Happy New Year

It's time to say Goodbye to 2011 and Hello to 2012. 

2011 is over.

Lets be Thankful for the good of 2011,
then let go of the past and move into the future.

My New Year's message to you is in my latest Ask Grandma video
which I've posted below.

  Taking a Vacation from posting on this web-site until New Year's. 

When I was a child, Christmas morning was the big time of celebration.
Getting up and gathering around the tree and exchanging gifts.
Then on Christmas afternoon came the big Christmas dinner.

My current husband's family had their big Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve.
First they had a big Christmas eve dinner,
after dinner the family gathered around the tree and exchanged gifts.

When the two of us became a family, each of us brought our own ideas
about the timing of the big meal and the exchange of gifts.
Our compromise turned out to be opening the gifts on Christmas eve,
and a big dinner around 1 p.m. on Christmas Day.

So for us, Christmas begins the morning of Christmas Eve,
and ends at bedtime Christmas Day.
Two days of extended eating….snacking all day Christmas eve
….and snacking and overeating all day on Christmas.
Because to me….FOOD….is celebration.

There are many esoteric arguments about WHY this shouldn't be the case,
and HOW this needn't be the case,
but on this point, raw instinct prevails,
and in FACT, it IS the case.

So….it is up to me to deal with it.

Again

Today is December 23.
Tomorrow is December 24.
The day after is December 25.

So…..it goes.

                       

Moderation means being within reasonable limits; 
avoidance of excesses or extremes.
This concept is a large part of a my dieting hobby,
and it is important for any type of dieting lifestyle.

Even if I've chosen to eliminate specific foods from my life,
many tasty foods remain to tempt me to eat more than my body needs.

For me the most important (and difficult) thing about holiday eating 
is to keep away from the "all or nothing" mindset. 
I need to make intentional food choices, and eat mindfully.

During Holiday celebrations, I work to prioritize the treats I'm going to choose,
I look everything over first and pick the things that look good to me.,
and work to eat those things in moderation. 

Mostly, I choose to leave behind foods, like chips and dips, 
that are available anytime during the year.

I find that it is important for me to be realistic.
Depriving myself of special holiday foods,
or feeling guilty when I choose to enjoy them
isn't going to help me maintain my weight-loss long-term.

I'm not going to lose weight during the holidays.
For me that is a self-defeating goal,
But I need to work to maintain my weight 
by balancing Holiday food with other meals.

It is a week before Christmas.
Even if we are frustrated with all the holiday goodies 
and scared to get on the scale,
……………..(go weigh yourself right now)……
the good news is there still is time to get things under control 
and enjoy the season in moderation.

It’s never too late.
When it comes to a dieting lifestyle, 
every day is a new day.
 
For those of you who are following my “Ask Grandma” video series

Click : “Friendly Flirting" to see my latest video,

which is located in DietHobby under RESOURCES, Videos, Ask Grandma.

Ordinarily, in our house, the Christmas season
begins the weekend after Thanksgiving.
That's when we start decorating the house,
putting up the tree etc. 

Yesterday I decorated the Christmas tree,
and got out the Christmas candles, etc. 

This unusual behavior has happened this year
because I've been so incredibly busy
with all of my online activity. 

In just 9 days it will be Christmas,
and I have not yet bought ONE present.
Christmas shopping isn't going to happen until next week, 
because the next couple of days
I need to work on getting the videos done
that are supposed to go online on Christmas weekend. 

 Who knew that all of this would take so much time? 
My web-genius son keeps telling me that 
soon I'll become more efficient at maintaining my YouTube channel
and this will all take less energy and effort.

It had Better.
Because there are new diet books out there to read,   
and many other things that I want to do. .
....like write and post articles here in this website
on more interesting topics ....

My Dieting Hobby is a Lifestyle...that means
it continues throughout all of the many changes and activities of my life.  
Every day I log in all my food into my DietPower software.
I keep working to keep my calories down,
...sometimes successfully..and sometimes not...
I keep putting forth the Effort it takes to maintain my weight-loss. 

The Christmas season involves exposure to many additional food treats,
and handling that without an enormous weight gain is just as difficult for me now, 
as it has been in all of my previous Christmas seasons. 
My change body weight hasn't changed 
the food desires of my mind and my emotions.

People don't spent a lot of time telling us that. 
The mindset is..."I'll just take off the weight, and then it won't be a problem"
My own experience, and my observation of others 
tells me that this mindset is just totally wrong. 

It will always take work. 
It takes more work for some than it does for others
but it becomes intuitive for almost no one.

I Accept that, and I am willing to do what it takes
to enjoy myself and my life
while engaging in my Dieting Hobby.