We are in the middle of the hardest week of the year so I thought I'd ask everyone how they are coping with it?
This forum is 13 years old now and this will be the 13th Christmas since I joined. If there is going to be a week in a year, where you're most likely to totally derail, this is the week!
Out of these 13 Christmas/New Year weeks I have not derailed once. I've celebrated purely low carb Christmas and I've also celebrated moderate carb Christmas where I have treated myself to say some roast potato or a carby salad like potato salad or a rice salad and pavlova, both have worked for me. I've never had a Christmas where I have stuffed myself or nibbled on lots of snacks and I don't drink. Usually, because I've had a heavy lunch followed by a dessert I am still full at dinner so I either skip it or have something small. I think this helps me a lot and allows me to have a treat without derailing myself.
I think the biggest derailer is alcohol because people tend to throw caution to the wind when it comes to food but I don't have personal experience with drinking over this period so if anyone has any tips there please share as both Christmas and New Years are high alcohol days!
But I always recommend considering if it's really necessary, atleast don't drink in excess nor on an empty stomach. Remember your body will burn alcohol first before it burns any calories that you eat.
But with food, my tips are:
Don't eat just because it's there, only eat if you're hungry and as Dr Atkins says; "eat until full but not stuffed".
If you're planning on having something high carb, have it as a side not as a base of your meal that way you don't eat too much. Try to find a healthy balance of treating yourself without setting your cravings and blood sugars off because these can cause you to eat more then you planned. Keep in mind what your triggers are. Avoid snacking on carby things.
Have a low carb breakfast to give your blood sugars a steady start to the day.
If you're hosting Christmas, plan it so you won't have too many carby things leftover, and send people home with desserts if you have a lot leftover.
Only have high carb things on Christmas if you think you can handle it, if you're just starting this may be a bad time to experiment, we have lots of yummy low carb desserts that you can make here, you don't have to feel deprived on Christmas. For the first few years or more I stuck to low carb desserts, cheesecake was my best friend but sometimes I may have treated myself to a couple of pieces of roast potato or a small amount of carby salad, it's the desserts that were most likely to set me off. Bread will set me off too but I don't eat it anyway.
This is probably my favourite low carb cheesecake which I know quite a few old timers still make on Christmas:
Low Carb Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake
I realise Christmas has just been, sorry I only thought of writing this post now whilst reflecting on my own Christmas but these tips apply to New Year celebrations aswell!
Good luck!
This forum is 13 years old now and this will be the 13th Christmas since I joined. If there is going to be a week in a year, where you're most likely to totally derail, this is the week!
Out of these 13 Christmas/New Year weeks I have not derailed once. I've celebrated purely low carb Christmas and I've also celebrated moderate carb Christmas where I have treated myself to say some roast potato or a carby salad like potato salad or a rice salad and pavlova, both have worked for me. I've never had a Christmas where I have stuffed myself or nibbled on lots of snacks and I don't drink. Usually, because I've had a heavy lunch followed by a dessert I am still full at dinner so I either skip it or have something small. I think this helps me a lot and allows me to have a treat without derailing myself.
I think the biggest derailer is alcohol because people tend to throw caution to the wind when it comes to food but I don't have personal experience with drinking over this period so if anyone has any tips there please share as both Christmas and New Years are high alcohol days!
But I always recommend considering if it's really necessary, atleast don't drink in excess nor on an empty stomach. Remember your body will burn alcohol first before it burns any calories that you eat.
But with food, my tips are:
Don't eat just because it's there, only eat if you're hungry and as Dr Atkins says; "eat until full but not stuffed".
If you're planning on having something high carb, have it as a side not as a base of your meal that way you don't eat too much. Try to find a healthy balance of treating yourself without setting your cravings and blood sugars off because these can cause you to eat more then you planned. Keep in mind what your triggers are. Avoid snacking on carby things.
Have a low carb breakfast to give your blood sugars a steady start to the day.
If you're hosting Christmas, plan it so you won't have too many carby things leftover, and send people home with desserts if you have a lot leftover.
Only have high carb things on Christmas if you think you can handle it, if you're just starting this may be a bad time to experiment, we have lots of yummy low carb desserts that you can make here, you don't have to feel deprived on Christmas. For the first few years or more I stuck to low carb desserts, cheesecake was my best friend but sometimes I may have treated myself to a couple of pieces of roast potato or a small amount of carby salad, it's the desserts that were most likely to set me off. Bread will set me off too but I don't eat it anyway.
This is probably my favourite low carb cheesecake which I know quite a few old timers still make on Christmas:
Low Carb Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake
I realise Christmas has just been, sorry I only thought of writing this post now whilst reflecting on my own Christmas but these tips apply to New Year celebrations aswell!
Good luck!
Low Carb in a Nutshell ~ Carb Counts ~ Research ~ Measurements/Conversions ~ Glossary
Let me know if you think of anything else handy from the site to put here.
Let me know if you think of anything else handy from the site to put here.
