Are you feeling anxious or worried about going off track, eating all the things and putting on weight again this holiday season? If this is you, listen up! You CAN continue your progress to heal your relationship with food and your body at this time of year. And you can continue to lose weight if that's what you want! Tune into this episode to learn more about our take on the mindset and practical processes that will empower you this holiday season.
For full show notes please go to www.TheWLCC.com/91
Are you feeling anxious or worried about going off track, eating all the things and putting on weight again this holiday season? If this is you, listen up! You CAN continue your progress to heal your relationship with food and your body at this time of year. And you can continue to lose weight if that's what you want! Tune into this episode to learn more about our take on the mindset and practical processes that will empower you this holiday season.
For full show notes please go to www.TheWLCC.com/91
Hello. And welcome back to the podcast this week. It is Carrie here with you. So welcome to the podcast. We are going to be talking. All about the holidays today, whether or not you're planning for Hanukkah coming up, whether it's Christmas, whether maybe you don't have any official celebrations. And perhaps it's just a little bit of a break from your normal routine, your normal work or business. Usually this time of year has a little bit more eating and drinking and possibly celebrating with other people than other times of the year. So I really want to talk to you a little bit about our framework and our process today. For navigating the holidays. And for navigating this time of the year. With a plan and with the confidence that you are going to be improving your relationship to food and your relationship with yourself over this time of year, meaning that you can start 20, 23. Feeling successful, feeling like you have actually made a dent. In some of your negative food relationships and your negative eating patterns, your negative self-sabotaging patterns. Anything that you think is going on. So this is what we're going to be speaking about in this episode. And the reason why I think this is so important is that we have heard this from many of our members. And I'm guessing if you're listening to this podcast. You're probably feeling a very similar way. There's a lot of anxiety that comes up at this time of year. Lots and lots of worries. Am I going to do the same thing again? And again? And I am I going to undo all of my work. Most of us have tried this many times for some of us have yoed. We've lost weight, and then it's gone back up again. And, you know, it's really normal for us to think that that's going to happen again this year. So before we get started on the practicalities and the process, I want to talk to you a little bit about past focused thinking. And the fact that this is really a mindset issue that we're dealing with here first and foremost, because what tends to happen is that we believe that. The same thing is going to happen again, because we've got all the evidence from all the years that it keeps on happening, but it's happened before. On more than one occasion. So our brain is predicting that it's probably going to happen again. Chances are in terms of probability that this is going to happen again. Now the thing is. The really the truth is that if we think in a forward future focused way, We can live in the world of possibility. We do not have to live in the world of probability because the thing is that perhaps you've never come to this period of the year with the kinds of tools and the kinds of concepts and the thinking that we're introducing you to on this podcast and in our program. And if it's not your first time around, maybe it's your second year practicing it. Maybe it's your third year practicing it. Every single year. Things are going to change for you because you're learning more. You're learning more about yourself. You're learning more about what works for you. What doesn't work for you. You're learning more about the mindset that comes into, you know, um, your relationship with food. Your relationship with your body. You're also learning more about how these foods react in your body. You are developing a greater sense of communication with your body. You are starting to understand how foods affect your body. Chances are, if you're following the things that we talk about on this podcast, you're probably tuning into your body. You might be asking yourself things like, am I physically hungry now? Am I emotionally hungry right now. What's really going on here on my board. Am I frustrated? Why am I being driven to eat this food? And maybe you're also noticing after you've eaten certain foods. That it's affecting you in a certain way, and maybe that's a positive way, but maybe it's also negative. Sometimes. Maybe there are some foods that make you feel. A little bit down afterwards. I know. I certainly get that, especially if I have a lot of sugar. Um, maybe there are some foods that make you feel a little bit sluggish that make you feel a little bit achy in your joints that make you feel fatigued. These are some of the really common ones that come up. And so as you start to learn more about your relationship with food, it means that this time of the year, when there may be things that are very, very tempting and that you may have overeaten in the past, chances are it's going to be different this time. And it's also going to be different because we have a specific process for you. And it doesn't mean you have to nail this process in order to. Um, label yourself as successful. The fact that if you even. Attempt to do this, you know, sketch out a little bit of a plan, follow the steps that I'm going to share with you today, and then reflect on that and learn about what happened that my friend is the measure of success. Not whether or not you did it. A hundred percent has you intended? So when you are doing all of these different things, you're thinking in a different way, you're checking in with your body. You're starting to understand things so much more. You are not going to be doing the same thing every single year. So I really want you to consider this for yourself. Ask yourself this question. How is it different for me this year? How have things changed from 2022? What have I learned this year about myself? What have I learned about my relationship with food, my relationships with my weight. What have I learned about myself from other events that happen every now and again, because really like all the holiday season is right now is it's periodic events that come up. That sometimes are very much revolving around food. And so you may have birthdays, you may have holidays, vacations that have already taken place. If you're in America, you've just had Thanksgiving. There are all sorts of other opportunities as well that you've had to practice these types of tools. So ask yourself as well. What have you learned? About yourself over the course of this year. In these situations where things are not typical, it's not your day-to-day routine. How are things different and what are you going to bring into this holiday season at the end of 2022, considering what you have learnt so far? Because the thing is when we start worrying, when we're stuck in this place of anxiety, thinking that everything's going to be the same, not trusting ourselves, worrying that we're going to quote unquote, fall off the wagon and things are going to go back to the way they were before we really are not giving ourselves any credit at all. For all of the work that we have already put in. Up until this point. And it really doesn't matter whether or not you're a member of the school of sustainable weight loss. Even if you're listening to this podcast and you've taken on a couple of concepts and you're practicing and playing with some things that is you starting to do the work. So you're already starting to make those changes. So please do give yourself credit where credit is due. If you hear your brain presenting you with these thoughts that create all the worry and anxiety, like I'm going to do the same thing again and again. And I'm going to eat all of these yummy treats that are around and, you know, Maybe. Someone in the family is cooking. One of your favorite things that you only get at this time of year. You know, when you hear those thoughts that make you think, oh no, I'm going to undo all the good work. It's going to be so hard. I'm going to put all this weight on remind yourself of how far you have come in the past year. And if you're new to this work, if you're someone that is sitting here thinking, Hey, I haven't, haven't actually been doing that much this year, because maybe you've just found this podcast. Welcome. And please. You know, think about what you've learned so far from this podcast. Maybe this isn't the first episode that you've listened to. And also then you can start practicing. This technique that I am going to share with you now, it's a very practical technique that is really going to help you navigate the holidays without having lots of regained weight without having lots of, um, Worry and anxiety, it's really going to help you navigate this time, feeling empowered and feeling successful no matter what happens with the scale. Okay. So here is the process that we like to discuss. Two. Help you navigate the holidays and you know what? You can use this to lose weight if you want. It is possible. Okay, so step number one. Is to set your goal. And I want you to think forward a little bit. Let's just say the first or the 2nd of January, 2023. So it's after this whole period, the new year has started. We're starting to go back into normal life, whatever that looks like for you. What do you want to be doing? Feeling. At that point in time. So that might look like, you know, thinking back to the holiday period that you've just had. How are you feeling within yourself? Are you feeling empowered? Are you feeling successful? Um, you know, are you feeling happy? Are you feeling joyful? Are you feeling optimistic about your relationship with food and that you're cracking this, write down some of the feelings that you want to be feeling. And also think to yourself as well. How do you want to be feeling in your body? Do you want to be feeling energetic? Do you want to be feeling vibrant? Um, you know, do you want to be feeling like you're not constricted by perhaps some joint pain and things like that? How do you want to be feeling in your body? Are there some symptoms that you have that perhaps you would love to see a change in? Notice, I'm not immediately going to wait here as your goal, but you can put that in because that is. A metric that you could also put in to the mix of things as well. So I want you to really get a bit of a picture. About this goal that you're getting to an early January, 20, 23. Maybe it means that you've come down another couple of pounds on the scale. Maybe it means that you have maintained over the course of the holiday season. You know, maybe it means that you've allowed yourself to fluctuate up. It really doesn't matter what you decide to do in terms of your weight. But what matters the most is that you set a goal. And that you then plan backwards to see how do you get to your goal. And it's really nice to pad that goal out and to not have it just focused on weight, but to really be thinking about, you know, how you're feeling in your body. Physically how you're feeling mentally as well, because this is all going to go into the recipe of what you put in over the holiday period in order you for you to get there in early 20, 23. Okay, so that's step number one is setting your goal. And getting some really rich information, a rich picture of where you're going to be an early 20, 23. The second step is then to stop planning. So grab your calendar, have a look. What have you got scheduled? Have you got some social events, some catch-ups. I know in my world, everyone wants to do an end of year catch up before we even get to Christmas. We celebrate Christmas. Um, so before we even get to Christmas, there's usually friends, different social circles, different professional circles, like, right. Let's see if we can get some drinks in. Let's see if we can get a dinner in. And so usually I've got quite a few nights out before we even get to the Christmas period. And I think that's, that's pretty common for a lot of people. So grab your calendar. What have you got in the diary between now and the end of the year? And of course, this is then going to include if you're celebrating any specific holiday periods. You know, is it Christmas day? Is it boxing day? Are there any events over Hanukkah? Are there any other real religious festivals that you participate in? Put all of those down and then what you want to do. Is roughly plan out. You're going to have to plan everything to the nth degree. Although of course, if that's the way you like to work and that's how your brain works, go for it. You don't have to plan to the answer degree though, but maybe sketch out a little bit of a framework. So maybe it's like, okay. I know for instance, over Christmas. You know, we're going to be Staley staying with some relatives. Christmas day itself is going to be a little bit more quiet, but there's a big family gathering on boxing day. So there's going to be a lot of people there. There's going to be all the usual stuff being cooked. So I can already start to map out how that day is going to go for me. Maybe I'm going to start the day by eating a more nourishing breakfast one. That's really going to set me up. So I'm not over hungry. Um, you know, I haven't got like blood sugar crashes or anything like that happening. You know, this is just an example for you. So I hope that this, you know, maybe provides you with some inspiration. Um, and then, you know, after I've had that kind of breakfast, which might be something like maybe salmon, maybe eggs, if we've got it in the house. Um, something like that, maybe some avocado, something that's really going to set me up. Then I won't be over hungry by the time we get to lunchtime. So I'm going to allow myself to probably have some meat. I have some lovely veggies, have some potatoes. Um, Yorkshire, puddings, if you were American, he pro Dota what that is, but in the UK, that's quite a popular dish over this time of the year. You know, and then also I'm sure there's going to be some lovely desserts and cakes. I'm going to allow myself to have that. And I'll probably also allow myself to have a couple of drinks as well. So it might be a couple of glasses of wine. I think that will work out for a really nice day. And then by the end of the day, I'm probably not going to be that hungry after eating that, but maybe I'll have something small in the evening. So can you see how, like, just in a moment I've thought through what my day might look like there. And then I also know for instance, and I'm just giving you my examples here, just to, you know, hopefully, so this can give you some inspiration. If you're sitting here thinking how on earth do I plan so far forward? I don't know what's going on. So I also know that for instance, I'm catching up with some friends. Just before Christmas. Um, and we are going to be going to a specific restaurant. This is a dim sum restaurant. So I can have a look at the menu. I'm going to go online and have a look at this particular menu and see what's available for me. I'll probably decide to have one or two drinks, a couple of glasses of wine. And maybe I'll also then figure out what dishes I want to have from that menu in advance. And maybe as a backup, then I could be like, you know what? I might choose dish a if they don't have it, or I don't feel like it on the day, I'll have dish be, give yourself options, give yourself the chance for some variety. The thing is the beauty with doing this in advance is that I'm not going to turn up on the day. Um, I have no idea what's going to happen on that day. What if I'm over hungry? What if I haven't eaten, um, you know, lunch? Uh, until really late or something like that, you know, what if I had to skip lunch that day, because something happens. Um, you know, which is something I don't try and do, but you never know what might happen. I already know what's going on in my head as to what I'm going to try and do. So, no matter what happens on that day, I don't have to think too hard. I'm not turning up at the restaurant over hungry. Um, stressed. And then I'm probably just going to be thinking right. If someone's ordered a bottle of wine, right. I'll have a glass of that. You know, and give me all the food that you know, is the quickest release of energy, you know, whatever is going to make me feel better quickly. That's what usually happens if we don't have a plan. So this is why the having the plan is. A great idea. And then when we've had it, we've thought about the types of events that we've got coming up between now and the end of the year, you can kind of fill in the in-between periods in. Maybe you've got one week where you've got three or four things happening. So you might want to be eating quite light. For the rest of the time and think about. Is this going to then get you towards that goal? For early 20, 23. You know, how many social events do you have a week? How many times does that mean that you're going to be eating out? What have you planned for those nights? If you want to get to your goal of losing, maintaining, or, um, maybe gaining a bit of weight, but keeping it within a certain. Amount. You know, is this looking like a realistic plan that is going to get you there? So just sketch something out. That's going to help you a little bit. And of course, as the dates get closer, You can always revise this. You can always put a little bit more. To each of these days, but it really helps you to make sure that you're just not going completely off course. You're not going for the easiest thing. The highest energy converting thing that is available right in front of you. And also you're not turning up hungry and then seeing all of your most favorite things that you hardly ever get to eat at any other time of year. Which is a recipe for overeating. Okay. So that is step number two is having your plan. So setting your goal, then having your plan and kind of looking at that plan and thinking to yourself, Does this plan? Allow me to get to my goal. Does it feel good? Is it realistic? Is it going to create that outcome of me feeling the way I want to feel? In early 20, 23. In terms of your body in terms of your mental wellbeing and also in terms of where you want to get to on the scale, if that's part of your metrics. Okay now. The other thing that you will want to do. Is, um, Matea calls these re-entry plans. And I like these as a description for them. It's having a plan basically for when you get back, because if you are. Having a very different time over this time of year, maybe you're not leaving home, but you might be doing things that are very different. So you're completely out of your routine. You want to have a plan to ease yourself back into that routine. It's the same as if you go away on holiday or vacation, it's the same as if you are actually going away over this period as well. And many people will be traveling. What are you going to do when you get back? I have a think about your re-entry plan. This is really, really helpful, particularly if you're traveling. But as I say, if the routine changes, it's also really helpful, what are you going to do when you get back home? And maybe there's nothing in the house and possibly there's weird opening times for the shops as well, because it is the holiday season. What are you going to do? Do you need to have a few things in the freezer? Do you need to put in an online order, that's going to deliver on a certain day. Do you need to have a couple of, um, store cupboard type recipes that you can just grab a few things out of the cupboard, mix it all up, cook it up. And then have it there, ready to go. So make sure that you also have that plan for re-entry because you can be really successful sometimes. Going away on a holiday, you're having, you're doing something very different. And then we get back to our normal routine. And then because life might start getting quite busy very quickly. Again, we may not have a chance to catch up and get back into our proper routine again. So plan forward for that as well. So there you have it, in terms of the process set your goal. Number one plan for all the events is number two. Plan that in between time as well in between all of your events, see if that's getting you to your goal and then also plan for your re-entry. As I say, this doesn't have to take long, write a few bullet points, right. Out to a couple of ideas for yourself. Grab your phone. If you don't have pen and paper, just put a couple of, um, ideas on a note in your phone. And then as you get closer to these dates, you can start changing your plans. If you need to, or putting some more information in as you learn more. Now the thing that usually is going to stop you from being successful at this point is your mindset. So you want to watch out for that diet mentality and he want to watch out for that lack of trust in yourself that you're going to do the same thing again and again. So how do I identify that? If you're feeling worried, if you're feeling anxious, if you're feeling any kinds of negative emotion, that is a red flag. But something is going on in your mind. And it's probably a thought loop. It's probably a habit loop. It's an ingrained old way of thinking from diet, culture and diet mentality that has you worrying that you're going to do the same thing again and again, and this is the chance. For you to remind yourself. Remind yourself of all the things that we spoke about at the start of this podcast, all the ways that you've learned new stuff this year, all the ways that you've been applying all of these principles already, even if it's just one or two things, because you're new to this podcast, remind yourself of what you've already been doing. Remind yourself that this is your chance to practice being in a new relationship with these foods and being in a new relationship with yourself with this time of year. It's a chance to practice being the new you. And this is it really? That it's, this is the crux. I think of this podcast. If you take away nothing at all from this. I really want to encourage you to take this one key point on board and that is. That you are practicing being a new you. There's no perfection. There's no. Tick box to say you did it right or wrong. You know, your changing your behavior around these foods. And every time you do this, you are going to be changing the way you are. And so this is not a time of year to be beating yourself up for not doing it right. This is the time of year to celebrate. All the small wages that you have actually started to really truly change things for yourself for the long term. Maybe it doesn't look the way you want it to eventually, maybe it doesn't result. In five pounds of weight loss over the course of this holiday period. Although if you want to do it, that's possible. But don't forget to give yourself the credit for all the ways that you are practicing this new way of being you. Practicing this new relationship with food, because that really is the most important thing. And then when you recognize what you have actually done. What you've actually practiced and what you've actually embedded. You're going to carry that forward. And you're going to be able to use all of these micro skills that you are developing in 2023. And not only for the end of the year holiday period. This is going to be really useful skills. For all the other times, the times that maybe you just go away for work for a couple of days and your routine changes. The times that you go away for vacation. And the times when there's a birthday, the times when you get an invite to a wedding, all of this. Is applicable to any of those times. So. There you have it. This is my invitation to you. Practice being in new you. Notice all the ways that you're changing. And take that into 2023 and really start developing a whole new relationship with yourself and with food and your weight. Okay. I hope you found this episode helpful. And we would love to see you over on our Facebook page for our weekly meetup on Wednesday. So if you haven't already liked us on Facebook, go on over to Facebook. And search for the name of this podcast, the weight loss for life podcast. You'll find our business page hit like, and then you should get notification when we go live. And when we schedule events there, we love to turn up on a Wednesday and just have a conversation with you. And it's our chance to really chat to you as a community. So we would love to see you there. If you're available on a Wednesday, have a great week. Have a wonderful week planning for your holidays i hope you're feeling really excited and you know uh looking forward to the fun that is possible for you at this time of year okay take care bye for now