Food: Christmas: A Dieter's Nightmare Revisited

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Christmas: A Dieter's Nightmare Revisited
Thursday, December 07, 2006

Oh, no, Christmas is coming! Cookies and candy and feasts galore! What's a dieter to do? It seems that temptation exists in every corner and we always rationalize our choices by saying 'I'll make that up tomorrow' or 'my diet will start again after the holidays.' Believe it or not, there *is* a way to have the holiday foods you love but still not gain a screaming amount of pounds on the scale.

The best way to be smart about what you eat is to break down your portions. If you get to try a slice of that yummy chocolate cake you haven't allowed yourself to eat all year, do you *really* need to eat two slices? You can't say 'one slice isn't enough to fill me up' because after that you will say two slices isn't enough either and you will really be in trouble. If you choose to sample different kinds of dessert, cut small pieces of each. You might want to try one now and one the next day if you bring home leftovers. The cake isn't going to spoil in one day!

Look at the size of your normal family dinner plate. Envision some of your favorite Christmas foods lined up on the plate. Imagine what a nice-sized portion of stuffing is, a small but fulfilling slice of ham, veggies, and a little bit of dessert. That's what you need to do; have what you love, but eat smaller amounts of it than you did before. I used to think 'well, if I can't have two pieces of my cake, I won't have any.' That's definitely a defeatist attitude and it won't help you in your fight.

Just because you can eat anything you want in smaller portions doesn't mean you have to go through with *all* of it. You might not want to bake dozens of Christmas cookies this year if you know most of them will sit around and pose a beguiling temptation every day. You can choose to make one or two nice desserts that the whole family can help you eat.

I used to help with my family's baking and we would make a bunch of cookies. Yes, some of them would be sent away to friends and family, but most of them remained in the cookie dish for my hungry stomach to find. This is not going to help your willpower! If you have extra cookies, freeze them; and then leave them alone until you're *really* hungry for them.

Leftovers are tricky. If you go to Christmas meals at friends' or relatives' homes, it seems like a practical idea to bring things home for later. This is terrific - I do it myself - but you'll want to monitor how much you get. If you took a cake and most of it is left after dinner, you don't have to bring the whole cake home again. Take a slice for each member of your family and tell someone else they can do the same. Only take enough home for each person; you don't have to grab up all the leftovers.

Allow yourself some slack. Chances are that your scale will show a difference after Christmas; you may gain a couple pounds, and that's normal. Just make sure to keep track of how much you gain, and try not to make it a usual occurrence. Also remember that some of the gain may be induced by salty foods you'll probably eat over the holidays. I have to remind myself every time I'm disappointed that eventually my scale will stop driving me crazy and actually show what I believe is the right weight! If your scale isn't showing any change and you know you've lost, it's time to see what's wrong.

Many people (and I used to be one of them!) would be discouraged by the gain and refuse to keep going. That's never the right choice! You have to keep taking a step forward even if you keep going two steps back. Dieting isn't easy, but it's well worth it when you can have the confidence and health you desire. Holidays may seem impossible to get through but a little planning will do wonders and you'll be glad you took the effort to do so.

When New Year's comes, I suggest taking inventory of your fridge and freezer. You'll want to start anew; after all, most of us include weight loss in our New Year's resolutions. When you've gone back to your healthy eating patterns, you should be glad that it will be a whole long year until you have to work Thanksgiving and Christmas into your diet schedule once more!

By Lacie R. Schaeffer

3:54 AM

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