Getting through the holidays without sugar
 

Help! This will be my first holiday season without sugar and I'm already worried I'll cave. I'm an all or nothing kind of personality and need some advice. Can we all state how we get through this next 10 weeks without eating sugar? This will sure help me and I'm sure lots of others. Thanks, Julie

If you're an all or nothing kind of person and you think you can't even have one taste without caving then your strategy will have to be DON'T EVEN HAVE ONE TASTE!! Make sure you have lots of legal snacks on hand for when you entertain or even to take with you. What hostess doesn't appreciate having another dessert to serve her guests so bring her a l.c. cheesecake or mousse? You could even bring along an assorted cheese and cold meat tray. Make sure you always have some jerky or nuts to munch on when people are serving appies.
For the main meals (turkey feasts), fill up on meat and salad. Nobody will notice that you're not stuffing your face with candied yams and pumpkin pie if you have l.c. alternatives handy. How about green beans with toasted almonds as a side dish?

Finally, make this holiday season the one where your main focus is on connecting with family and friends in a loving way. Food is important but it should be secondary to enjoying good times with loved ones. Plan activities that get you out of the house and having a good time rather than sitting around staring at bowls of chips and dip.

Oh, one last thing. Let's not become obsessive. If you gain a little or don't lose, it's not the end of the world. The main thing is to get right back on the l.c. wagon after a mini-binge. Don't use one overindulgence as an excuse to pig out through the entire holiday season. After all, EVERY day isn't a holiday. Ordinary life continues between feast days, right? You still have to clean the toilet and do the laundry. Make all those ordinary days the days you are extra vigilant, drink extra water and exercise a little harder.

Now, I just need to follow my own advice. :lol:

LindaBC, thanks for your good words. They were well spoken and so true. I am maintaining but sometimes I feel like I can indulge since I'm at goal but I don't trust myself. So that said, I guess I won't have any and hope I can do it all during the holidays.

Wow Linda, very well said! This weekend I have a birthday celebration to go to, and I need to keep your tips handy!

Jewels, I usually bring along my own side dishes to family dinners. I frequently make the cauliflower casserole or wok up some chinese green beans to take along with me. I like Linda's idea about the salad though, that is a big dinner stretcher I should be trying.

Even just lettuce will help. Tonight we went to a tex-mex restaurant and I ordered chicken and veggies, hold the rice. In the place where the rice usually goes, they put a large amount of lettuce. I chopped it up and ate it with each bite of chicken, and that really filled a void. I had crunch along with the meat, and that was a nice texture change.