And here I struggle with getting in enough exercise. I'm envious of the time I used to get up and run (jog). Yet I'm so content to spend more time in bed.
I do feel that my eating habits have changed. I plan more. I eat less in the evening. I eat more just before heading out for exercise (especially since golf takes many hours). I find that soups are more satisfying in the cooler weather (whereas salads are better when it is warm). Tonight MIL made chicken tortilla soup. Whereas I would not have served it with rolls, she did, and I ate two. I guess one must find the right balance.
I'm having less trouble with the overeating this year for some reason. Truly, this December has been a whirlwind of choir - I have been joyfully immersed in my favorite music, with the hours in the car and of course all the practices and concerts. There have been a few times where I've looked at the calendar and the to-do list this month and felt some genuine panic. I still haven't started my gift shopping, I still have an essay to write, and still have to finish critiquing the rest of my friend's short story. I have all these images and sounds now, though - I get torqued up and tense ... and then my brain starts up a replay of Alex's choir singing "O Magnum Mysterium" or the soaring, incredible descants of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" ... and the stress vanishes. Maybe I'm filling a void that I was mistaking for hunger; this month, I am strangely at peace and food is ... just food.
I've been holding up well, but my problem isn't maintaining tight control, it's loosening the control enough to socialize, rather than practicing complete avoidance of social occasions and the associated food & drink.
Coming down with a cold on the previous weekend was the deux ex machina that rescued me. Then in the middle of last week, I said "no" to the company party, which I probably would have enjoyed, or at least I would have exploited as an excuse to wear a dress that I would've looked well in, due to all that upper body work in the gym.
What I've realized is how tightly scheduled my regular life is, between food shopping & preparation and all that gym time (and laundering all those gym clothes!), and how when you add holiday stuff also, it goes completely out of whack.
I try to breathe & just focus on the thing that I'm doing right here & now. But I feel tired. Early bed-time tonight would go a long way toward helping me feel like this is a time of good cheer, rather than a test of my physical & psychological endurance.
Becky, not to be a downer, but I, too, go through periods of "food is just food," and think my entire outlook has changed ... and then it comes back. Usually it's when I lose a sense of purpose and a project that's consumed my attention comes to an end. It's the between times as well as the overscheduled times that I find difficult. When I'm just humming along with productivity, at a comfortable pace, I'm good. But it's hard to keep life going at moderate speed under all conditions.
saef, not a downer at all! I hope to ride this wave for as long as I can, and not to crash too hard when the formula unravels. I do agree that it's tied to having a purpose, and being productively busy. It's just been so ... NICE ... to only think about food when my stomach growls, to enjoy what I'm eating without analyzing it to death, and when I'm done eating, to simply go back to my business. I'm having a taste of what I imagine normality is. I am trying not to put my focus on it, but rather to observe it obliquely in the hopes of being able to attain it more easily with practice.
bargoo, a milestone, waypoint, or something of that nature, for sure. Not sure how I got here, but I'd definitely like to stay longer!
I may have shared this before , but here goes. I had a hairdresser who had a gorgeous wife, not an ounce of fat on her body. Chris, her husband told me, she doesn't diet, food is just not important to her. She knows she has to eat to stay alive but it doesn't have the strong appeal to her that some of us experience. He gave an example, she forgets to eat lunch and when she remembers she should eat something, she may eat half an apple. She appears to be healthy.
My sister once described her in-laws, who were living with them, as people who would forget to eat, or who wouldn't eat because it was too much work. When reminded of this once by my BIL, they sat down and SHARED A GRAPE.
I certainly don't mean to imply I've gotten to that point, ! I guess the way to explain it is that food doesn't take center stage in my head until there's time to sit down and eat; and then it fades to the back until the next time my stomach growls. I'm not sitting around dreaming about what I'm going to eat next, and how it will taste, and whether it will make the scale move one way or the other, and all the other "noise" that's normally present. It's great, in an odd way - just way different.
I have learned to trust my judgment more, barring the 1-2 weeks leading up to my period during which I become the Sarlacc pit from Return of the Jedi:
My weight really does seem to balance itself, so long as I sleep enough. If I don't sleep enough, or if I add in too many vices, judgment goes out the window. Being able to trust myself works great but is harder during this time of year when there are so many functions.
krampus, somehow I prefer the mental image of the movie over that ... um, man, wow ... that's awkward. Sorta reminds me of that "they have teeth!" scare tactic, and I'mnotgonnasayanymorecuzI'mgonnagetcensored. I think that thing killed the thread!
michele, Do I ever understand about the sweet tooth. I have to beat mine down on frequent occasions. I blame it on my mother and aunts and grandmother, they were all outstanding bakers and cookies and other deserts were used as rewards. "Eat your vegies or no desert" and of course"Have a cookie you'll feel better" when you skin your knees.I like to bake , too but keep it at a minimum. If I bake a cake it is because I am taking it to a potluck I cannot have a whole pie or cake in this house. I must have stern restrictions because I have no willpower.
Sweet stuff just keeps appearing. I've turned down two-byte brownies three times this week. They have the "Halo Effect" of sounding like they must be OK.
! I guess the way to explain it is that food doesn't take center stage in my head until there's time to sit down and eat; and then it fades to the back until the next time my stomach growls. I'm not sitting around dreaming about what I'm going to eat next, and how it will taste, and whether it will make the scale move one way or the other, and all the other "noise" that's normally present. It's great, in an odd way - just way different.
Sorta reminds me of that "they have teeth!" scare tactic, and I'mnotgonnasayanymorecuzI'mgonnagetcensored. 
