Christmas on Lighter Life Total

mils

Full Member
Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could help me with this. I am going to join LL this weekend and have worked out that I will hopefully get to my target weight around Feb/March 2012 and then start RTM. I have decided that if I am to do this diet then I will abstain from eating/drinking over the festive period.

Have any of you succeeded in doing this and if so how did you manage?

Thanks
 
I succeeded in abstaining during the Christmas period and it was pretty easy. The worst part was everyone else trying to convince me I was having a terrible time because I wasn't eating! It's a time when a lot of people on LLT fall off the waggon and find it a real struggle to get back on again. They allow themselves a day off which then turns to a week and a month and weight piles on again. If you allow yourself a day off you need to be REALLY strict with yourself about when you're going to go back on the packs again. The easiest thing to do is just stay on the packs but when everyone else around you is eating and giving you chocolates as gifts it can be hard. But it's far from impossible. Keep you goal in sight (book a weekend away for a point after you reach your goal and buy yourself a dress to fit into for it). If you have something to aim for past Christmas then it will keep you focussed. Good luck with your journey and just stay focussed on how incredible you're going to feel in the new year!
 
I was at goal by Christmas, but stayed on the diet through equally significant celebrations, (my birthday, hubbys, in laws too - my moms 90th Birthday bash, Thanksgiving, etc. - lots and lots of occassions that were high on the food side of things) including a month long holiday in California....if you put your mind to it, you can....and let's face it - Christmas is not a holiday about food....nor will itbe the last Christmas.

Get your head in the right place, plan on celebrating Christmas for other reasons that don;t include food, and you will have a wonderful holiday season. And it will come around next year, oddly enough. :D

Good on you for thinking it throughin advance - good planning is essential!!!

go for it - you won't regret it!

x
 
I did this diet back in 2008. I lost 3 n half stone up till Xmas. This is when it all went to pot!
I was 100% up to this point so thought I'll have just "Xmas day" off lighter life this was the biggest mistake this then turned into Xmas ad boxing day and then oh I'll just eat new year,just drink at that party etc etc! I faffed about for few weeks I could never then get back to it 100%!
I've now back on lighter life (today is first day after 3 years) and my one thing I've learnt is DO NOT BREAK IT FOR ANYTHING!! This year I will be sitting up the Xmas table with my LL pack! :)
 
You seem to have given a lot of thought to starting LL which is brilliant. I am a returner and wish more than anything I had not slipped off the eating plan. I will be cooking Christmas Dinner for the family but not having any. GOOD LUCK
 
I stayed abstinent last Christmas. I had one day where I found it difficult because I'd been cooking/making meals/serving snacks all day for family and visitors and was tired and felt a bit 'woe is me'. So I went upstairs with my shake and had some much-needed alone time with a few magazines and peace and quiet!

So so glad I stuck to my guns. At the time I remember feeling awkward that I was one of the few in my group who didn't plan to lapse. One year on and I'm in maintenance and haven't yet seen the rest of them join my group :(. As the others on here have said, don't underestimate the difficulty of getting back on track once you've gone off the programme!

For what it's worth, I planned to cook a big Christmas dinner in March, once I reached goal. The thought of that really helped (though when i got to March it didn't seem such a big deal anymore!)

Christmas is a time of such heightened emotions/expectations anyway, and LL is very much a mind thing. I found it helped to have little plans like this to keep me positive.

Good luck!
 
Spanglymum, that's awesome! I had secretly planned to have an "off day" at Xmas and just have a bit of turkey, etc etc, but ur post has made me rethink myself, and how much better I'll feel if I just stick with it!!

Thanks so much!! Xxxx
 
I advise against it Mrs B - but thats just me....

You have to weigh what is more important - tasting a bit of turkey for one day only and risking picking every day after slowing down your goal....


or.....staying true to your desire to hit your goal....

Is it really worth jeapordising just for a "bit of turkey"?

It's a no brainer to me. :)
 
I know, right?! It's ok - my mindset has changed now, so will stay focused!!!

Have become addicted to weightloss/health and fitness blogs on tumblr, and just want to get to goal and be healthy!!!I'm more determined than ever!! xxxx
 
Great mind set Hun, you are inspiring all of us!
 
I don't know whether or not I will be at or near goal come Christmas, but if I'm at goal I may well lapse for a day on Christmas. I'm a pretty strong willed person, so not sure I'd have much of a problem coming back on if I have to, and I may well have switched to RTM by that point anyway.

I was trying to ask my LLC about this last week and she said it's silly to try and think that far ahead at this point!
 
Lovely post from Spangly and I agree with BL.
I decided to remain on packs over Christmas even though I reached goal during December and I'm so glad I did.
I've known so many people decide to give themselves a day off as a treat and then disappear. It is very hard to get back on track once you lapse, even for a day. If you don't put on any weight or go out of ketosis your brain thinks it's okay to it again and it's human nature to push the boundaries.
I agree with your LLC Mrs B - see where you are nearer the time.
Good luck whatever you decide.
 
Yep SB - so true. Even thr strong have fallen. Remember Pete....he was so committed and so strong, and had that one peice of toast one day, and that was his demise. He has never gotten back the same focus he had. Shame really.

It is a very slippery slope to play around with - no matter how strong you feel. The mind is powerful and strong and I can;t really think of many who lapesed, either planned ornot that did not struggle. Even in for immediately follwoing - sometimes days or weeks later they found themselves in a game of stop start stop. Scary stuff.
 
We were talking about this in group last week and about how some times the expectation is far worse than when the day actually comes. I brought up that I have a hen night in October and couldnt imagine attending with out having a few drinks (I know that sounds awful lol!) but I think it's the expectation that it will be hard is the difficult bit. I know that if I am good I will wake up the next morning and be so happy that I stuck to it and I guess Christmas is the same. It's a shame they don't bring out a turkey soup for Christmas haha!
 
Because my sister is vegetarian, I don't cook xmas dinner. I usually go to my neighbours farm for the meal, help clear up and then I'm home again with no leftovers to tempt me. I'm not sure if I will go for a few slices of turkey and veg as its the social aspect I would miss and I wouldn't go to just eat a pack. I haven't decided either way and I'm going to wait until just before to see how I feel. I think that what is much more tempting for me is the special christmas sweets and baking and that will be available for at least 6 weeks before christmas in the shops. That is what I will be avoiding like the plague. None in the house and just black tea at friends houses...
 
I'm not sure if I will go for a few slices of turkey and veg as its the social aspect I would miss and I wouldn't go to just eat a pack. .

Just playin Devils ADvocate here - ;) - do you se the contradiction in the statement? That's crooked thinking. ;) :)

You can be social without breaking your diet. :)

<takes Devils Advocate hat off>

:D
 
I think there's a stigma here to breaking your diet and I don't think it's fair to assume that everyone who "falls off the wagon" won't be able to get on again. I couldn't count how many people here have admitted to breaking their diet several times even since I joined - and that's just on the LL forum, never mind all the other diet subforums on here. All of the LL folk who've come off (since I joined) have started afresh and are still doing well.

Different people react differently to different situations and stresses. Some people might find it hard to get back on the diet, true enough, but not all of us will and especially not if we make sensible choices in what we eat during our planned lapses.

Demonising food and eating isn't any more healthy than worshipping it is.
 
Hi BL, thanks for the devils advocate. This is a very traditional farm family who don't understand the issues of obesity. They are all active and don't overeat. I would stay away rather than make it awkward over dinner for them.
 
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