It’s almost November, can you believe it?! Before you know it, we’ll be in what has been commonly referred to as “the most wonderful time of the year.” That’s right, it’s the holiday season with all the festive fellowships, family gatherings, and…oh yeah, LOTS OF FOOD to add a little temptation to your low-carb lifestyle! EEEEEEK!
Human beings have a strange way of letting things like social pressures and the innate desire to feel connected to those around us that keeps us from staying committed to our diets during the holidays. Oh, don’t play dumb with me, you know what I mean: buffets of high-carb foods, tempting desserts, and food constantly at your fingertips defines this time of year. Good thing it only lasts a couple of months or we’d all be a bunch of bouncing beach balls walking around!
But this is a good lesson in sticking with your low-carb plan through the holidays by staying focused on the lifestyle changes you have made. You know you will want to continue on with your success long after Thanksgiving and Christmas are gone, so why give in during these 6-8 weeks of the year? Don’t fall for the trap that you must eat, eat, eat away at all that junk food you will feast your eyes on during the holidays just to “fit in.” That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of!
To help us better understand how to survive the holiday season, we have another video from veteran low-carb dieter Kent Altena who addresses this delicate subject head-on with easy-to-implement solutions for dealing with the potential problems that you will face.
THE HOLIDAYS–PLANNED PROBLEMS OR PLANNED SOLUTIONS?
That’s some outstanding advice, Kent! You and I both know how important it is to keep your eye on what is best for you because that is a decision you have to make ahead of time when you start livin’ la vida low-carb. Nothing (and I do mean ABSOLUTELY nothing!) should ever get in the way of your low-carb lifestyle. That’s why it is called a “lifestyle change” and not just a diet.
If you feel tempted and want to pig out during the holidays, then the transformation in your mind towards eating healthy has not happened yet. That’s okay because you WILL get there the longer you stay on low-carb. But giving in because you think you are too weak to resist is UNACCEPTABLE because you will only make yourself MORE depressed when you put on 10, 15, or 20 pounds during the holidays. Don’t allow that guilty feeling to hit you and simply dedicate yourself to your low-carb life.
Because this can be difficult for some people to handle, Kent offers you some practical strategies for dealing with the inevitable confrontations you will have with those high-carb foods and the well-meaning folks trying to peddle it to you:
- Be the cook or bring your own low-carb food to holiday functions
- Do more socializing with others instead of mindlessly eating
- Keep yourself busy with activities during the family functions
SUPER TIPS, Kent! Holidays can be stressful, but that doesn’t mean your low-carb plan should suffer. Who knows, you may just impress some of your friends and family who may not even know you’ve lost weight. In fact, don’t be surprised if they ask you what you’ve been doing to shed the pounds so effectively. That’s when you can look back at them with a twinkle in your eyes and proudly declare, “I’ve been livin’ la vida low-carb, baby!” You tell ‘em! 
I’m taking 4 recipes for low-carb dishes with me. I will be trapped in a high-carb house around high-carb people for 4 full days over Thanksgiving.
Thankfully, I’m working Christmas and can be in charge of my food that holiday at least.
The worst part of family is all the high-carb food sitting in front of you and they just expect you to not eat it. I don’t need the temptation!
You know, I think these tips are all interesting, but they don’t necessarily address the emotional sabotage and the guilt other people can try to heap on you — of the “I made this just for you” or “you’re too good to eat my cooking?” or “your special diet is just too much trouble for the rest of us” varieties.
Also, I’d be interested to hear any suggestions about those cooks who are insulted if you bring your own food, but who have been known to literally sabotage the food they cook — to put, say, white bread crumbs in the stuffing they insist you simply must sample, and tell you that it’s compliant with your regime, and then tell you about it later.
(If you’re horrified and think “Oh, now, that simply doesn’t happen”, my first suggestion to you is to check the lowcarb boards.)
To that end, I also think it’s interesting that not only the blogger, but also the tipster, are male, and these kinds of pressures tend to frequently come from women and be visited upon women — whom, ironically, are more frequently dieting since our bodies have less muscle mass to begin with and are therefore more prone to pack on fat.
But I’d be interested to hear what anyone, of either sex, has to say about those types of situations.
True, I am male and cannot understand the pressure that is put on a female to partake in holiday food gatherings. But I am a former carbohydrate addict who overcame those desires and now lives happily eating well. It’s all about making choices. You can CHOOSE to be healthy by making better choices at all times or you can CHOOSE to give in to family prodding. Sure it’s difficult, but with enough desire within you to see this happen, you can and will do it. In the end, your family will respect you more for the decision you make to be healthier.
–Jimmy