Hi All,
I have been wanting to post about my upcoming trip for a while now, but I must admit that the "cheat" kerfuffle on the thread last week made me a bit cautious. I think this is the right place to post this, because it's really about Thanksgiving and birthdays combined, and could equally apply to Christmas, so relates to holidays and celebration occasions in general.
I've been thinking about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and following week for quite a long time. I'm going to visit my mom, and we will be celebrating my sister's, my mother's and my birthday all at the same time. My mom's bday is 3 days after mine, and both of us are hitting significant numbers this year.
The reason I called this post "watching my mind change," is because that is what has been happening as part of my weight release journey thus far. I have had help making the shift with the emotional component, but I also feel liberated by the lack of food cravings on this protocol, and have been watching my position regarding holiday eating shift over the weeks since starting the program.
The way it works out, Canadian Thanksgiving (and my bday) is in my week 10, and Christmas is in my week 20, so when I started I had decided that I would take planned off-protocol weeks for these holidays, breaking things up into 10 week chunks. I have so much weight to eliminate that this seemed like a sensible approach, so that I wouldn't go starkers and eat every sugary food in sight in rebellion if I didn't give myself a planned break. Not to be able to go out for dinner or have bday cake seemed like a huge hardship. (notice the past tense there
) I even talked with my coach about it in our first meeting.
As the weeks have ticked by, however, I have noticed an increasing reluctance to shift out of ketosis, even though I'm one of those who needs to eat every 2-3 hours on this program, and have not experienced the euphoria or huge energy boost that many others have. My decision was also made before I knew how much variety I would find in this program, and things like WF products, which I had never heard of before. Discovering Low Carb Grocery (LCG) has made things much, much easier for me in planning for this week away from my normal routine. I have discussed my thoughts with my coach, and I want to share with you what I am planning for the holidays.
So this is how I'm intending to handle it now: I've decided to take an Atkins-ish approach to my week away. What I really miss are dairy products, cheese and nuts, so these are going to be my treats. I'm going to stay low carb, hopefully stay in ketosis, and still enjoy some celebration and a couple of nice restaurant meals. I'm bringing IP packets and on most days I am planning to eat pretty much like I do now.
Going out for a fancy brunch or afternoon tea (think little sandwiches, tea cakes and scones) can wait. It really is as others have said--there will still be birthday cakes, fruit pies, good restaurants when I'm done with weight release. I had lots of summer fruit before starting IP, and I find that the fruit drinks satisfy my desire for fruit flavours. There will be apples next year. For right now, I'm letting these things go in favour of low carb alternatives. I'm still having treats, but not with sugar/carbs which is a HUGE shift for me!
What is surprising is that I no longer even want to chomp on Twizzlers and Cheetos while I'm driving. For a couple of weeks, even though I didn't want them, I still wanted to want them, but that too has gone by the boards. I am astonished, but I really don't want them. They have simply lost their appeal. What I do want is to have radishes, and maybe a few cherry tomatoes with baby bocconcini, and a few nuts, and IP chips & protein bars to satisfy the desire for salty & sweet snacks--it's a 5 hour drive, so I do have to eat. I like to drink tea and water while I drive, so nothing needs to change there.
For Thanksgiving and the rest of the week I've stocked up from LCG on other low carb options like their special bread, low carb pancake mix to which I can add protein powder, and Carol's low carb cheesecake instead of birthday cake. I don't really miss potatoes or rice, so when we go out for dinner, I'll opt for additional veggies, preferably cauliflower which is a favourite. I might have one or two glasses of red wine during the week, but none of us are big drinkers, so I might not. I had been planning to bring a nice bottle of wine, but somehow it doesn't seem important anymore. But it does still feel important not to put up too many restrictions to push against, even though I'm not planning to stray far from the IP path. But I'm not obsessing about it. Astonishingly, I'm feeling really relaxed about the food part of my visit.
Wow, talk about a change! No guilt. No excuses, no justifications. Before IP, I had thought and spoken about how I would love to just be able to eat, without all the emotional baggage, anger, shame and resentment, and the ever present fear of weight gain that has governed every morsel for such a long, long time. Amazingly, I seem to be coming to that peaceful place now. These days it seems such a small sacrifice not to have some types of food for now, if the future is bringing the realization of my dream of enjoying food for its nourishment and delights, while being able to take it or leave it because it is just food after all and is only one part of my life and experience.
What seemed like such a big deal, a huge sacrifice, in August, is now just not that important. It is a sea change. As I have watched, my mind has changed and the tide of my thoughts has changed direction. Interesting. Empowering. And such a relief.
Jackie
Please do not take this as any kind of harsh message, it is not meant that way, but instead to cheer you on to success.
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