In my last blog, I talked about how I made it through a high calorie holiday meal without going off my diet. The secret was willpower.
Where do you find the inner strength to resist eating a 12-course meal topped off with two or three desserts?
The answer is fairly simple: Your desire to lose needs to be more important than a plate of scallops or fettuccini alfredo. Sadly, it’s amazing how a goal to fit in a smaller size outfit can go out the window when faced with a plate of sugar cookies.
There’s no magic wand that will make your love of food become secondary to your desire to lose weight. Sure, during the week you can do the broiled chicken breast diet, but there are always occasions that place high calorie foods directly in front of you.
What to do? Surprisingly, my answer is Eat It! Yes, if a food you absolutely adore is put in front of you, enjoy! HOWEVER, totally enjoy only that one food - that one dish - and refuse the rest. Alas, as we know too well, once the appetite has been whetted, it’s hard to stop.
We allow ourselves one food excess and the mind throws in the towel and gives us permission to eat more, more, more.
Well get over that one. Realize that one special meal once in a great while is not going to kill your diet. It’s the eating all the other foods being offered that spells disaster.
Here are your options.
- I went to that feast and did not eat. (Caveat: I did not starve; I ate before I arrived). For me, that choice lead to my losing 110 pounds in two years. If you can do what I did, good for you!
- However, if you can’t resist the food at an event, decide to eat one particular part of the meal. If you stop at that one, you’ll likely lose weight; not dramatically but enough to make you feel good about your effort.
- Third choice? Eat it all, every morsel. But don’t expect the scale to move anywhere except up.
And here’s the final word on food and will power. When you are at a holiday gathering are you there to eat or to enjoy the good company? If the answer is you are there to eat, you might as well give up on the diet now and enjoy yourself. Get back on the diet in January. But accept that if you can’t get your head together around holiday eating, do you really think all the other 2014 holidays will be any easier and that your diet will ever be a success?
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