Xmas worries!!!!!

[SUZIEB]

I know it's silly but i'm already stressing over xmas!

I finish LL at the beg december and at the beginning it was only ever to get a big weight loss to spur me on to eat healthily and continue sensibly after that...seriously didn't think i could continue past that point.

7 weeks in and 3 stone down so i'm hoping for around 5 stone total in the 14 weeks, the thing is this won't bring me to anywhere near goal and depending on how my weight loss stabilises that will take a further few months

so on a good day i'm sticking to it and raring to go til the bitter end but - and i know i'm gonna get shouted at here - lol - all i want is my xmas dinner and new years eve out and i'm already stressing that if i stick to it i may set myself up for a fall cos i'll be so peeed off that i may just say - sod it and have what i want..

Is there a sensible way i can do this so i don't feel deprived and don't binge or eat stupidly and can easily stay in ketosis? I haven't cheated - others in my group have and i'm worried that if i do i'll start to feel hunger and that will be the slippery slope downwards???

sorry to be a right worry wort and i kinda feel that i've made the decision to have 1 meal and 1 night out over the festivities but will this ruin it all??????

 

[flirty40greeneyes]

Hi Suzie
I started LL last October - a size 20/22 and weighing 15st. I transferred to CD because of price - but the principle's the same. I made a conscious decision to come off CD on Xmas eve and went back on it 2weeks later after New Yrs day........ I ate/drank what I wanted in those 2 weeks and still lost 2lb!!!!!! I was not able to consume the portion sizes I had before and I was sensible but nothing was a "no no".

Having said that I know that CD and LL say you are better to stick on the diet and "what's 1 Xmas dinner out of your life" etc. It's up to you ultimately and I'm not trying to influence you, just tell you what I did! ......... Oh I went on to lose 4 stone and get down to a size 14.

 

[SUZIEB]

hiya flirty,
wow great losses! i've never been a size 14 in my life and that is my ultimate goal.

I have read with interest other peoples posts about swopping to cd after ll and the fact that it is more flexible both appeals and terrifies me!!!

i'm gonna keep that decision til the end of my 14 weeks - i'm not sure to what level the counselling continues and also i have a fab group of ladies in my group and a few of them are continuing to development so i may prefer to stick with the same group.

Whichever vlcd i end up on after the 14 weeks isn't gonna matter re xmas really - maybe i'll be strong enough at the time to abstain but i feel like a right stick in the mud at times as i'm refusing pretty much all invites out - have a couple of fab best friends though who keep dragging me off to the pics and shopping... but can't manage that on xmas day and new years eve!!! LOL...

 

[flirty40greeneyes]

Suzie
The other thing on CD is that you can do 790plan - which keeps you in ketosis, but allows you a small meal as well.

You still have your 3 meal replacements (or 4 if you are male or female over 5'8) but you add in a meal of protein and vegetables/salad.

I found this to be a compromise that worked well when I was doing maintenance and wanted to go out for a meal and not do SS.

 

[Flopster]

Hi Suzie

I am not going to be popular for saying this probably but I have struggled to maintain abstinence for about a month now. On Sunday night I went out with family and a friend and decided to have a chicken salad. I didn't come out of ketosis and it may have affected my loss slightly but the next day I was still showing a half pound loss from the night before.

For me this journey hasn't been about maintaining the state of abstinence it has been about programming my brain to stay "slim" afterwards. So for me, if I am out and have a chicken salad, rather than "failing" in terms of failing to stay abstinent, I am actually feeling "successful" because I am able at the moment to go out and have a sensible meal, I am able to put a bracket around that day and then I am able to slip straight back into abstinence immediately. I have been doing this for about a month now and have still lost my stone.

I did have a few weeks where I was nibbing through feeling deprived and that slowed down my weight loss. This way I am making sensible decisions in adult mode, I am able to move on from them and I don't have any guilt.

For me it was the guilt that always lead to my downfall. If I have learnt nothing else it has been that I am able to control my thoughts and that I am capable of making sensible decisions. For me the extra counselling has been a major success.

With regards to moving over into CD, yes the extra bars and the AAM and 790 plans feel appealing but I think the Management programme on LL is fabulous, I am looking forward to reintroducing food in a controlled manner with the support of my group and counsellor.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[Karen1972]

Hi there

I started LL end of August last year and i did not eat over xmas, it's just another day and not worth jeapordising your fantastic results - it won't stop at one meal or one day i promise you!! Last year so many people ate on xmas day and just totally lost the plot - even in the new year they struggled to get back on track - IT'S NOT WORTH IT!! There'll be plenty of meals for you to eat once you get to your target - don't punish yourself by cheating halfway through!!!

I lost 8lbs over xmas and was the only one in my group to do so - and i'm the only one close to my target weight now!!!!

You have been warned lol

 

[Wobbly]

I'm building up through maintainance through December so that I can eat and drink over xmas and new year.

To be honest, I'm not totally sure that this is the right thing - hopefully by December I should be only about a stone, a stone and a half from a BMI 25, but on the other hand, if I carried on through xmas etc, I would be definately at BMI 25 by the end of the festive season! My plan currently is to go onto healthy eating in Jan, or poss back to CD, but maybe at 790.

I really want to be able to enjoy this Christmas etc as NOT the fattest person in the picture, and being a new thinnish version of myself - this is whats motivating me to stay on SS at the moment, so I don't think anything would change my mind.

To be honest, only you can really decide this. Can you see your self definately getting back on the wagon after christmas, and not just eating everything because you can (sorry if you don't do that second bit, thats me )? If you can then go for it.

 

[CLUCKS]

All I do about Xmas is currently 'food fantasise' - I will not share these thoughts only because as much as they are nice to me once you start open discussions about what you're PLANNING to eat it makes everyone else join in!
I will be in maintenance by this time though not sure I should be ever set free into the 'food world' again!
I know that I will become 'rebellious child' on Xmas Day & Boxing Day BUT I will go back to total abstinance IMMEDIATELY after as I have saved my packs to do this. I like abstinance as its controlled and easy!

But like you am fretting about it!

Guess at the end of the day - we must be strong, if we return to old habits then we will return to old size!

Luv
Clare
xxx

 

[Maintainer]

I got to target in December 2003 (not through a VCLD) and I admit that I totally lost the plot over the entire Christmas period.

As someone so wisely says above, the trouble is that it's unlikely to just be a meal or two that you allow yourself.

I regained about 10lbs over the Christmas/New Year period 2003 and I really struggled to get back into healthy eating in January. I suffered far more hunger than before, as had got used to eating more again, and it took me probably 2 months to get rid of those 10lbs!

Now, third Christmas in maintenance I'm STILL having that conversation with myself that "Christmas is but one day", not an entire two week period! I still have to watch it...

 

[CAROLYNE42XX]

Hi SuzieB

I would advise to stop worrying what is 11 weeks away. A lot can happen in that time and probably one of the things will be a dramatic weight loss in that time, and you will probably make your own mind up leading upto Christmas of not having a meal.

A similar thing happened to me, 10 weeks into the programme it was my brother's wedding in a posh hotel and we were staying overnight. How could I disappoint my brother by not eating at all. I waited until the week before, which I was showing a loss of 3.5 stone by then and I made a decision that I was going to eat. On the advice of the LL Counsellor I just kept to proteins and I did have the pudding of brandy snap basket with exotic fruits then I had nothing else until next day, I had grilled bacon, mushrooms, beans and scrambled egg and fruit juice. I was absolutely dreading getting onto the scales three days later, but when I did I was 4lbs down. I worried unnecessarily.

So I think you should concentrate on now rather than later, a couple of weeks before start planning and act accordingly. Even if you decide to eat it wouldn't be the end of the world and you could still have your Turkey dinner to a point but then that has to be the end of that.

As Karen said earlier and Ive seen also, that people who come off the programme find it soooooooooooo very hard to get back into it and theres nothing you can do to support them but a day off and get back onto the Programme there is no big deal - I managed it fine with no hiccups.

Whatever you decide I hope you make the right decision for YOU.

 

[CLUCKS]

Sounds like great advice to me xxxx

 

[SUZIEB]

thanks girls, as you say carolyne it is weeks away so expect this post again on xmas eve - LOL!!!