[I]Looks to me like some of you are having issues with your coaches with not getting the support that is needed. Here is something I did for my group, there is always support to be found, you just have to look for it when you don't get it where it needs to be. This is an extended family and you can always find support here......
Hello Dieters and Graduates!
We need to talk strategy for getting through the holidays! It seems to me that there are a couple different approaches to holiday eating. Let’s talk about that.
THE IRON WILL APPROACH
Some of you are recent grads and some are only weeks from graduating to maintenance. I guarantee some of you will choose the “Iron Will” approach, eating nothing that would compromise your fat burning. Good candidates for this “Iron Will” approach would be individuals who are very new to the program and haven’t mastered a strong set of healthy eating habits yet. Also, those of you with only a few weeks left on the program, following the “Iron Will” approach will ensure you meet your goal when expected. Otherwise, you will extend your time on the program by 1-2 weeks by eating foods that would compromise your fat burning. So, keep that in mind. Plan to succeed or you’re planning to fail. So, if you’re traveling to someone else’s house, bring a large platter of veggies and some Walden Farms or bring a big mixed greens salad or some other creative side that’s safe on your program.
If you plan to use the “Iron Will” approach, here are some key phrases you can use to excuse yourself politely from eating things you don’t choose to eat:
The Crafty Dismissal: “Ooh, that looks delicious! I’m stuffed so I’ll just have to take it home for later.” (then store it in your freezer ‘til graduation, pitch it in the dumpster, give it to your dog…)
The Firm Hand: “Thank you for respecting the fact that I have some personal goals I am working on and, while that looks delicious, it would compromise my goals so I’ll have to wait. Thanks!”
The Medical Excuse: “My doctor recently told me I am pre-diabetic. I really have to watch out for foods that spike my insulin. I’ll have to pass.” Guess what?! If you’re overweight, you really are pre-diabetic.
The Allergy Excuse: “I recently found out I am violently allergic to that! No thanks!” I have used this many times and it works!! The one question you might get is, “Wow, what happens when you eat it?” and your response can be as simple as this. “You don’t even wanna know!” That’ll stop the conversation right there.
THE ONE DAY PASS APPROACH
Thanksgiving comes once a year and there will be a number of dieters who feel they’ve earned a day off from Ideal Protein. If you choose this approach, here’s how I’d like to you to proceed if you choose to eat things that will compromise your fat burning.
1. Moderation is KEY. Let’s not undo all the healthy habits we’ve built on this program. Practice regulating portion sizes- eat only 1-2 teaspoons of your favorite holiday foods and do not go back for seconds. Skip the cookies and pies- they’re so full of fat and fast-acting sugar that it’s not worth it. Plus, if you don’t moderate, you may feel very sick the next day…ew.
2. The “One Day Pass” is just that- ONE DAY ONLY. You are not authorized to spend the whole week of Thanksgiving eating this way. It’s not healthy and it’s destructive to all the new healthy habits you’ve worked so hard to build- don’t undo all your hard work!
3. If you use the “One Day Pass” you must go to bootcamp the next 3 days following Thanksgiving. This means ultra low carb veggies and NO restricted food items (bars, puffs, ridges, etc.) Your pancreas needs to rest and recuperate from the abuse of the holiday foods, PLUS this will get you back into ketosis quicker.
THE ‘GOING HOG WILD’ APPROACH
This is not an acceptable approach if you are serious about changing your body, your health, and your life. I will question your motivation to lose weight if you use this approach. Here are some things to consider before “Going Hog Wild.”
1. “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got.” Have you heard that before? Don’t expect to do something the same way you always have and expect different results. Binge-type eating and lack of portion control is part of what led many of you to the weight at which you started the Ideal Protein journey. It takes an average of 28 days to make a habit but only one minute to break it. Tread lightly.
2. You are likely to feel very unwell that night, the next day, or even for several days after. You may feel hung-over, even if you didn’t drink but overdid it with sugars.
3. You will start carrying excess water (bonded to the new carb molecules floating through your system), feel bloated, and probably guilty and have regret. Wow, it’s so not worth it!
4. That’s expensive!! “Going Hog Wild” will cost you an extra $100-$200 because it will stop your fat loss, waste at least 5 days of progress, and ultimately extend your time on the program as well as compromise your overall results. Again, is it worth it?
In conclusion, you have a choice to make about how you will approach the holiday eating. Please know that you still should write everything you eat down in your food journal. Make choices you can feel good about.
I hope you enjoy Thanksgiving Day and I hope it’s amazing for each and every one of you!
This Thanksgiving I am grateful for all of you! You have been awesome to work with and I am grateful that you trust me to help you meet your personal goals. Thank you for being so wonderful! You make my job a true joy!
It's IRON WILL for me, too. However, I am worried that my parents will really try to make me eat, & question me. I look very thin, and feel great (I've really been getting the compliments lately!!!)...but, my parents may just become worried about my skinniness. I want to stay very strong willed since I am starting week 2 of phase 2. I'll be filling up on broccoli, cauliflower, and my grilled chicken. Thank you, Wuv, for your handy reasons...bless your beautiful heart!
I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so thankful for everyone's support on this site.
I'm not doing IP, but my plan has IP features. When I don't have energy to prepare fresh meals, I use Anderson's "The Simple Diet" format of 5 or more servings of fruits and veggies meal replacements under 200 calories and 2 prepackaged (frozen, mostlhy) meals under 300 calories (there are also protein and fat guidelines). While the plan allows fruits and other higher carb/calorie veggies, I aim for the lowest calorie, highest fiber ones, to fill and satisfy me better.
I do make some of my own meals to fit the guidelines, but on good days, my format is more like IP, medifast, and HMR in that I have 4 meal replacements and one "lean and green" meal of lean to moderate fat protein and plenty of non-starchy veggies.
My plan for Thanksgiving is to stay on plan, but also to have a back-up plan as well. This has served me well in the past.
Without a back-up plan, if I would have even one teeny bite off plan, I'd start thinking "I've blown it, so I might as well get it out of my system today and start fresh tomorrow, and in the mean time, I might as well eat whatever I want, because I'll be especially strict from now on..."
By having the back-up plan, if I make a mistake I have a plan B to fall back on (sometimes even a plan C).
So my Plan A is to stay completely on plan. 4 meal replacements (probably 3 shakes and 1 bar) and 4 to 6 ounces of turkey, salad with my own dressing that I'll bring in my purse, and plenty of veggies. I'll avoid the potatoes, the stuffing, the rolls, and the desserts (because I'm allergic to wheat this shouldn't be a huge problem unless our hosts ignore my wishes and try to make a gluten-free option for me. Then I'll probably agree to take a piece home and then throw it out or hubby will eat it, this creates the fewest problems).
The "second" thanksgiving we're having at another relative's home will be on Saturday, and my plan is the same. Though it will be a bit of more of a challenge, as the food will have more hidden andn not-so hidden fat in the veggies, so I'll probably bring my potluck standby, a veggie salad made from thawed frozen veggies, diced sweet onion, and a low-carb/low-cal italian dressing made with rice wine vinegar, low-cal sweetener, salt, pepper, seasoning salt or ranch dressing mix powder (with a mild rice wine vinegar, I don't mind leaving out the oil altogether).
Plan B will be a calorie limit of 1800 calories (and Plan C is to stay as close to that 1800 calories as possible).
Plan B and C have been the same for the last oh, ten years or so. And I've rarely had to resort to plan C. Plan A has varied depending on what diet plan I was following.
The biggest challenge to Plan A is going to be a particular jello dessert with a pretzel/butter/sugar crust. I've thought of making my own version with gluten-free pretzels, xylitol, and sugar free jello and Cool Whip free subbing for the wheat pretzels, sugar, regular jello and regular Cool Whip. It would cut the carbs and calories immensely, but it might offend the hostess and it's still an off-plan food for me, so my plan is to skip the dessert altogether.
Dessert will not be as tempting as the stuffing. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE stuffing whether it's homemade or from a box. I will be sorely tempted by the stuffing even though I know it will cause an itchy, red rash on my hands, feet, and face and my joints will hurt more. I'll still be tempted to eat the rash and deal with the consequences by using my medicated steroid cream and extra pain medication.
I have to remind my self that the wheat is probably doing more damage than I can see, so as tempting as it will be to suffer the consequences, I really don't know what those consequences all are. That has helped me avoid temptation, but I wish I could say that I wasn't tempted.
Thanks Wuv! I wish my coach was nearly as supportive as you appear to be. Your suggestions are fabulous1 I am so planning on the Iron Will approach as I only just started on Dec 12 and I am seeing such amazing results! Fortunately for me, my friends and family have seen how hard I have tried in the past to lose the weight so they will simply be thrilled for me. Except for my BIL but I can't stand him anyways so that won't have much effect on me! LOL
I hope everyone enjoys their Xmas regardless of the method they choose!!
What a great post! The Iron Will is working for me so far, although some people look at me like I've got two heads when I turn down tempting desserts. Actually, what used to look tempting is now looking pretty disgusting most of the time. A colleague took a huge piece of cheesecake at an office party - probably about 1/4 of the pie - and there was nothing tempting about it. I couldn't get by the feeling that I'd get sick if I ate all of that!
We'll see how I do being away for 2 weeks over the holidays, but so far I'm encouraged. I'm also thinking about how much money I'll save on wine - maybe enough for some new clothes I hope to need soon!
I have a Christmas party at my boss's house coming up on the 4th. He asked if I was going to eat "normal food" at his house (last year she served these lasagna roll-ups with cheesy sauce - good, but so not on this plan).
I had emailed his wife to ask that she tell me what she's having when she decides and not to be offended if I bring my own food, that I've been doing it since I started this diet. She didn't respond, so I just emailed her again.
He doesnt get it - he never will - he's the same one who tried to shove the cookie in my mouth.
I'm having Christmas Day at my house so I can control the menu. My father is coming to town, not sure what we're doing then. And Christmas at my cousins (I have a total of 4 celebrations) I will be bringing roasted cauliflower, not sure what she's having for meat.
I'm doing the Iron Will approach also and told my family that I'm bringing my own food. No offense to anybody, but I can just control the portions and ingredients so I don't "accidentally" go off plan.
I need to find a good veggie dip recipe because I'm bringing a veggie plate (with lots of celery and cucumber) for Christmas dinner. I plan on bringing my own food and making my IP cookies for dessert/snack so I don't feel deprived of a dessert.
Honestly, I can't wait until the holidays are over. There's food all over the place at work, clients sending food baskets, colleagues making cookies, candy, etc. I don't think I ever noticed how involved are society is with eating around any kind holiday, event, or celebration. Can't we have a birthday walk instead of a birthday cake? Who started this whole celebration around food?
Can't we have a birthday walk instead of a birthday cake? Who started this whole celebration around food?
This reminded me of something from about 25 years ago ... I worked at a place where it seemed like it was always someone's birthday, and there always was cake involved in the celebration. Well, I was on Weight Watchers for about 6 months, back when that program still worked for me. All in all I lost about 35 pounds. All through the process and even afterward, I always showed up with my bottle of water and politely declined the cake. When it finally was my turn for a birthday celebration, I was touched when I found that my co-workers had ordered me a beautiful 'fruit bouquet' from Edible Arrangements. I still remember their thoughtfulness. (And I think they actually enjoyed eating some of the fruit vs. yet another nondescript, overly sweet cake!)
Getting through the holiday....
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
(And I think they actually enjoyed eating some of the fruit vs. yet another nondescript, overly sweet cake!)
