Losing weight and getting through Christmas

[chalkyc2]

I started on an effort to lose weight just after Easter this year. Most likely it's a year long plan to get from over 40 BMI down to normal. Im at around 30 BMI now. I've not really 'cheated' much - and been quite strict in terms of cutting out sugar in particular. The cold turkey approach seems to have worked better than just cutting down. I don't eat chocolate....rather than I eat a bit then lose all willpower!

But...I love Christmas! I love mince pies, chocolate orange, Lindt teddies, mulled wine.... it feels completely miserable to not have any of that! But equally would it just derail me completely. Maybe I need to face up to not having any of that stuff again - a bit like an alcoholic doesn't ever go back to drinking?!

What is everyone else who is on a weight loss journey thinking about how to get through Christmas?!

I've decided switch my usual choc advent calendar for a beauty one.

What weigh loss meds are you using @SleepingBooty? That's an impressive loss in 3 weeks!

I've been prescribed phentermine by a WL clinic. Daily tablet which is an appetite suppressant. It is half the price of the skinny jab.

Are you in the UK? I think it's very rare for phetamine to be prescribed here due to the fact it's not an NHS approved drug and is also addictive. It seems to be used in the USA more.

I'm in the UK and was prescribed by a nurse at weight loss clinic that the NHS refers patients to.

I'm having regular check ups, it's working great for me.

I think these smaller Lindt bears that I saw yesterday might be a good idea. Still a lovely treat.

Yes - they're delicious @waistchallenge !!

I'm coming round to thinking I'll hold off the chocolate (no Lindt d'or calendar this year!) and mince pies and have some Christmas pudding on the day, and a few choice glasses of wine across the week.

And a bucket load of peloton/running/exercise!

I only have a week off work so back to normal quick. As of today I've lost just over 5 and a half stone and have just under 3 stone to go!

Wow, that is some achievement 👏

Wow 5.5 stone - an achievement to treasure right there.

I know what you mean about fearing that one tiny taste will create a deluge of longing. It feels like a balance that can easily be tipped and land you back in the ways you have 50 years of experience in!

You are good at this!
Your choices are as on this thread. You know what works best for you.

You could abstain completely and find things you like as treats instead (they don't have to be food). Have them ready and be mentally prepared to swap in your treat before longing sets in. ( eg I can feel very comfortable - and treated- having double cream in my coffee when everyone else is having cake. It doesn't feel like deprivation but also I know that it doesn't create the hunger for sweet things that cake will leave me with and this is always strengthening thought.)

Or you could make Christmas day /Christmas dinner your exception (or even 3 random days over Christmas) and have anything you want with your meals that day. Pick your day's indulgencies in advance? (Allow Lindt - if you can savour it and stick to a promised limit.)

Your rule about avoiding between meals snacks is one you could still apply if you felt like it. Snacks do really add mossively to a day's calories in a way that meals don't.

(If you indulge in sweet things... be prepared to be very strict and stern with yourself for at least a whole week after -and absolutely refuse to budge no matter how you plead with yourself 😀)

@chalkyc2 Just as an update on where I stand with this, I treated myself to an advent calendar after a whole year of almost no milk chocolate (one or two bars at most), only 90 or 100% chocolate and: oh no! 😱

I know it seems like exaggeration but I feel like an addict who's relapsed. I've got the advent calendar on my mind all the time and I feel a strong urge to open all the doors and eat the lot in one go. This idea of having a very little in a controlled way isn't for me, unfortunately 😔

It seems directly related to milk chocolate as I am fine with a small piece or two of 90%. Maybe it's the sugar triggering an urge to binge? Or it's just me remembering how I was before and going back to that?

I did look for a very dark advent calendar but didn't see one. I did see cheese, which might have been far better.

I think I'll have to give this one away.

Oh no @waistchallenge !!

But I agree this is what I'm afraid of! I know some people say after not having things for a while then you don't want them anymore...well I do! I want the crisps and the chocolate and the wine!!! But I'm not - because I want to reach my target weight and I want to stay there.

A little of what you fancy isn't always a good thing....

Thanks, well at least now I know and I've learnt something no matter how disappointing.

At least someone can understand me, I feel loads of people wouldn't get why I have this urge to eat the whole thing and on paper it sounds a bit crazy. Of course most people can control themselves, maybe you could too? Considering how far you've come and how close you are to your goal perhaps it's best not to test things at this moment though?

It's funny because I was the one who suggested small Lindt bears! 🤣

Definitely cheese or beauty advent calendar next time!

I wanted the White Company one - but it was £190!! I decided therefore no advent calendar....and my husband bought me a random comedy one 🤣

God those Lindt bears though. I've seen they do extra massive ones this year too!

I'm more and more thinking it's like alcohol addiction - just need to cut it out completely. Maybe further down the line. I'm on a weight loss 'stall' at the moment which is annoying!

My vice is tunnocks caramel wafers and I have one a day with a cup of tea after the morning school run. I cut it into 10-12 slices and they tend to fall apart so eating it but by bit takes much longer than taking bites of the whole thing. Alternate with a sip of tea and I have a lovely morning ritual. I had a chocolate advent calendar once as a child and olI saved all the chocolates up until Christmas. I much prefer paper ones.

How's everyone getting on? I got back on the wagon after the advent calendar fiasco, but I'm about to relax the rules today. I have noticeably gained on my tummy, even in this short time and from the disruption to my normal exercise routine.

All good this end - we went out for dinner last week and I did have a few chips, but no booze or chocolate so far. Mostly because I'm trying to tell myself this is how I eat now - it's not a temporary thing to lose weight, because I know it will go straight back on! I've been trying to get some exercise in every day even if it's just a 20 min peloton.

I'll have my promised Christmas pudding tomorrow though!

2 stone to lose after Xmas and then I need to maintain.

That sounds great, we're through the bulk of the dinners/parties now and most people said they would take Christmas day "off" anyway.

I'm still not going to have milk chocolate at all. I've realised I simply can't, but I am going to have cheese with biscuits, some fancy fruit I love (lychees and persimmons) and also and I'm going to have Christmas cake instead of pudding, no real idea why! Plus high cocoa chocolate and maybe hot chocolate from scratch, just not milk chocolate.

By the way, did you know that if you serve the pudding with plenty of cream it's supposed to reduce the blood sugar spike? I think I'm right in saying that, anyway, if anyone knows better please do correct.

This whole time has been a learning process for me.

I've also got twiglets! OK, I'm not going to have all of these things, I just wanted to mention my non-milk chocolate treats!

I'm going for the mini-treats approach. I'm doing keto so usually no/v.low carbs.

Today I have had one chocolate covered shortbread biscuit (DD only likes the non choc ones in the box).
Tomorrow I will have a few roast potatoes and some bread sauce and a small portion of xmas pudding.

I am aiming to maintain over Christmas rather than lose weight, and I have a weigh in with the GP early January to help me keep focus!