Who are you doing it for?

18^th December 2014

Loving ourselves through the process of owning our story is the bravest thing we’ll ever do.  Brene Brown

Woo Hoo another day closer, only 7 more sleeps and I can have a week of lie ins, oh yeah and Christmas of course, who am I kidding we all know I’m not one for lie ins but I do the idea of not even having to take my pj’s off for a week if I feel so inclined, not having to blow dry my air, oh my, I do sound like a tramp don’t I.  That is my natural disposition though, I have to admit, I love being a scruff it’s who I am.

I love being a healthy scruff though and after the heartburn I had Tuesday from eating foods I don’t normally eat, I was reminded of why I take care of myself and predominantly eat a healthy diet, I like to feel well, enjoy food yes but not to excess.  I don’t eat pastry because my stomach doesn’t like it, not because it causes weight gain! 

I’m so glad I’m not going to be tempted by cupboards full of goodies and Christmas fayre this year because I haven’t bought it.  My Christmas supermarket delivery looks the same as any other week other than a bag of twiglets and I am still in a dilemma about whether to add a jar of peanut butter as my treat, why the dilemma because I know I will eat it a spoonful at a time out of the jar!  And the jar works out at 56pp, so I guess the question I need to answer really is, will eating a jar of peanut butter be worth a 1lb gain at the scales on the 5^th of January.  That question can be asked for most things we indulge in over Christmas, “Are you will to gain weight to consume what you’re about to?” If the answers yes, go ahead, if the answers “I’m not sure” think twice and if the answer is no, put it down and walk away.  Sometimes it’s just not worth it!   Or actually more to the point at the moment of consumption we think it’s worth it but afterwards when the brief taste has left our memory, then standing on the scales in cold ‘sober’ light of day, we probably won’t even be able to  remember half of what’s to blame for that gain. 

What I think is going through my mind this morning is by all means enjoy the festivities but don’t just be eating/drinking for the sake of it, know when your satisfied, drink till you’re merry not till you’re blathered, eat to make your taste buds tingle not to dull your emotions or because you don’t know when the next time you’ll get to overeat will be because you’re going to ‘get back on track’ in the new year!    If you’re out and about Christmas shopping and you want that mince pie in the coffee shop with your cuppa, have it and then maybe have a light lunch of soup to counteract it.

Let’s enjoy the next two weeks of Christmas for all the right reasons, not as an excuse to make up for all the eating and drinking you haven’t done over the last few months because you’ve been following a healthy and happy weight loss plan.  Remember the reasons you joined?  Remind yourself who and why you’re losing weight?  Weight Watchers isn’t a punishment you were made to do because you committed a crime against your body, it’s a place you went to, to get support and motivation to change your relationship with food for good. 

Let’s break that on it, off it pattern, let’s start to cut the links of that emotional chain that controls our behaviour around food by recognising how we react in all these different situations.  Christmas is probably the most testing and challenging time of year for us to stay in control around food, so let’s just make a pact to do the best week can, when we can and realise that whatever happens, we can always sort it out and continue our healthy and happy journey.

Here’s to a happy and healthy week leading up to Christmas Day, make it an enjoyable one – I plan to!

Oh and I’ve decided the big jar of peanut butter ain’t worth it, I wonder if you can buy small jars, I would be happy with a tiny little pot of it, just for a taste :)