Can I just say..........

Gen

Normal
to anyone who is SS'ing 100% at the moment, mainly to the first timers, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BREAK IT.......

this is the only advice I can give to you guys.... it is almost impossible to get back the initial get up and go you have when you are a first time SS'er. You might think you will be able to but the majority of people cannot and it is soul destroying!!!

Christmas parties/Christmas/New year will come and go and there will be more next year (cos thats the way it works ha ha) and you will feel sooooooooooo good when you stick with it and you will be another stone, at least, down this on the 7th January 2007!!!

Please think long and hard guys about breaking it... i have been there and if i had the choice again i wouldn't have broken it and that is the honest truth!!

love to you all

Gen xxx
 
Here Here Gen

The best true words ever spoken about SSing!

I did Cd last year and lost nearly 3 stone in 9-10 weeks and regained it all I tried 8 months to get back on track........I did and lost 2st 5 in 8 weeks but stopped 9 days ago and Im trying like you wouldnt believe to get back on board.

As Gen says its not worth anything to break this as its fab when you stay on board of that SS wagon.

Good luck Guys
XXC
 
Couldn't agree more Gen

Great post

M.
 
I started the diet back in October 2005 and all I kept saying was that I would stick to the diet until Xmas Day and then I was stopping for a few days and would jump straight back on the diet.

Anyway that kind of got me through October and November and then December suddenly arrived and the panic of "will I or won't I" kind of kicked in. Then I met a guy (we'll call him Steve although his name was Simon lol), anyway he had around 5 stone to lose and I asked when he started the diet, he said it was 18 months earlier!! I asked why it had taken so long and he said that it was because he was 4 stone away from goal on Xmas Day (having lost 5 stone) and that he decided to stop for a few days and yet 11 months later he was actually heavier and had never finished the diet off. He said that eating on Xmas Day was the worst decision he ever made and begged me not to make the same mistake.

So that made my decision!! I decided to not eat on the big day and just do an AAM that week so at least I could have some turkey and some sprouts.

So the big day landed!! I woke up thinking my god this is going to be a hard day, I thought that I needed food and treats to enjoy the day and to be happy but do you know you don't. The best bit of Xmas Day is being with your family and friends and doesn't require food to be able to do that, I spent the day opening presents, playing with the kids and generally enjoying myself. I had my shakes (we had a limited edition orange spice last Xmas which was yummy!) and I had my turkey with sprouts which was lovely and then it hit me like a brick! I suddenly realised that it was a glorified sunday lunch and I was 7 stone lighter, to make a decision between being slim and eating a plate of food is non comparible and the feeling of smashing through the finish line and hitting goal weight is better than any cranberry stuffing!

And I do think that you must must MUST break the relationship in our heads between food and family, food and friends and food and having a good time. It just doesn't stop you enjoying your life.

And the final thing was that at 9pm on Xmas Day I was playing Twister with my 7 year old, now the big me could never have done that due to technical reasons lol, anyway!!! it suddenly occurred to me that any normal old Christmas and I would have been so stuffed with food and half drunk with port and red wine that I would have been slumped in the chair asleep but actually by not eating it allowed me to spend longer with the kids and actually I enjoyed last Xmas Day more than any other when I was big.

Oh and I got some lovely clothes on the day which were a pride to wear as I actually looked ok in them.

Anyway just my recollections of the day and good luck to all in whatever choice you make but you don't need to eat on Xmas Day, I thought I did but now looking back if I had then I might still be big now and that makes me KNOW I made the right decision.

Mike
 
I am very lucky in the I didn't have to "do" Christmas on SS as I started on Jan 4th this year and reached goal a few weeks ago. I DID however do 2 holidays on SS and I am SO glad I stuck to it, and remained "in the zone" until the time was right. I agree with everything Icemoose said about breaking our relationship with food/friends, food/family, food/having a good time. SS is something you have to do to get where you want to be as soon as is safely possible ( I look at it as a motorway) if you choose to leave the motorway and explore the countryside, you might not find it again, or be able to get back on it!
Ann x
 
digested and taken on board !!
 
Problem for me is that we always do christmas with the extended family at two different aunties' and they do get offended when no one ears coz they spend hours cooking. My people fry chicken. we do not roast turkey.
we have to go but i haven't come up with a plan on how to cope yet. One of them will ynderstand and she always has veg but the other....
 
Problem for me is that we always do christmas with the extended family at two different aunties' and they do get offended when no one ears coz they spend hours cooking. My people fry chicken. we do not roast turkey.
we have to go but i haven't come up with a plan on how to cope yet. One of them will ynderstand and she always has veg but the other....


I know that is going to be hard but cant you just say you have a tummy bug and have to lay off the food ,say your shakes are a complain build up for vitiumns as you have been sick???I know its a white lie but once you eat its hard to get back on track?
I hope you do thou if you eat
XXC
 
The other way to approach it is to be selfish. Do YOU want to come off SS??? make sure it is YOUR decision. You can't do SS and people please at the same time. If your Aunt has a problem, it is HER problem, not yours - I bet she'll be amoung the first to congratulate you when you are at goal. I have found, with one person in particular, he is now actually pleased that I stood up to him and said "no" to meals out and food. (we were on holiday with him and his wife.) He now understands what I was doing, and why I was doing it. At the end of the day, you can't make an omlette without breaking aggs can you?
I know this sounds harsh, but sometimes the decisions we have to make ARE harsh - and it's only a few short months out of your whole life after all. There'll be time enough to indulge at all these family gatherings in the future.
Ann x
 
Hello Nic... please please don't panic... take back the control you have had over the past however long you have been ss'ing.. i see from your tracker you have done really really well.. you obviously had huge control to get this far...

now... on the binge front and planning the binge... i think we are all the same on this one... maybe not a binge... but i know when i decide to eat thats it... caution to the wind and get as much of the 'nice' stuff in as possible cos i'm gonna be starving myself again soon... but unfortunately that soon doesn't come.. well not soon enough.... and you end up in the rollercoaster of ss'ing for a half a day and then breaking it and so on and so on....

rather than plan to eat at this early stage... maybe just let it take a back seat for another week or two and see how you feel then??? eating might not be such a big deal to you when you have another 4 or 6lb off and you might just not want to eat and ruin all ur good work and risk the huge possibility that you won't be able to get back on track....

you are in no way a 'mentalist' girl you are only human and have gone without your normal food for ages and now you see a chance to get it in in a short space of time and by gum you are going to go for it... i'd be exactly the same... but is it worth it??? it is definitely a head thing little by little i'm getting sense but it is a journey!!

try to get back thinking why you are doing this in the first place and why you don't want to put the weight back on

eating really is sooooo last year and whatever you do if you do take a break DO NOT GIVE YOURSELF A HARD TIME.... cos i think that is where we have all being going wrong from the start of dieting... we give out to ourselves then eat to comfort ourselves and the cycle starts all over again....

whatever you decide, and to be honest i wouldn't be trying to do that this early, we will all be here to support you!!!

hope that wasn't too much of a rant but i swear if i had the first flush of SS again i wouldn't break it and thats that... not for love nor money nor brad pitt well maybe brad but jesus wouldn't you :D :D :D

love

Gen xx
 
This is slightly O/T, and I am doing CD790 anyway, but I was in the car today thinking about how all the magazines and newspapers will be getting ready with their 'Detox and lose weight in the New Year' kind of articles. Usually I study these in a complete panic, but this year I am looking forward to being slimmer than I would have expected in the New Year due to the time I have been on CD. I do find the whole thing difficult but I do like the payoff.

Early next year I have an appointment with the consultant who will be doing my hysterectomy, probably round February time. I keep telling myself that at least he won't be looking at me and telling me that if I lost weight it would help me get over the op and reduce the possibility of side effects. I will however try to pin him down on the question of why a lot of ladies seem to gain weight after the op, even when they don't eat much; not looking forward to the thought of that!

Louise
 
Great post Gen, very wise words indeed. When I started SSing in January, I read quite a few posts from people who had come off over Christmas and were really struggling to get back into it. I decided then & there that I was not going to break it, at all, for any reason, as I knew I would be one of the people who just wouldn't be able to get back into it. I SS'd through my birthday in February and although it was weird not to go out to my favourite restaurant, my hubby gave me the money we normally spend on a meal, on top of my birthday present and I spent all day at the Bullring in Birmingham buying wonderful products. I realised that celebrating an occasion doesn't have to be about food & that was a real biggie for me, you can actually enjoy yourself without food - what a shocker!!:)

It's not easy & I really do take my hat off to anyone who can SS over Christmas, buts it just one year, every Christmas after this one, you'll be a slim you & all because you stuck to it for this one year.

Go for it guys, whilst you're in the zone, make the most of the Golden Opportunity that is the first time you SS. You can never do it for the first time again.

x
 
Great post, and I agree. I went to my FIL's wedding and didn't eat, drink booze, OR smoke the whole day. I had to be confident (which I'm not, I just fake it when needed, I think of someone I perceive to be v v confident, and pretend to be them), which was tough, but a good learning experience for me.

And it meant I reached my goal in April, and am still within a stone of it now.

There will be other christmases, social occasions, weddings, christenings, bar mitvah's, whatever floats your boat, there will be more! And this time you will get to enjoy them, but you will be enjoying the food/drink on your own terms. And in considerably better clothes!!
 
Quite right too Gen girl

Quite right too

Ivy
 
Gotta agree with Gen and others....the first time is the golden time! I know this from bitter personal experience and also from the many, many clients that I see going through the frustration and upset after having taken a "planned break"! In my opinion, its not worth it but ultimately the choice is yours and at least with a thread like this you can make an informed choice.

Mike I don't know if you remember, but last Christmas I posted on DH about my experience the Christmas before and you put that post on your blog....my thoughts have not changed and I am still here now 2 years later not really back on track!!!

For those of you that don't know I was less than a stone away from goal at Christmas 2004 and I took a "planned break"....have never really got back on since and am now at least 3 stone away from goal! Did it make my Christmas anymore enjoyable to have eaten....no! What made it the best Christmas was all the compliments and feeling great about myself! Is that the feeling that I would like to carry with me always? Hell YES!!

Now, I'm finally back in gear and chipping away at it slowly but it is never the same as the first time round..... whether you're a Counsellor or not!
 
I just want to say that this thread is brilliant. I am SS'ing and will be for months yet... I have arranged to have my AAM from Dec 23 to 29th as this will mean I can sit and have my turkey and veg and Stuffin muffin with my girls each day if I want to.

I am SO determined NOT to break my diet this Christmas and have already turned down one invitation to a Chrimbo lunch because it will be too hard. I'm not perfect and I'm not pretending that it will be easy, but it IS like you are all saying.. it's a glorified sunday dinner... and excuse to gorge to the point of discomfort... I plan to have a great Christmas time without food! I won't be spending the amounts of money I normally do on all that crappy extra stuff that is so bad for everyone.. I shall have the special apple juice in for guests, and maybe some mince pies but maybe not... I won't be breaking this plan because I AM MORE IMPORTANT than a few days in the year. The whole point of Christmas is NOTHING to do with food and drink and excess... that is just how we have made it. I am looking forward to sitting watching dvds, taking the dog to the lakes (weather permitting) and not feeling uncomfortably stuffed nor squiffy (mind you that's never really been my thing anyway)... and I have been told countless times by lots of the lovely peeps on here to NOT break SS or AAM coz of Christmas, and they know!!! So.. thank you ALL... and to the lady who has an auntie who will be offended... let her be offended... she'll get over it... unlike you, if you gain weight you will be kicking yourself for weeks... just not worth that.. If she really is going to be mega upset then call her now, explain what you are doing and why it is vital for her to support you, tell her that you know you can count on her support and that's why you are confiding in her... tell her that it is because you love her and know she takes so much time and trouble that you are making the special effort to ask for her to help you .. If you say the right things she will feel so loved and so needed that she will be only too happy to support your SSing and probably tell others to do the same!! :D

Good luck to all who plan to SS/AAM/790/whatever plan you are on... over the Christmas period- it is only a couple of weeks investment in the well-being of the rest of your life! We can all do this! :D xx (thanks Gen,... brill thread)
 
Gen - Thanks for this thread, it's been great.

I am quite close to my goal, but struggling. You made me realise that this year I'll be three stone lighter. I know it, but my thinking is still fat. I was thinking planned binge too! But now I'm not.

In fact I'm going to go and buy myself a pair of trousers from M&S. Just plain straight trousers that they've been doing on and off for years. I wore a pair last Christmas because it was the only thing that fitted. with a longline jacket. They were a size 20. This year I'm going to buy the size 10's. I'm going to wear them on Christmas day with a fitted cashmere jumper (Thanks to Primark only £20!) and enjoy my 790 meal.

Food and family - I come from an Indian family and they won't get it. But I've lied horribly to my family and said I've been diagnosed with Syndrome X - the pre-diabetes disease. I have a clear consience on this as if I'd been tested I'm pretty sure I would have had it. Diabetes levels are high in Indian families so they've all backed off on the food;)
 
I hate to be the poo-pooer here, but this thread REALLY bothers me. :eek: I think there are smart choices people can make. CD has actual plans for 790 and 1000 calorie plans. Given the number of choices usually involved in a christmas dinner, most people will have options that fit into these plans. If not, adjustments can be made so that they are.

I think telling someone to stick to SS and then giving signs of dread is counter productive. Not everyone's family knows they are on a VLCD. In divorced families, sometimes Christmas meal is very special as a parent might not see their children much-they dont need to be sitting in a room by themselves while the rest of the family eat.

I think threads like this encourage people to feel pressure to do one thing and if not feel guilty about the choice they make--instead of logically working out what is best for them. Healthy choices CAN be made.

Taking the all or nothing approach is silly. You dont have to SS and you dont have to binge and treat the Christmas table like a never ending buffet. People have different needs and temperments. Offering past experiences is great, it is the backbone of support on this forum. We all need it and appreciate it.:) :D But i think this all or nothing approach undermines peoples ability to make choices right for them, to take responsibility for their choices, and not be bogged down by guilt, a very destructive emotion.

I really hope this hasnt come out to harsh!:eek: I just dont want someone beating themselves up over a choice that was made logically and taking in the realities of life (not just let me eat, eat eat!) and was right for THEM.
 
I hate to be the poo-pooer here, but this thread REALLY bothers me. :eek: I think there are smart choices people can make. CD has actual plans for 790 and 1000 calorie plans. Given the number of choices usually involved in a christmas dinner, most people will have options that fit into these plans. If not, adjustments can be made so that they are.

I think telling someone to stick to SS and then giving signs of dread is counter productive. Not everyone's family knows they are on a VLCD. In divorced families, sometimes Christmas meal is very special as a parent might not see their children much-they dont need to be sitting in a room by themselves while the rest of the family eat.

I think threads like this encourage people to feel pressure to do one thing and if not feel guilty about the choice they make--instead of logically working out what is best for them. Healthy choices CAN be made.

Taking the all or nothing approach is silly. You dont have to SS and you dont have to binge and treat the Christmas table like a never ending buffet. People have different needs and temperments. Offering past experiences is great, it is the backbone of support on this forum. We all need it and appreciate it.:) :D But i think this all or nothing approach undermines peoples ability to make choices right for them, to take responsibility for their choices, and not be bogged down by guilt, a very destructive emotion.

I really hope this hasnt come out to harsh!:eek: I just dont want someone beating themselves up over a choice that was made logically and taking in the realities of life (not just let me eat, eat eat!) and was right for THEM.

Hey Palmettofairy

Thank you for your reply to this thread. It is great to see a different approach to xmas and I'm sure everyone who is ss'ing or doing whatever programme they are doing will do what is right for them on the day!!

Hope you are getting on well with whatever programme you are doing

love

Gen xx
 
Hey Palmettofairy

Thank you for your reply to this thread. It is great to see a different approach to xmas and I'm sure everyone who is ss'ing or doing whatever programme they are doing will do what is right for them on the day!!

Hope you are getting on well with whatever programme you are doing

love

Gen xx

Let me tell you how much I have been stressing after I posted because it sounded so mean and negative!!! Sometimes I just dont express myself well.:eek: Thanks for a very gracious response.:D
 
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