Remember the challenges on Biggest Loser where they make the contestants be in a room with tons and tons of trigger foods and if they give in to temptation they are usually rewarded with some kind of power to help them in the game? The contestant has to choose whether they want the game play or be true to their nutritional game plan. Well from October to January 1 we are in constant environment of temptation.
It all starts with fall--bonfires with roasted hot dogs and s'mores and trips to the orchard. You would think going to the orchard would be great because apples are good for you....but not when what you are going for are caramel apples and can't forget about those warm and yummy applesauce donuts. And then comes Halloween where there is an endless supply of candy. We survive Halloween and before we know it Thanksgiving is here. At least Thanksgiving is just one day, granted a day full of traditional dishes that are "must haves" in your family. A day you know will be filled with turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, pies...and more pies. For the most part, I did really well with the first round of the holiday temptations. I stayed away from the Halloween candy and we tried a few healthier variations in our Thanksgiving menu. Some turned out great others not so great. Stacy made a wonderful buffalo turkey and I made a sweet potato dish with pecans. Those turned out great, but every year one of the must haves for Toby and Stacy's daughter Jessica are deviled eggs. I had the "brilliant" idea to use greek yogurt instead of mayo. I've been doing that for the last few months in a bunch of things I fix and everything had turned out really good. Let me tell you, it doesn't work with deviled eggs! At least I was smart enough to only do a few with the greek yogurt so I didn't have Jess and Toby really mad at me.
The next round of temptation is in full swing--the Christmas Season. I say season because it's not one day like Thanksgiving. It's a whole month of constant temptations. I noticed this week it's getting harder and harder for me to stick to my nutritional game plan. I guess you could say I have visions of sugar plums dancing in my head. There are so many parties, lunches, special dinners, all day shopping trips, pitch-ins..the list goes on and on with events that will be loaded with food that is outside my plan of what I should be eating. Today alone we had lunch provided for us at work plus this evening I had a Christmas party. Pizza, cupcakes, cookies, punch.....I gave in to all those today. Not to mention the past several nights where every evening was scheduled to the max and I inevitably picked up dinner at 9 or10pm. I am not going to beat myself up about it. But this week was just the start of it. There are so many more events where I know I will be faced with all the yumminess of Christmas. From the crab salad and caramel icebox cake at the hospital's annual employee Christmas party, our family Christmas with Snicker salad and fudge, to our traditional McDonald's coke and ice cream cone that we have as we drive around looking at Christmas lights after our church's Christmas Eve service--just about every holiday activity we do involves eating.
I sound like all I think about at Christmas is food, but Christmas means a lot more to me than what goodies surround me. I 'm just focusing on the food part because that's where I'm struggling right now. I want to be able to enjoy and indulge in some--okay a lot---of these special treats. But can I indulge conservatively so as not to derail months of hard work? I didn't do a very good job of that this week. To make matters worse with my schedule this week my workouts have been short and have missed the past 2 days. It doesn't look good for tomorrow either. Okay, I need to remind myself that I said I wasn't going to beat myself up about it. So now I need to figure out how I am going to handle myself the next time I'm surrounded by all the temptations around me. The schedule for the next few weeks isn't much better than this weeks so I need to come up with a plan to get me through that lets me indulge without going completely off the wagon. Is that even possible? I've already made one decision today...tomorrow is our Cookie Walk at church. We go every year and get one or two boxes of all different kinds of cookies. I asked my mom if she would be terribly upset if we bypassed it this year. Luckily she agreed because tonight as I'm writing this I don't know if I have it in me to stay out of them if we did get some. I am a little worried about my self control now. I've done really good up to this point in standing strong that I can do without the tempting treats, but that is weakening a bit. I know I'm not going to quit or give up on my goals. I've come too far and I still want to get into "one"derland hopefully by my birthday on January 15. However, I may be leaning on my "support team" more in the next few weeks and need some gentle nudging if you see me nibbling on a mini cupcake or if it's a big cupcake please knock it out of my hands! Feel free to shake me and say what are you doing girl! FOCUS!! Don't forget your goals and most of all don't forget:
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