The xmas dilemma

petegamer748

I work in a small team that are security/caretakers - and every xmas the departments we help buy us biscuits/chocs/sweets.
Very nice of them but i am high end type 2 diabetic on a weightloss journey. Yes i know i can eat a small amount but i just dont want to as it will trigger a binge.
So every day i gather them up (as i work alone) and pop them out of sight.
Roll on when the other guys get chomping i say!

Lounmoun

Give them away I guess.

TavistockToad

Why is that a dilemma?

MichelleWithMoxie

I get what you're hinting at OP. The dilemma is navigating weight loss during the holiday season when there tends to be a high occurrence of higher calorie foods around everyone - in the office, at home, at parties.

I'm lucky I work from home, and it's just my husband and me who live here, so I'm able to exert quite a bit of control over what I'm around. Even still, it's easy to be tempted with all the talk of holiday treats - plus doesn't help I'm an absolute sweet-treats lover.

RachsLosses

I couldnt have put it better! The mixture of peole bringing in luxury foods, food-related get togethers, drinking and often chocolate gifts is a bad mix

Had a family gathering yesterday which I was mostly good at but couldnt put a particular favourite bar of chocolate down which sent me way over. Today was a pizza lunch mixed with tiredness which has led to extra eating (i've adjusted my evening meal to still be in my calorie goal as long as I stick to it) Friday I have a party with drinking and more pizza, and sunday Christmas eve tea etc

Just make good choices when you can, give things away like people have suggested, add food to your food diary before you eat it to get an idea of their impact & don't forget to allow yourself some lenience, do what works for you

H_Ock12

If they're in sealed packaging, don't open and regift them!

MelanieCN77

My sweet neighbour brought us cookies and cinnamon bread last night. Scale's up 2lbs today. I feel you!

Idontcareyoupick

Boss gave me a tin with cookies and toffee and ate way too much but trying to be better today. Do what you can

Spiderpug

At work we gather all gifts from clients and share them out (usually one or two boxes each) on Christmas Eve and then i give away any that i might lose control over but usually my 4 boys will scoff anything i bring back, 'to help me'!

petegamer748

The dilemna is i am trying to be good and that temptation is there. If i start on a tin i could easily eat the whole lot and make myself ill.
When the offices close on 22nd our team will take the bad food away and i will rejoice in no temptations

kommodevaran

Being virtuous and demonizing foods you like (calling it bad) is what sets you up for overeating. (But I really don't understand why people still use sweets as gifts, it's completely unnecessary, we can buy our own i we want it.)

HellYeahItsKriss

I agree, the nursing home at christmas time was a chocolate and sweets factory.. it took until february or march for the staff to consume it all.. but its available all year.. personally, while it's a nice gesture, i would think a personal hand written card telling the staff how wonderful they are would of done enough, they never got much credit from the management ever.

tulips_and_tea

My neighbor is a single mom to 4 teenage boys with a slew of friends always around.. Any and all extra food goes to them.

Thankfully, my clients know me and so far this year I've received 2 flower arrangements, 1 box of beautiful pears, and 6 bottles of wine. I'm keeping it all!

julie_broadhead

I like Christmas cookies! Cookies are not really a mainstay in my diet so here is what I am doing to make the holiday sweets fit into my calories:
-Firstly, log everything. If it is a homemade gifted goodie, make your best guess.
- I do carbohydrate exchanges. For example, if I know I'm going to eat two Christmas cookies I will skip having either my morning oatmeal or bread with my lunch.
- I've also added a bit more cardio into my workout routine. It works out to be maybe 45 extra minutes per week.

Lounmoun

Maybe you can think about how the food will make you ill... the specific symptoms... and those items will seem less tempting. I am allergic to a food and it is tasty but I certainly do not enjoy how I would feel for days after I ate it. That changes it from temptation to not worth it inmy head.

Bring some snacks that you like that you can eat.

Put these things away so you are not staring at them.

Give them away or throw them away.

acorsaut89

I totally understand what you're saying OP. I am not diabetic, or even close, but I struggle with self-control especially when there's so much yummy food around this time of year. I have been eating like crazy for about 3 - 4 weeks now and I am so full and feel so horrible right now. I have to keep reminding myself that it's just food . . . and how horrible I will feel when I keep over eating. Will power is weaning for sure. Good luck to you in maintaining control over your eating . . . it's the hardest thing to figure out how to do.

corinasue1143

Lounmoun wrote: »

Maybe you can think about how the food will make you ill... the specific symptoms... and those items will seem less tempting. I am allergic to a food and it is tasty but I certainly do not enjoy how I would feel for days after I ate it. That changes it from temptation to not worth it.

I can't eat spinach. Not much help. Lol

blambo61

Last year at this time, I was having such bad gout problems that I could barely walk. I read an article that fructose could be even worse than meat for contributing to gout. I also read a bunch of people's testimonials of getting rid of gout attacks by cutting back on sugar. That gave me my motivation and I did not eat a single piece of candy all Christmas season. I looked at it as poison. My gout attack of two-months went away in about 3-4 days of abstaining from refined sugar! You might think of those sweets in terms of the bad things that can happen with diabetes. It may help! Good luck.

ryenday

kommodevaran wrote: »

Being virtuous and demonizing foods you like (calling it bad) is what sets you up for overeating. (But I really don't understand why people still use sweets as gifts, it's completely unnecessary, we can buy our own i we want it.)

Wow. A type 2 diabetic (who has trouble with binging on sweets) asking for support in the struggle to resist eating foods that are certainly unhealthy in this case and you pull the trite ‘demonizing sugar’ routine. Sarcasm alert way to be supportive end sarcasm

OP: one of my strategies is to only allow myself a small portion of the Christmas time treats after a full meal (as a desert course). That has helped me keep the binging behavior at bay but still allowed some treat in my diet. Good luck, this time of year is certainly challenging.

blambo61

ryenday wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

Being virtuous and demonizing foods you like (calling it bad) is what sets you up for overeating. (But I really don't understand why people still use sweets as gifts, it's completely unnecessary, we can buy our own i we want it.)

Wow. A type 2 diabetic (who has trouble with binging on sweets) asking for support in the struggle to resist eating foods that are certainly unhealthy in this case and you pull the trite ‘demonizing sugar’ routine. Sarcasm alert way to be supportive end sarcasm

OP: one of my strategies is to only allow myself a small portion of the Christmas time treats after a full meal (as a desert course). That has helped me keep the binging behavior at bay but still allowed some treat in my diet. Good luck, this time of year is certainly challenging.

I think this is probably the best approach. Too much strictness does seem to cause rebellion and then over-indulgence. A treat after dinner with protein and fiber to buffer the effects is probably the way to go. If you are having a gout attack though, total abstinence is totally worth it!

dfein001

MotherOfSharpei wrote: »

If they're in sealed packaging, don't open and regift them!

That would be my answer.