Shabbat is hard :(
elioraorenbakh
Posts: 1 Member
Hi! I’m a religious Jew who keeps Shabbat. (A day that’s filled with long meals and not being able to go on your phone)
I love Shabbat but I’m really struggling with my fitness during it. I can’t use my phone so I can’t track how many calories I’m eating + they are all homemade so I don’t even know how many calories are in each dish and they could be very calorie dense + my meals are LONG and it’s so hard not to pick at desserts while having a lengthy discussion.
I’m not the woman of the house so I can’t even decide when to put away the food. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated! 🫶
I love Shabbat but I’m really struggling with my fitness during it. I can’t use my phone so I can’t track how many calories I’m eating + they are all homemade so I don’t even know how many calories are in each dish and they could be very calorie dense + my meals are LONG and it’s so hard not to pick at desserts while having a lengthy discussion.
I’m not the woman of the house so I can’t even decide when to put away the food. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated! 🫶
2
Replies
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The best advice I can give is predetermine a limit per meal (for example, 1 plate, no seconds). Eat SLOWLY. Enjoy the conversation. Only pick up your fork to take a bite now and then. You know you do this every week, so it's not as though this is the last time you'll get a meal like this, so it's no big deal. Keep water on hand and constantly sip at it while you are sitting.5
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Maybe try eating half as much as usual, and see how long it takes you to get hungry again. With practice you can interpret the timing of feeling hungry and estimate the calories of the last meal.
My personal estimate is that I feel full for about an hour for every 100 calories.1 -
Paper and pencil are your friend. Preplan what you expect to be served and in what quantities.
If unsure, ask whoever provided the dish “wow this was delicious! Mind me asking what’s in it?”
Jot it down discreetly while meal and/or ingredients are still in your head.
I know diddly squat about religion, but I do know gluttony is a cardinal sin in most. Surely whatever deity you follow would be pleased and bless you for being mindful? I’d keep that thought in my head if getting any flack from the earthly folks for writing it down.3 -
I advice you become an absolute master of accurately weighing and measure your daily food intake the other six days of the week. Nobody is perfect at estimating portion size and calorie content, though if you are diligently tracking these things, with high precision and consistency for six days of the week, you'll have a Gut Shabbos with a much more keen and discerning eye.elioraorenbakh wrote: »If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated! 🫶
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springlering62 wrote: »Paper and pencil are your friend. Preplan what you expect to be served and in what quantities.
You can't write on Shabbat either, so tracking is REALLY hard.
Maybe what I would do is to spend some time erev Shabbat to think about what you ate (and how much) the previous three to six weeks. Make up a "recipe" that simply consists of some number of grams of fat, protein, and carbohydrate that adds up to a calorie level you think is realistic. I do this when I go on multi-day river trips (a recipe I call "Rafter Rations") or SCUBA trips (a recipe with more calories that I call "Diver Rations").
Then, before the sun sets on Friday, pre-log your Shabbat. Just have one "serving" of your recipe. For me, "Rafter Rations" is 3300 calories. It's far more than I normally eat, and I do tend to eat more on river trips. I'm also pretty active.
Over time, you can maybe pay attention to what you're actually eating and try to make a mental note. You could even make a stack of checkers and move one to a different pile for each amount you eat to be able to keep track without writing. You can revise your recipe over time as you pay more attention to what you expect you are eating.
Do track very completely and honestly the other six days of the week. Then, over time, you can see if you're weight is moving in the same way you would expect. From that data you can even revise your Shabbat meal entry more and get it pretty close.
Most importantly, pay attention to what you're eating and how much. Be OK with not eating more just to be polite. One serving of cholent. One piece of challah. Maybe even skip dessert. It's OK. If you are improving your health, you're giving yourself a great gift.
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springlering62 wrote: »Paper and pencil are your friend. Preplan what you expect to be served and in what quantities.
You can't write on Shabbat either, so tracking is REALLY hard.
.
Wow. I had zero idea.
Sincerest apologies. I was raised in an anti-religious household so know not whereof I speak.4 -
Everyone has days they just can't log. You just do the best you can.
Do you eat the same type of foods on Shabbat that you do other days? As you keep logging everyday foods, you'll get better at guessing portion sizes. You can look up special Shabbat foods in advance and prelog a reasonable amount. As time goes by, you'll get better at guessing if a particular dish is made with more fat, etc. By the taste and texture.
One lady here on MFP said she puts quarters in one pocket before she goes out. As she eats about a hundred calories or so, she moves a quarter to a different pocket. When the first pocket is empty, she's through eating. That may not work for you, but something similar may help.
Just know that you'll get better with time, but you'll never get near perfect. Nutrition isn't an exact science. It's a series of guesses, using guidelines, not rules.
Best wishes. Enjoy Shabbat, good friends, good food.2 -
So, i can relate to long meals and delicious desserts, and as a child we were unrestricted during the family gatherings of 50+ people. There were multiple tables of all sorts of things and adults lingered, cracked nuts and talked.
As an adult, i went into these things with the approach i grew up with, multiple nibbles, samples, platefuls.
Changing that took some experimentation to find an approach that worked for me...
-- ended up with... enjoy the time and reason for the gathering, to share and catch up.
-- for food, i settled on a regular 1 plate with a usual meal choices (a protein, a starch, lots of veggies) plus a nice spoonful of a few favorites. Maybe a 2nd spoonful of something then stop. Later, sample the equivalent of 1 to 2 desserts.
-- i did not try to track these infrequent special occasions and let the food choice/meal build method limit apply.
--however, later, i would be able to guestimate and input retroactively, if desired, but i just don't stress it when i follow the approach... but it took several years of holiday feast before i could deploy my approach and feel content with it.
-- i also like the suggestion made earlier by @mtaratoot to figure an amount to use for pre-logging.
Wish you well to find an approach that works for you and is easy on the heart.4 -
.
Over time, you can maybe pay attention to what you're actually eating and try to make a mental note. You could even make a stack of checkers and move one to a different pile for each amount you eat to be able to keep track without writing. You can revise your recipe over time as you pay more attention to what you expect you are eating.
One of the things I liked when I was doing Weight Watchers was a “points bracelet”
OP could possibly adapt something like that to fit her needs? Google the WW points system and the bracelet.
I made my own back in the day. It just takes some different color beads, some elastic beading thread, and a few charms on lobster clasps. Easy enough to put together from items picked up at any craft store.
It would still be just a guesstimate. But it might be helpful.2 -
MargaretYakoda wrote: ».
Over time, you can maybe pay attention to what you're actually eating and try to make a mental note. You could even make a stack of checkers and move one to a different pile for each amount you eat to be able to keep track without writing. You can revise your recipe over time as you pay more attention to what you expect you are eating.
One of the things I liked when I was doing Weight Watchers was a “points bracelet”
OP could possibly adapt something like that to fit her needs? Google the WW points system and the bracelet.
I made my own back in the day. It just takes some different color beads, some elastic beading thread, and a few charms on lobster clasps. Easy enough to put together from items picked up at any craft store.
It would still be just a guesstimate. But it might be helpful.
I’ve never heard of that but that’s actually a brilliant idea if it works the way I assume it does. A charm for each guesstimated point? With CICO you’d need a pretty good idea of calorie value, but a charm for every 100?1 -
@elioraorenbakh
Weighing my food throughout the week has helped me eyeball portion sizes.
Also - what if the other 6 days of the week have a bigger calorie deficit- that way if you eat more calories on Shabbat, it’s a wash. Similar to what people do with a 5:2 eating schedule.
I’d also keep a bottle of water nearby, at least it helps me not pick or drink extra wine.. if I have a glass of water, I have something in my hand while socializing.
My 2£
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I was going to suggest something similar to SafariGal but also tieing in with other suggestions. Either pre-log a best-guess as to what you might eat or, for ease each week, create a single 'recipe' that contains an estimate of what you think you typically eat each Shabbat and log that. On the other days, presumably you do log, so you can look at the app to determine your weekly average. If you typically indulge when at big gatherings, adjust your intake from Sunday to Friday to eat a little less. If your 7-day average is on track with your goal, you're seemingly fine. After about a month, you'll know whether you're still losing at the rate you want to, to know whether your Shabbat logging is accurate or whether it needs to be tweaked.1
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springlering62 wrote: »MargaretYakoda wrote: ».
Over time, you can maybe pay attention to what you're actually eating and try to make a mental note. You could even make a stack of checkers and move one to a different pile for each amount you eat to be able to keep track without writing. You can revise your recipe over time as you pay more attention to what you expect you are eating.
One of the things I liked when I was doing Weight Watchers was a “points bracelet”
OP could possibly adapt something like that to fit her needs? Google the WW points system and the bracelet.
I made my own back in the day. It just takes some different color beads, some elastic beading thread, and a few charms on lobster clasps. Easy enough to put together from items picked up at any craft store.
It would still be just a guesstimate. But it might be helpful.
I’ve never heard of that but that’s actually a brilliant idea if it works the way I assume it does. A charm for each guesstimated point? With CICO you’d need a pretty good idea of calorie value, but a charm for every 100?
Yep. The one I made had 4 sections of beads.
Blue was my water count and the charm I used was a frog. Green beads were my veggies and I used a flower charm. I had red beads and orange beads too, for the fats and carbs. I forget what those charms were.
I also had two bigger enameled “home” beads where the charms began their day, with some clear crystal beads between them that made the bracelet large enough to fit me and gave the charms a spot to sit when they were at zero.
One bead per point or glass of water.
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elioraorenbakh wrote: »Hi! I’m a religious Jew who keeps Shabbat. (A day that’s filled with long meals and not being able to go on your phone)
I love Shabbat but I’m really struggling with my fitness during it. I can’t use my phone so I can’t track how many calories I’m eating + they are all homemade so I don’t even know how many calories are in each dish and they could be very calorie dense + my meals are LONG and it’s so hard not to pick at desserts while having a lengthy discussion.
I’m not the woman of the house so I can’t even decide when to put away the food. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated! 🫶
How did it go this Shabbat?1 -
elioraorenbakh wrote: »Hi! I’m a religious Jew who keeps Shabbat. (A day that’s filled with long meals and not being able to go on your phone)
I love Shabbat but I’m really struggling with my fitness during it. I can’t use my phone so I can’t track how many calories I’m eating + they are all homemade so I don’t even know how many calories are in each dish and they could be very calorie dense + my meals are LONG and it’s so hard not to pick at desserts while having a lengthy discussion.
I’m not the woman of the house so I can’t even decide when to put away the food. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated! 🫶
How did it go this Shabbat?
They never logged back in after making the initial post.0 -
sollyn23l2 wrote: »elioraorenbakh wrote: »Hi! I’m a religious Jew who keeps Shabbat. (A day that’s filled with long meals and not being able to go on your phone)
I love Shabbat but I’m really struggling with my fitness during it. I can’t use my phone so I can’t track how many calories I’m eating + they are all homemade so I don’t even know how many calories are in each dish and they could be very calorie dense + my meals are LONG and it’s so hard not to pick at desserts while having a lengthy discussion.
I’m not the woman of the house so I can’t even decide when to put away the food. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated! 🫶
How did it go this Shabbat?
They never logged back in after making the initial post.
It's not too late @elioraorenbakh. I am looking forward to reading about your approach to success from now on into the future.
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I too like the pre logging idea also self control will be a test however pray for *** to give you guidance and self control to not over eat more than your rations.
I would also recommend highly using some intermittent fasting the day prior and or Sunday starting at sunset sat. When shabbat has ended.
Shalom shalom2 -
It's easier for me because I'm the one who makes the food for shabbos, but here's what I do:
1. Keep the pans of food in the kitchen (buffet style) so there's no mindless picking at the table. If you want seconds, you have to get up.
2. Even though I don't weigh my portions before Shabbos (although I guess I could if I wanted to), I pre-log with rough estimates. (e.g. 2 cups chicken broth, 1 slice challah, etc). When I see the totals ("wow, if I eat this I'm already at my calorie goal even without dessert) it's much more difficult to rationalize an extra helping.4 -
May I suggest that you take Shabbat as a rest from logging and worrying about food as well, and use it as a day to focus on your family and worship?
Eat moderate amounts of delicious homemade healthy food, drink water, love your family, pray nd worship, and enjoy and honor the blessing of rest that you have been given.
I promise that you will not derail your health journey with one day that you don't log or that you go a little bit over in calories. But worrying about the calories will derail your Shabbat. ❤️1
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