Slimdown Saturday: Holidays and Hormones

Note- This feature touches on a lot of issues for me and may include what you consider TMI, whether physical or emotional.  Harassing comments will be deleted.

This is a week where that little disclaimer up there is really valid.  My family member who was in the hospital was released yesterday and is doing well.  That stress was winding down, but timing brought two more challenges my way  this week.  I'll meet you under the cut if you don't mind knowing a little too much about me.


On top of a food-centric holiday (are there any that aren't?), this is also *that* week for me.  As much as I kinda don't wanna write about my lady times for the whole internet to see...it's a major dieting pitfall for me and I'm almost definitely not alone in that.  I am ravenous when I've got PMS.  Ravenous and exhausted.  All I want to do is eat chips a whole bag at a time and sleep.  Not exactly healthy.  It's when many of my weightloss attempts have fallen apart in the past.  Holidays are also risky, especially if you're a guest at someone else's celebration.  It's very easy to go overboard.  I've developed a few coping techniques for dealing with holidays and with hormones, and really they're not that different.

Controlled chaos seems to be the best way for me to cope with both problems.  When I feel like pigging out on something, I'll redirect myself to a healthy option that I can eat as much of as I'd like.  Veggies like baby carrots, cucumber slices, or roasted cauliflower all work really well for me.  If I'm invited over for a holiday celebration, I'll often bring veggies and low fat or fat free dip.  That way I can snack with everyone and not feel like I've ruined my week.  It also fills me up so I eat less of whatever the meal is...and sometimes even have the willpower to completely skip dessert!

Healthier alternatives are good to know in general, and I'll be doing at least one post about them eventually.  With summer cookouts, they're pretty obvious.  Weight Watchers even has a page just about burgers.  I usually go with a small veggie burger for around 2 points (note that when I use the word "points", I've calculated based on the Points Plus system - see disclaimer), no cheese, and a bun or flat roll.  The total is around 5-6 points, half as much as a beef burger with cheese...maybe even less!  The same goes for hot dogs, though I've found that the best options are fat free or low fat meat varieties.  They're fewer points than any meat-alternatives I've found.  I like Hebrew National 97% Fat Free Beef Franks.  They're just ONE point each...and tasty!  Even if you don't do a Weight Watchers-style program, substitutions are really helpful!

My strategy for this month, especially with the holiday added, was brief bit of indulgence.  I gave myself Wednesday and Thursday off from tracking points and I splurged.  On Wednesday night we went to Whole Foods and I had a small bison burger and sweet potato fries.  On Thursday we stayed home and had hot dogs (I had just one of the one point kind), red beet eggs, very low fat homemade potato salad, corn on the cob (no butter), and apple pie for dessert.  I went overboard with the pie and with a big bowl of ice cream when we got home from the fireworks.  Two splurge-y days can easily turn into a feeling that you've ruined the whole diet and can be an excuse to quit.  That....is bullshit.  It's just two days out of seven in one week of FIFTY-DAMN-TWO in a single year of your life.  It's nothing!  On Friday I went right back to counting points and being good.

I'm not reporting my weight this week because of the lady times, not because of my splurge days.  I bloat like you wouldn't believe.  I gain 3-8 pounds of water each month.  It comes back off almost right away as soon as it's over.  I've never counted it against myself, so I see no reason to post it here.  If you're curious, it was five pounds this month.  It'll be over by next Saturday and I will hopefully be below my previous 203.5 from last week.  We'll see!


Disclaimer:

This blog is not affiliated with or endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc., MyFitnessPal, or canofsleep.  Weight Watchers and PointsPlus are the registered trademarks of Weight Watchers International, Inc.  WWDiary is entirely the property of canofsleep.  All uses of registered trademarks and related terms are for review and reference purposes only.  Use of the MyFitnessPal tracker is for illustrative purposes only.  Any other brands mentioned are also for review purposes.  No compensation of any kind was received for this post.