The FastDay Forum

I learned that I bought WAY too much food so things will be very different next year!!! I also learned that when I "relax" my willpower, I still haven't quite learned to eat in moderation. Now this may well be because my change of lifestyle was still relatively new, only 6 months out of the fifty years I have lived, so it may well be that by next Christmas, I'll have been at it for 18 months and therefore my resolve and strength of will could be stronger. Certainly by not buying up so many goodies, the temptation will be less, hopefully.

Still, it was my first Christmas since changed my eating habits and I now know that I need to be stricter because that horrible two-week post-carb binge feeling of bloated belly and sluggishness really isn't very nice. I'm not going to to deny that everything tasted lovely, but in hindsight, I should have been stricter with myself!

The good thing is that I used to walk around feeling like this constantly and thinking that it was all to do with the menopause. I can't wait to feel "normal" again... so I suppose that's also something that I've learned - that how I am currently feeling is ABnormal....

What did YOU learn about yourself over Christmas?

I also gained weight over Xmas and am a bit disappointed in myself. My sister's family is really into going out for breakfast. I think what I learned about myself is that I can't have two big meals per day and maintain weight. I don't particularly care about having a big breakfast on a regular basis, so I should be ok...

What I've learned over the silly season is similar @Domane This was my first Christmas too.
The actual food part was OK and yes I listened to what my body wanted for the first time in my life.
I did 16:8 every day and ate quite sensibly during the 8hour window. But I bought way to much crap!!!

Nuts + nibbles we had guests Chtistmas eve who
wanted "just nibbles"
So I went overboard buying far to much then left with them and I know nuts are good for you but not by the handful!!!
Chocolates bought to many just in case visitors wanted some everyone is in the same boat we're all fed up with food and feeling stuffed. Also had more chocks pressies this year than ever before and have told the family members who gave them to me bad idea + never again if I've offended them that's TUFF
To tempting and my hubby is good at squirreling them away but that's no good for him either.
Lesson learned buy less of everything and if you've not got certain items on your buffet table people will just have to manage + accept what is there just as we do when visiting them for an evening buffet!!!!
Does that make me sound hard/grumpy/tough?

probably but who cares it's my health that counts from
here onwards.♥

I've learned not to buy things out of habit, tradition or because you think other people expect it at Christmas. In our house no one likes roast parsnips or bread sauce, we can take or leave Christmas cake and pud so these high carb goodies will definitely not be featuring next year!

Yes @Domane I pretty much agree with you. As soon as there's an excuse to eat "without guilt" I'm there! I think, in short, I've learned that I'm more in control when fasting, otherwise I think I could easily go back to my bad old habits of eating way more than I need!

Today is my first fast since before Christmas. I think that says it all!!

Bean

I second or is it third the 'buying way too much food'. I have made a meal planner for the post Christmas food and we won't need to buy anything other than vegetables, milk and toiletries until the 28th January, at least. Oops, make that the 29th, sweet and sour pork will use up the rest of yesterdays pork roast.

Last night I just shoved everything into tins and shoved it all out of the way. We all know where the treats are, but its not in our faces now everytime we go into the cold store.

I don't think we will be buying a Christmas cake next year either. We only got around to opening it last night, so we could have just bought a tiny little cake each. We have enough Christmas puddings in to do us for the next 8 years, so they should all be nicely matured by then. I'm not kidding, hubby has a bad habit of buying up Christmas puddings in January at bargain prices, but he forgets that we had bought 2 or 3 the year before. I have 8 Christmas puddings in the cupboard.

I learn that there are things I will never learn......

If you take the example of the "too much food bought", each year I say "there's too much food", each year I take the resolution that "next year will be different, I will buy less, it is ridiculous to buy so much and have leftovers for a month" but every single year I buy too much. Why
? Because of the fear to not have enough and how "shameful" it would be.

However, there are some differences, now I buy too much of good stuff, not junk food. Here there was only one big Toblerone and a box of candy canes, maybe because now I make myself all the other chocolate, truffles, cookies, etc.

In the things I learned, it's possible to fast for me during the Holidays, my taste has changed, I didn't give a damn about the chocolates and other temptations in stores, it didn't upset me either to not eat as much as I used to, I didn't feel any frustration.

All good things

This is my 2nd christmas. Last year I had just acheived 6lb loss in 6 weeks when Christmas arrived. I put on 3 lbs over the holiday fortnight that took another 3-4 weeks to shift. This year I put on 2.8 lb between the Monday of christmas week ( which was a surprisingly low weigh in) and last Monday. However today although we had a big New years eve party and lunch out on new years day and having had only 1 completely alcohol free day in the last 2+ weeks I am heading back in the right direction so I have made some progress. However with all the left over sweets and goodies I have discovered that my sweet tooth is not quite as diminished as I thought it was so I am having to be very careful. I may take some of the stuff into work tomorrow.

I've learnt that I don't know what to do with leftovers of treats and extras.
I grew up not wasting food, eat everything on your plate etc.
I don't like throwing away food and am good at using up savoury leftovers sensibly (with the major exception of cheese, I love it!) but don't really know how to deal with left-over treats, other than palm them off on friend's teenagers...
I don't want them sitting there looking at me so I tidy them away into my tummy...
@Manderley said

If you take the example of the "too much food bought", each year I say "there's too much food", each year I take the resolution that "next year will be different, I will buy less, it is ridiculous to buy so much and have leftovers for a month" but every single year I buy too much. Why
? Because of the fear to not have enough and how "shameful" it would be.

This made me think, and you're right. It would feel I wasn't treating my guests right.
On the plus side, I found that I could easily skip breakfast, even with guests around.
And I loved looking fab in my dress!

This year I had decided to buy some extras that I wouldn't normally buy, because I felt in control. However, it was still too much and I didn't have the control I thought I would.
Fortunately between the weigh in the Monday before Christmas and today, I've only put on 0.3lbs, which in itself is miraculous. But now I think that if I had been more in control, I may have even lost weight!
Oh well, at least I've got a better idea what to do next year now.