Need some strategies for managing through the holidays, weekends or traveling? Consider these tips:
1. Figure out why you are going to a social occasion like a party or family gathering. (See chapter 25 in Thin Within.)
– Write down your purposes in attending and plan accordingly. Most of us, once we have decided to surrender this area of our lives, don’t go to parties intending to overeat. So ask yourself if it is because you want to connect with family, friends and co-workers, it is easier to accept that food isn’t required for that.
– Then, when you get to the event, achieve your goal! Socialize or network or whatever it might be!
2. When planning to attend a social event that includes food, plan to be at a zero (stomach totally empty) by eating a smaller meal earlier in the day.
– It may be unreasonable for you not to eat at some events–like sit-down holiday dinners and the like. If your event is at 7pm, for instance, and you get hungry at 5:30 pm–you are definitely at a 0 at 5:30pm–then have just a few crackers or a cup of milk or something that will just remove the hunger. You don’t need to eat to a 5. This way, you will be more likely to arrive at your holiday dinner at a 0 and ready to eat.
– You can also “ride the 0” a little while unless you know yourself well enough to know that you will have a hard time eating slowly if you get “too hungry.” Sometimes, when we eat too fast, it is easy to eat way too much.
3.) When you are eating 0 to 5 at a holiday party and there are TONS of choices from which to choose, you can look at all that is offered and evaluate before you choose the foods you will eat which choices are most likely to be “teasers,” “pleasers,” and “whole body pleasers” (see chapter 18 in Thin Within). You want to be “picky” about what and how much of each “pleaser” or “whole body pleaser” food you select.
– Identify which foods offered are teasers and don’t even “go there.”
– If something is available all year long (like fresh french bread) you may want to forego selecting it in favor of something that is a favorite at holiday time.
4. ) Look around the party or dinner for a naturally thin eater and note their behaviors. See if you can spot someone who is naturally thin, but who is enjoying the party without overindulging. (This may be tough as most Americans use holidays as an excuse to eat way more than we need.)
5.) Sometimes people give gifts of food. It is true that some people “love on” others by giving food any time of the year–all the more during the holidays! In Thin Within, there is nothing wrong with having a small piece of whatever food that you receive, of course. If you know that you can withstand temptation to overeat it, feel free to have it in your home, of course! But if you know that you can’t handle the temptation, then here are some suggestions:
– When someone wants to send you home with a bunch of treats 🙂 either politely tell them “No, thank you,” or oblige and state (or not) that you will be glad to share the treats with others…then re-gift them as soon as possible before temptations lures you into eating them.
– When you end up with treats anyhow…THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH FLUSHING THEM DOWN THE TOILET THE MINUTE YOU WALK THROUGH THE DOOR! If you are like me and sometimes need “permission” to do something so drastic, consider this a blanket permission… “Flush the cookies, cakes, pies, candy, whatevers…down the toilet!”
6.) Put the fork down between bites when you are eating out or at a holiday party. This helps slow me down quite a bit any time…not just for holiday parties.
7.) Maybe most importantly, EXTEND GRACE to yourself. If you “blow it” for a party or a meal or even for a day or a week…just OBSERVE and CORRECT! This isn’t a diet, so you don’t have to feel like you “blew it!” Instead, you just had a step or two back on your path…but forge ahead “forgetting what is behind!” Remember this is a journey…a life long journey! God extends grace to you in all things, so extend some to yourself!
What about you?
Do you have strategies that have helped you make it through the holidays? What are your plans for this weekend?
My husband works for Union Pacific Railroad. What that means is he travels a LOT. The railroad goes all over the country–so does he. 🙂
Last week, his travels took him to the home of wonderful southwestern and Mexican food – Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In this video, Bob shares his strategies for managing this trip in spite of having very little flexibility for the timing of his meals and what he would be served.
1. Bob clearly is willing to say no to himself in spite of claiming to still have an incessant love for large quantities of food. Are you still battling willingness? Or are you seeing even an incremental movement forward in your life–where you are a bit more willing than you were yesterday, a week ago, or a month ago? CELEBRATE the movement forward! WOOT!
2. Consider an upcoming vacation, trip, or even a meal out. What plan can you come up with so that you can maintain your primary boundary of eating 0 to 5?
3. Sit with the Lord a bit and ask him to give you a truth that you might add to your truth cards related to conferences, traveling, eating out.
4. What is one strategy that Bob uses that you might be able to use?
Going with Bob to Disneyland really was unusually enlightening for me this time around. Such a short trip, yet some great new insights!
1. Planning meals is important to me when traveling. Obviously, there are some negotiables that have to be considered when traveling, but having a rough idea of when and where and what seems to be important to me, not only so we can keep a budget and not “blow a wad” buying food in Disneyland, but also to fend off the anxiety I sometimes feel when I am not sure what the plan is for meals. This is something that God is definitely still working with me on and I had no idea it was such a need until this trip exposed that fact.
2. Stress can hit unexpectedly, even at the happiest place on earth. To see how Bob handled the unexpected airline challenge was very illuminating to me. He wanted to deal with the problem before eating…even though he was hungry. I am not sure I would have handled it that way had I been alone with a similar situation! Here is the thing…life IS stressful. If we let stress derail us from adhering to our boundaries, we are likely to never make steady headway. I think the key is how we will handle stress when it hits. In Bob’s case, he didn’t even want to “go there” and sit down to a meal when he was physically hungry because of other factors. He mentioned in the video that being hungry, being in a place with so many good food options, and knowing he wanted to medicate himself from the stress all resulted in him not wanting to exercise self-control if he were to have a meal at that very moment. That was like an “ah HA!” moment for me. Funny how I can learn so much from him when *I* am the one who has been doing this for so long! LOL! He wanted to deal with the problem causing the stress FIRST. (Duh! What a novel idea! You mean, eating isn’t necessary in order for me to handle the problem? LOL!)
3. Walking into a situation where an abundance of FOOD sights and smells bombard (as they do in Disneyland) is NOT for the faint of heart! It seemed as though everywhere we went in Disneyland and when we walked to and from the condo outside the park, there was an assault of FOOD FOOD FOOD! Everywhere we turned people were eating turkey legs with an incredible aroma! It seemed like ice cream cones were as common as Mickey Mouse ears! And that is just the beginning. I can NOT imagine doing this if I didn’t have experience with not giving in to food in the face of temptation. I know that 5 years ago, I probably wouldn’t have handled this without eating my way through the park. I am reminded of years ago when I had just had children and I took them to the mall. For me, the mall was ALL about all the different food options I could indulge in. It had nothing to do with shopping and everything to do with eating. I think that may be what Disneyland (and other similar destinations) are for many…and could be for me if I am not careful!
4. Partnering with a spouse is invaluable. I can’t pretend not to be blessed. The many years Bob was not on board with 0 to 5 eating were hard, though he has never been a “foodie” like me. He has always been relatively supportive…never intentionally derailing me from my boundaries. Nevertheless, to be partnering with him was helpful to maintain my resolve to persevere with my 0 to 5 boundaries.
Do you have a place you enjoy going that could cause you to stumble in maintaining your boundaries? What strategies might you use to overcome these “stumbling stones” and come out the other side victorious?
—————–
DRAWING WINNER!
I don’t want to forget to announce this week’s winner for our drawing! Whenever you comment here at the blog, I add your name to the “hat” (actually a brown paper sack). On Friday each week, I pray that God would have my hand land on the name of the person he wants to have the opportunity to pick a prize from one of our three prizes before I draw one lucky name out. The prizes to choose from are: Thin Within (copies donated by the Thin Within ministry–thanks to Joe Donaldson), Hunger Within (copies donated by Arthur and Judy Halliday), or a week of coaching by yours truly. 🙂
This week, we had over 60 names to draw from. That means you all were busy interacting with one another. THANK YOU.
This week’s winner of our drawing is Cindy!
CONGRATULATIONS! I will be shooting you an email. 🙂
Disneyland! Hubby and I LOVE Disneyland. Even though we live 400 miles away from Disneyland, we are annual pass holders and enjoy multiple visits to “The Happiest Place on Earth” each year.
So, when Bob announced that he had to travel to Oxnard (not terribly far away from Anaheim, the home of Disneyland) for business, we knew that we needed to add me :-), another day, and a side trip to Disneyland (he has a Companion Pass for me to fly free with him on Southwest). Tonight (Tuesday night) and most of Wednesday, we plan to visit the park.
This is a wonderful opportunity to share with you how we maintain our boundaries of eating 0 to 5. It also will hold us accountable!
The only thing more exciting to me than being in Disneyland is hubby joining me in videos for you. This is the first of at least a five video contract. LOL! Seriously, he will be providing the guy’s perspective in future videos.
Hubby is successful using Thin Within principles to release weight, having recently lost 25 pounds. While he isn’t a big fan of the spiritual/emotional element of the program, he has the “mechanics” part of it down with his own unique approach added to it. I would say he is definitely in “phase 2” of Thin Within, using information about food to make wiser choices. That means he considers nutrition and caloric density in his foods. He has never dieted a day in his life, so he doesn’t have the challenges with this that some of us have (including me!).
If you know any men who might appreciate hearing Bob’s take on this approach to weight loss and maintenance, let them know that Bob intends to be a part of the blog and the intention to continue to support Thin Within participants.
Below is a video we made of our lunch out at El Torito and how we go about doing that together. For some of you, this is old hat, but for others of you, it may be a new way of doing things, of thinking about food and eating out! I hope you enjoy! (Stay tuned for another vid or two about Disneyland!)
How about you? Do you have someone you travel with or go out to eat with who will enjoy sharing meals with you? Do you struggle at all with vacation eating? Do you get an “entitlement” mentality that says that since it is a special event you can toss out your boundaries? What do you think? Does that work for you? Or does it set you up for failure, making it more difficult to return to your boundaries after the trip or meal out is over?
Yesterday was Day 2 of the vacation, day 1 being a travel day. The kids coined the name “DC Death March.” Hmm…I wonder why? LOL!
This trip is probably not what the kids expected. You see, they have never been on a “Conquering Vacation” before. They have only been on “Restful Vacations.” There is a HUGE difference!
You see, my dear husband planned this to be the once-in-a-lifetime, you-won’t-have-us-pay-your-way-ever-again “Conquering Vacation.” So, he wants us to accomplish as much as possible. We homeschool and have been studying US History so this is the deal–time to see in REAL life much of what we have seen pictures of or heard about!
To drive home the point of what a “Conquering Vacation” is, here is our itinerary:
Thursday – travel
Friday and Saturday – Washington, D.C.
Sunday and Monday – Williamsburg and surrounding locations
Tuesday – Chincoteque and Ocean City, Maryland
Wednesday – Independence Hall, Philadephia and Dover Speedway in Delaware
Thursday – Lancaster County and Straasburg, Philadephia
Friday – travel back to California
As you can see, this is DEFINITELY, a “Conquering Vacation!”
Yesterday, the first of two days in DC, we hopped hopped hopped from place to place—at times, literally! We definitely got a LOT of exercise!
We took in:
The Library of Congress
The Capitol
Union Station
The National Archives
The White House
The Washington Monument
The Lincoln Memorial
…then we topped it all off by the ulimate…a march across the Potomac on Memorial Bridge!!!
I think our first objection came from the kids just about the time we were at the Capitol! It was a lot of walking and I realized just how much I have allowed my kids to be sedentary. We will have to fix that when we get home! Hubby and I “paid” for that, quite a bit.
However, God provided joy for me in the entire thing…and I hope that helped my family make it through the rather intensive day. For those of you wondering, Daniel has done FABULOUSLY! Thank you for praying! Michaela seems to be getting sick now, though. We definitely need rest!
The eating situation yesterday was intriguing. I managed to eat 0 to 5 the entire day. Hubby got off providing food for us at a restaurant twice… and we foraged on snacks we had packed the rest of the time. I am grateful to God for HoneyMade Graham Crackers and Skippy Peanut Butter! Oh, how I LOVE my peanut butter!
Today, day 3…we were hung up in horrible traffic jams getting to the Metro so it was late by the time we got to DC. For some reason I was feeling REALLY sick. It was almost 90 degrees and I got very light headed! Go figure! I wondered if I was hungry and wanted something that might get sugar into my blood stream quickly, just in case it was low blood sugar. Funny thing…I had two Oreos (the real kind, not the cracker kind! LOL!) and within minutes I was feeling a lot better, thankfully. I have not had an experience like that in a long time, but I have to assume that I missed a hunger signal.
Today, we hoped to tour the Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian and maybe Arlington Cemetery and Mt. Vernon. It was so late by the time we got to DC, though, and with Michaela and I both feeling ill…well, we packed up and headed back soon after we got there. I am disappointed on the one hand, but on the other, I know it is best to let it go.
We drove over 2 hours to get to this wonderful condo. Haven’t seen it by daylight yet, but was able to get internet access. It is getting late, but hubby is out at WalMart getting some “provisions” to last us the three nights and days we will be here. (Gotta go cheap, if at all possible!)
I am blessed that so far, my flesh machinery has NOT been operational! I have been filled with the Joy of the Lord for the most part. I know it is HIS joy, as it is FULL. I have had my moments of being cranky, but God has given me an awareness of it and prayer has stopped that behavior in its tracks.
We went to Chili’s restaurant tonight and I was famished. I guess I should be thankful that when the fajitas arrived they were way too salty for me to eat much. So I didn’t eat outside of 0 and 5 today either. Tonight I felt miserable in my stomach and wondered if it was hunger. Again, my signals DO seem to be a bit messed up. I ate a small snack and the discomfort went away. I have to just trust that the Lord will lay it on my heart if it is something I need to give food to and if it is something that can be “cured” with prayer. So far, so good!
I am keeping a food log, observation and correction chart, *and* a hunger graph! It is in a pad in my travel wallet which hangs kind of like a mini-purse from my neck. It is SO convenient and helps me to stay focused. I want to show it to my co-leader of my live TW group when I return so that I can “stay honest” during this trip and not “go on vacation” from 0 to 5 eating or from obeying the Lord. Vacations will NOT be an excuse for disobeying his sweet voice!
P.S. It is 11:30pm here in Virginia and my young man just came out of his room…not yet able to sleep. He is horribly home sick. After making it through the past couple of days perfectly, I guess he is just letting down. If you don’t mind praying some more for him, I know we can get through. Disrupting his routine is very hard for him…and he misses all our animals at home. Thanks so much!
