Monday, November 29, 2010

Aftermath

Two down and two to go.  We survived Halloween and got through Thanksgiving.  Now it is time to tackle Christmas and embrace the New Year.  Let's start with reviewing Thanksgiving.  How was it?  Did you enjoy the company?  Did you have lots of happy noises?  Did the food police show up?

My Thanksgiving was lots of fun.  The work was split three ways.  We had a great big juicy bird and lots of yummy sides plus four different flavor pies to choose from. What's a person to do?  Well, I had myself a nice breakfast.  I made pumpkin pies and the house smelled wonderful.  We watched the parade and after it was over we had a nice lunch and did some final cleaning before guests arrived.  I peeled potatoes and Kristin cut them.   As those potatoes cooked family and food arrived.  It got busy and loud real fast.  But it was nice.  The food was good...no it was awesome.  I had small helpings of everything I wanted.  I indulged by eating two rolls and and extra (smaller than the first) helping of yams.  Love it.  I did something scary too.  I weighed myself that morning, and again that night.  I showed a three pound GAIN!  The next morning it was two pounds.  Right now, I am at a maintenance. And I am fine with that.  I don't have to brow beat myself over any of it.  I made a plan and I stuck with it.

So now what?  It's time to take a look back at holidays past to see what we did and if it was a success or not.  Take a moment to think back on past holidays to see what helped us and what did not.  By doing this, we will improve our weight loss success!

In Weight Watchers,  Kim talked about writing a letter to ourselves telling ourselves how good we have been doing.  There is even a model to follow:

Dear Me-I-Want-To-Be:

What a terrific year it has been!  Over the past 12 months you've made great strides:  You're holding steady at (or nearing) your weight goal, exercising regularly, feeling healthier than ever and actually looking forward to the 2011 holidays--because now you know you'll be able to enjoy them without losing ground.  And you reached this point because you were able to adopt positive habits and behaviors.

(List these successful habits and behaviors.)
  •  eating slower
  • grabbing fruit instead of cookies
  • brushing my teeth after dinner (no more snacking after dinner)
Not only that but over the past year you've built on those initial behaviors and strategies by adopting healthy habits that have become as natural as breathing (well almost!) Here's what you wanted to achieve over the past year--and did!
  • No more letting a slip up set me back
  • getting the exercise in.  No excuses.
  • saying no thank you to the food pushers.

It hasn't always been easy this past year, but you have had an excellent tool on hand to help you stay on track going forward:  Winning Outcomes, goals that boost your motivation and bring your vision to life.  Remember winning outcomes are positive, specific, within your control. and a good fit with your lifestyle. 

Winning Outcomes:

By the next holiday season I would like to ( lose X pounds, maintain my goal weight,  I want to handle challenges without reaching for food)  By making changes this holiday season, we will be all fired up and ready for the next season.  

What will your letter say?

3 comments:

Debbie said...

What great tips! I love the idea of looking back on what worked and what didn't.

Amy said...

See, this is why you are my weight loss luminary. What great ideas!

Emmy said...

Great letter! And yes I noticed, you did great at just taking a little bit of everything at Thanksgiving