas is going well so far.,Not buying them so not eating them. First Christmas meal & night out is this weekend. I’m going to do 16:8 even if my eating /drinking window shifts a bit later..