Thursday 20 November 2008

A christmas conundrum

I wonder how many bloggers start off by thinking that they'll post every day. And I wonder how long each of them lasts at that.

I think there are good things and bad things about blogging. I love writing it, and I love getting the comments and supports from my fellow bloggers, but the one bad thing is that it does dramatically increase the amount of the day that I spend thinking about the diet and the food that I'm not eating.

Things have settled down in to a pretty good routine at the moment. I've got making and shaking the Total Food Replacements down to a fine art, and I do love not having to spend time thinking about what I'm going to eat when I get home from work. People at work have calmed down now that they've realised that I'm not going to explode/become thinner than them in a matter of weeks. My health is good, my energy levels are great, and the side effects I was experiencing (constipation, dry lips, coldness) have all but vanished.

Yet I can't shake a slight feeling of 'mergh' that I can't seem to describe with an other word.

I think it might be Christmas. I love Christmas, love the build up, love the day itself, love just thinking about it for months and months before hand.... and I honestly never thought before that any part of that love revolved around food, yet I find myself thinking longingly of all the foods that I wont be eating, all the selection boxes that will go unwrapped, and all the puddings that will not melt tantalizingly on my tastebuds.

What does that mean? That I'm so shallow and obsessed with food that the only enjoyment I get from the hi-light of the Christian calendar is cake??? That my love affair with Christmas is really an opportunity to gorge myself without anyone judging me?

Friends and family that I've explained this to, came up with the wonderful advice of simply 'saving' all of the good food until my diet ends 3 weeks after Christmas. Good to know that the art of completely missing the point is not dead! If I save myself a little hoard of cakes and chocolates and puddings ready to tuck into the second the 12 weeks is up, just how long will my new found figure and resolution last? But if I don't, do I really have the strength to miss out on the time of year that I spend at least 11 months looking forward to?

It's a conundrum alright, any tips from more experienced dieters?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not an expert dieter. I did try Howard's Way in the summer and it worked fantastically, since coming off the diet I found that my outlook on food in general has changed....you really do look at what you eat a lot closer...my downfall has been laziness in planning and preparing food....so don't stress about Xmas and 3 weeks after Xmas...you will eat "some" of the lovely food..but I'm sure you'll remember the 12 weeks you've just been through which will stop any extra temptations!

Lesley said...

Not sure I'm afraid as I started LL aftre Christmas and finished it in October.

This year am just doing a brief pre-Christmas refresher so will be able to eat (in moderation) around the day itself. I know what you mean about feeling sad though - it's like a grieving process for losing something you loved....not to be too dramatic about it.

Try to focus on the good stuff. fitting into fab party clothes and feeling fitter and smaller and how great you'll feel next year when the dieting (but not the maintaining) is over and a slim new life is yours!!

Lesley x

Anonymous said...

I agree with both comments. Xmas will be there next year, but just think how great you will feel when Xmas day comes and you get dressed into your special outfit and you will feel like a million dollars!! When people say what would you like for christmas, say money or vouchers and when you are at the weight you are happy with and done all that they say, you can hit the shops bigtime and buy what you like, rather than what makes you look slimmer (even if you don't like it).
Well done you!! Love Lisa.X

Katie Steed said...

Hey guys, thanks for the emails and everything, much appreciated. Am feeling much better about the whole Christmas thing because of it, and am going to follow a few people's suggestions and ask my family to tone down their celebrations this year to make it a bit easier.

They've been really great, said they'll try not to eat too much in front of me and think of lots of other things to do to take my mind off it. Guess there'll be a lot of Monopoly!!!

Did buy my Christmas outfit today too. I can't really fit in to it yet (unless someone does up the zip) but hopefully I'll be feeling so good on the big day because I fit in to it that I'll forget about the good food and just enjoy myself.

Thanks again guys