One of the joys of writing this blog over the last few months has been the number of friends I’ve made, including lots from across the pond – it’s been a big holiday over there this week, and most of the Stateside blogs I check in with on my daily mooch around the blogosphere have referenced Thanksgiving in one way or another.
As my thoughts turn to the upcoming holiday season that we all share, I’ve been interested to see how different people have coped with what is an equally challenging holiday in terms of the food and drink temptations. All tips and tools welcome, right? I’ve read about cheat days where anything’s been allowed over the holiday. Some people carried on counting but with an extra allowance granted ahead of time, and then there were the hardcore ‘it’s like every other day and I’m not relaxing the rules’ people, who are made of very stern stuff!
So, as a general rule of thumb, do you fall into the ‘seek permission’ or ‘seek forgiveness’ camp? I’ve got to be honest and say that mostly I’ve been an ‘act on the spur of the moment and seek forgiveness later’ kind of girl, in most aspects of my life so that’s the approach I’m more familiar with. I’d go so far as to say in the past I’ve described routine or planning of any kind as anathema to me, given my incredibly low boredom threshold and hatred of feeling hemmed in by something I’ve signed up to in a moment of madness.
Mind you, this time, on this journey I’m doing all kinds of stuff that I’ve never done before…you know, like some really deep thinking, planning, making considered choices, poring over the route map ahead of time so I can avoid obstacles. Don’t get me wrong, those things have been in my kit-bag for donkey’s years, and I’ve applied them throughout my working life – they’ve even been centre stage of advice I’ve dispensed to other folk. Strangely, it appears they’ve been notable by their absence in regard to decisions I make about myself. Weirdo.
So I’m thinking maybe this time I decide up ahead of time exactly how it’s going to go, and then stick to the plan. I know, get me, I can’t quite believe it either. However…saying it, and doing it are two completely different things. I have to expect the odd ambush from the asshole in my mind who, if we were keeping a tally must be way ahead of me on aggregate.
Normally he manages to negotiate his own position way ahead of time – the conversation usually goes along the lines of why don’t you stop dieting for the holiday season and start again in the New Year? To which my response is usually well…I guess I could take my foot off a bit as long as I don’t go mad. He’ll nod in agreement at this, knowing that in the moment – in multiple moments across the holiday season – all he’ll have to do to make it a slam dunk is to whisper go on, it won’t hurt just this once and by the New Year I’ll be back to square one. Having agreed the dieting hiatus somewhere around mid-November it’s hardly surprising.
You know what keeps coming into my mind this time though..? I went to Las Vegas for five days, and lost a pound. I came home from the most amazing five days ever one pound lighter than when I went, and not once whilst I was away did I feel deprived, or as though I was missing out…I just planned how I was going to spend my budget.
Is it going to be easy..? No of course it isn’t. Is it going to be harder than some of the monumental battles I have fought in the last three months…? No. It’s not. I’m thinking about the double cheese and spring onion sandwich…the cheesy bugle…the chocolate-dipped sour cherries…the five day holiday in food mecca…I mean come on, I am a warrior!!
That’s what I’m going to be focusing on as I sashay into the holiday season…every single victory and that amazing feeling I get when I’ve stared down the asshole in my mind and watched him slope off with his head bent and bloody after he’s lost a bit more of the battle ground.
Bring it on I say…come on December, let’s see what you’ve got 🙂
