Holiday Scenarios, Strategies & Sanity
What do I see when I see fudge?
It looks insanely good.
But… is that the only thing that is true?
No, because if I eat it then I will crave it and all other sorts of things. It may result in a sugar crash. I do not like that and that is part of the picture that I must see when I see fudge.
I need to tell myself the entire story not just the story that the fudge is delicious.
That is where planning comes into play, because we know that there will be wonderful things ahead and we want to act in a way that serves our goals.
Let’s talk about more specifics for planning for your holiday. I am going to do this by giving some examples and divulging mine as well.
Recall 4 steps to the Holiday Skill Set:
1. Figuring out your outcome
2. Calendaring them
3. Committing to how you want to manage the events
4. Find the tools that you have to execute your game plan
What is the outcome that you want?
What do I want my blood sugars to be?
1. Healthy blood sugars to not feel tired? What is your threshold without symptoms?
2. Am I okay if they go up a little bit, what is your threshold without symptoms?
3. Do you want to continue to improve?
I wanted to continue to improve. I kept my blood sugars at 95% in range this year, but I did not in previous years.
I do not like to have my brain flooded with sugar. It makes me sleepy and moody and that does not make friends over the holidays.
Normal fasting is 85, give yourself permission to be at 115 fasting, it won’t hurt the short term. Make that peace with your outcomes.
What do I want my scale to be?
Annually I gained 5 pounds in the past years. This year I lost 5 pounds and it has been an evolution for me. But the other years that I gained 5 pounds, guess what, I had the tools to fix it afterwards, so I was not worried about it. And I want to give you the tools to fix it too. I do not want you self-loathing or drowning in regret. I want your relationship with your health and your weight to be calm.
This can be an abstract goal: What is your relationship to be with food? Do you want your relationship to stay calm?
I am not a fan of feeling like I am in a food frenzy without any boundaries. I do not like self loathing from restriction either. I want my relationship with food to be calm because that's what I desire at the end of my holiday season , I really do limit some of the foods that I eat because I know it creates a lot of chatter in my brain. I don't like that.
2. Next, grab a calendar.
Determine how long your holiday season lasts. - looking at this sequentially with examples here:
Do all of your parties end at Christmas?
Do you continue into the New Year?
Does your family celebrate Christmas in mid January, so they can buy their gifts after all the sale prices?
Determine what events you are going to go to.
Do all of your parties line up 3 days in a row? or 5 nights in one week?
If you indulge 3 nights in a row or every other night all week, then you are going to be metabolically ill and that is not okay.
3. Make the commitment on how you want to manage these events:
Let’s go over some examples if you choose to allow yourself indulgences, then choose which event you will indulge in.
1. Think about: Mom’s pie, it is your favorite, so you will wait for that event and you will skip the store bought christmas cookies....that is your plan.
2. What is there is a very unique dessert that you did not plan on ? Homemade christmas cookies....those cookies will be possible to acquire again in your life... you can make them in july if you want.
4. What are the tools that you have to manage the events?
Do you need a stress management plan to be implemented ahead of time?
Morning meditation?
What about a distress plan for an in the moment issue? Because family is very triggering. The worst.
If a situation comes up, how will you handle it.
Breathing techniques?
c. What about creating a good food environment?
Do you need to cook your own or make special requests ahead of time?
d. What about choosing a focus beyond food, like in the Evolve Yourself with Vision coaching series?
Feeding your soul and yourself with love based emotions like with love, connection, confidence, joy, peace
This is my plan as an example:
1. My thoughts about my desired outcome: I want to maintain normal blood sugars. I also want something to feel special. Maintaining normal blood sugars this year will feel special for me because there have been many years where I failed in my behaviors despite having all the knowledge that I needed.
2. I have three events to put on my holiday planning calendar: Dec 24, Dec 25, and Dec 31st. I also have Dec 28, 29, 30 for a small vacation with my son. Those are all tough challenges.
3. I could choose to do intermittent fasting, without snacking, and just have one meal with dessert, but I have not done well with that in the past. So this year, this is not my plan. My plan is going to be to eat some eggs for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and then my dinners with protein and vegetable and a low carb appetizer and choose 2 days that I have an item that could potentially make my blood sugars be more stubborn and go higher.
4. My 1st tool is going to be to bring my own low carb appetizer and my own low carb side to the 24th dinner because they never have anything good. I am going to have one peice of pie because my dad always buys some fancy pie and I want to join in on his tradition even though I do not have to in order to show him love.
5. My 2nd tool, For the 25th, I asked my mother in law to make asparagus for dinner for the 25th because she always makes carb loaded casseroles. I am not going to eat her pie, and I feel like that might hurt her feelings and she will ask me questions as to why I do not have a piece, so I am going to make sure to give her a hug or two and complement her cooking. I may take home a peice and put it in the freezer.
6. My 3rd tool, On the 31st, I am going to sleep a lot in the evening so I am not tired, because when I am tired, I tend to snack a lot. I am employing the HALT strategy for my past food addiction because I know that there will be a lot of snacks… The HALT strategy is never let yourself get. hungry, angry, lonely or tired.
7. My 4th tool. On the 28, 29, 30th vacation, I am going to allow myself one time of a cheat meal, but otherwise, I need to have my food prepared and make sure that I am spending 20 minute alone each morning with my meditations to support myself.
