Determined and Dedicated to a Deviation Free December -A Completely Cohen's Christmas

[butterflydreamin]

Hi Everyone,

As promised, I will be running a challenge that will go for all of December to encourage us to remain deviation free during the silly season and the end of year festivities. And yes, that includes Christmas Day!

The main aim of this challenge is to be deviation free at the end of December (and all the way through). This includes New Year's Eve, Christmas Day etc.

But it is not the only aim. The aim is also to share hints and tips for others, receipes, offer support and just be each other's sounding boards and encouragement.

Our reward: a lovely slim body and also a 100% cohen's friendly Christmas icon it use in our signatures.

So, who is is?

People will need to sign up by midnight 4 December and have remained deviation free since 1 December.

I hope you will join me

Cheers Butterfly

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere we go. So we need not to turn to food, we can still all be in a good mood, and eat only what we should.....

[singmealullabyy]

I would love to join your Christmas challange! Count me in!

[JayCee]

A fantastic idea Butterfly. Please count me in.

[Winterboots]

I am keen also. Was unable to make the one that started on Monday due to being away from home and unable to weigh so yes please, count me in

[Odette79]

Count me in too!! Great idea!

[HarleyGirl]

This sounds great, count me in for sure ~ been waiting to join my first challenge.

[Never Give Up]

Thanks for that butterfly - I've got time still to psych myself up for it! I'll be camping, and fighting for my veg - son and OH are dieting too so I think we'll need another esky - we're in the middle of nowhere, 2 hr drive to the nearest town on a dirt 'road'. However it is possible!

[franmead]

I'm in!

[butterflydreamin]

Hello Ladies,

Welcome to the Christmas Challenge - I am thrilled to have you on board. I know that this can be our most callenging time of the year but together, we can get through this time and look forward to smaller waistlines and lower numbers on our scales!!

I have the following signed up to join:
Singmealullabyy
JayCee
Winterboots
Odette79
HarleyGirl
Never Give Up - Lesley
Franmead

Do we have any other takers?

I know that there are mango challenges going on but I plan to make this more than just a Santa icon challange. So, if we reamin d-free through December, we will get our Christmas icon.

If we remain d-free between 1 December and 14 December, we get a mango.

If we remain d-free between 15 December and 31 December, we get a different Christmas icon.

Does anyone have a Christmas event coming up that you are concerned about how to handle? If so, share your event and your concerns and we can provide you with advice and support for managing it. I have learnt a lot over the past 11 months and I am more than happy to tell you strategies that worked for me.

Thanks for joining.

Butterfly xx

[Never Give Up]

Any ideas for my camping trip Butterfly? I can end up with a fair bit of time on my hands, everyone else just snacks, plays card games, goes swimming (I will too if it's hot enough) and doesn't do much in general. It's not an option to just pop down to the shop if I run out of anything. I'll probably be fighting for water as well - we could use the river water and boil it first I suppose. As you know, with the specific needs we have on the program, I have to tell the other 3 males to 'get to the back of the queue' and look after myself first. Does not go down very well.
so any ideas you can think of would be great,
thank you!

[Myf]

count me in as well, I have been DV free on the other challenge
Cheers
Myf

[butterflydreamin]

Hi Lesley and welcome MYF,

Buy that spare esky - they are always useful items.

Lesley, I would focus on having things that fit with camping - tinned tuna, eggs and those things for the trip. How long are you away for?

Eat your more perishable items first so that you have your more robust items there for you towards the end.

I would also pick veges that are a bit more robust - cucumbers, tomatoes, asparagus, mushrooms, apples etc. Remember you can have tinned asparagus, so that should help. Take your dried herbs to keep meals tasting interesting.

Make sure your scale has lots of battery and maybe even take a spare battery.

Have chewing gum if you get tempted to snack and even brush your teeth - it makes you feel less like eating something if you so.

I would boil your water - try to have your water boiled for the following day and all you meals planned for the next day - make sure you have enough to get you through the next day, so if you do find you are running out of products, you have time to go and get some supplies - esp if where you are going has limited supplies at the shops - are they open on Sundays etc.

Take some good books, mp3 with music, puzzle books, things that you enjoy relaxing with. Go for some light walks. Take a camera and get some good shots. Or have an afternoon nap.

If people are having snacks, save your crackers and fruit for those times. Take some mineral water to have if people are drinking or some diet soft drinks, so you are less likely to feel deprived.

I will have a think about it and provide more suggestions - anyone else, feel free to add your suggestions too.

Just remember Lesley - it is only for a short time in your life. You can plan and be prepared and then you can be back in maintenance land where you have a little more flexibility before you know it. Holidays are about creating memories and relaxing - not all about food - we forget that so easily.

Take care

Butterfly xx

[Never Give Up]

Thanks so much butterfly - we're away for about 10 days or so - not a fan of tinned tuna, but if I must, I must. thought of tinned asparagus, and I think you can get tinned mushrooms that are ok on plan. didn't think of taking photo's! nor the mineral water - you've helped me think of more things! I'm an egg girl for breaky, so to start with I'll have fresh veg, then the tinned stuff later. Might do some meal 2 & 3's and freeze them for later in the trip - they won't take up much room in the freezer. (have a fridge/freezer and esky - keep frozen water in the freezer and swap bottles, using the frozen one to keep the esky cool, plus wrapped defrosting meat - worked fairly well last time - ice is not an option) I thought of cauli too - think that can take a bit of punishment - and if it's hot, I'll cook it early and let it cool. (not crazy about hot food when it's hot already) I even thought of taking a hydroponic lettuce with the roots attached, and maybe planting it, or keeping it in a bag of soil! (bit crazy/desperate! lol) could have some lettuce for the first few days at least. Ipod will be good to help keep me relaxed.
will make a list shortly - it'll be a bit like GLT's action plan!
have a great week, and congrats on your funding!
Lesley

[HarleyGirl]

Hello Ladies,

I'm looking forward to my first challenge. I have been really good on Cohen's and have actually suprised myself with it as well. I have only had one deviation and that was a mouthful of my husbands birthday cake.

I seem to have the switch turned on at the moment and I feel so much better for it.

During this challenge I can only see xmas day as being a problem for me. All the yummy foods that come out only once a year. We are having Xmas day at home so I will be in control of the food. We are having Turkey done in the cobb with roast potato and salads. Haven't really thought too much about sweets as yet. I do like pudding and xmas cake but no one else eats it, so maybe pavalova with fresh fruit for me. And then it's the wine and champers that will be around .....will replace with soda water.

I will be able to do it .....

[Odette79]

Christmas day isn't going to be a problem for me, I'm treating it as a normal day, food and drink wise!

I've decided for xmas day this year, I'm going to eat seafood. Get a lobster and some prawns and enjoy these! I very rarely eat prawns and think I've had 1 lobster in my life, so looking forward to xmas day on cohens!

As for the pudding and christmas cake, I figure they are still goin well into the new year and available all year round, so when I hit maintenance in Feb (hopefully) if i still want them then, then I can slowly introduce them.

My clinic has given out a recipe for non alcoholic mango dacquire (sp??) so will be making that for myself too!

Have a good Dec everyone.

Od.

[singmealullabyy]

Love all your advise on camping! I too will be camping for Christmas/New Years and need all the tips I can get I think I will just weigh and freeze my meat and veg before I go and defrost day by day.

[Winterboots]

Attended my first social occasion last Saturday and found that while not drinking wine was not a problem (still amazes me that I don't miss my nightly glasses of red wine) explaining the sprite as a detox and wanting to get fit etc, the comments of "but one glass of wine won't hurt" were made. Luckily there aren't too many "must attend" functions this year. I have tossed the idea of "would it really hurt to deviate for just one meal (Christmas dinner)" around a lot over the past few weeks but found myself buying two turkey breasts at the local farmers market so I think I have made that decision. Does anyone have any nice turkey receipes? We have our family Christmas dinner this Sunday so it will be my first big test - I have yet to inform them that I will bring my own lunch and also the first time I have cooked non cohen food for four weeks (making the family eat similar meals). A dessert - will make something that I won't be tempted to eat.

[butterflydreamin]

Hi ladies,

I understand your concerns with social events. I have found that by just saying, thanks so much but I cannot have it, goes a long way. People feel threatened by our choices when we don't partake and want us to join them so that they feel better about their choices. But that is their issue, not ours.

I have also found that if you stay true to your program and say no, people get used to hearing it and are less likely to try to tempt you off the program. If you do have something off plan once, people expect you to do it again. So it is just easier to say no.

I would like to see the receipe for that mango dacquari - it sounds delicious.

I also try to remember that it is lovely not feeling bloated, stuffed, groggy and blah due to overeating. I have not experienced any of these things since being on cohens. No reflux, indigestion, etc. If we ate off plan in December, we would feel that. Our bodies are not currently used to it. So do you very best to stay on the plan - our programs will be finished so much quicker if we do.

Lesley and SMAL (singmealullabyy) - the idea of freezing your meals and taking them is a good one. Then you can stuff them full of fresh herbs and really make them flavoursome. People will be jealous of your meals and will probably want to steal them!

Odette - what you say is so true - I remind myself that no food source that I love but is not on cohen's is going extinct..... it will always be there when I am done, although, I suspect, that in most cases, it won't appeal nearly as much as it used to. I am loving all the fresh veges and fruit that we eat and I think I will find processed and preserative laden foods just won't taste as good as I used to think they did.

I froze a piece of my daughter's first birthday cake in April, so that I did not feel deprived, but I would be very surprised if I actually eat it when I am done. It made it so much easier to go without it on the day. I could still have it - just not at the moment.

Good luck with your social events coming up ladies - we can do this. Think of all the weight we can lose between now and January! Most people gain weight over this time of year, but not US!!

Take care

Butterfly xx

[Never Give Up]

Hi Butterfly - I remember a diet i was on many years ago had a slogan "it's not leaving the planet' and that helped me many times to say no. I have the 'i don't want to be deprived' feeling as well, and i've also frozen things - my baker son's first fruit tarts, a friends gift of fruit cake etc - it makes it so much easier, as you still have a choice twice - the choice to not eat it then, and because you've frozen it, the choice to eat it later, or not.
thanks so much for your encouragement and support.
Oh, by the way....isn't it time for a ticker update for you?
you must be less than that!
Lesley

[butterflydreamin]

Hi there ladies,

I hope that your weekend events go smoothly for you.

Something that we had in the sensational by summer challenge was to have a weekly weigh in.

I am going to do the same thing here, so feel free to follow and do the same.

Week 1 (1 December): 72.8kg
Week 2 (8 December): 71.2kg (-1.6kg)
Week 3 (15 December):
Week 4 (23 December):
Week 5 (30 December):
Total loss: -1.6kg

Take care everyone and remember that we can get through this silly season and celebrate with our loved ones AND celebrate our losses too.

Butterfly