27/12/2021
**scary scales!**
Merry Christmas to all my followers, I hope you had wonderful days surrounded by those you love and that your New Years celebrations are fabulous too!
I know for some of you, that if you weigh yourself around this time as a way to measure your progress, it can be frustrating and upsetting, seeing that you’ve gained weight over the holidays!
I get it, I’ve been there so I do understand! But please, don’t punish yourself with restrictive, “I will only eat this now” or “I won’t eat any of this” diets in desperate attempts to loose festive pounds quickly, as while it may seem sensible, I really don’t think it is, here’s why.
Forcing yourself to not eat something will make you crave it and food cravings are hard to resist. Plus, you’ll end up seeking out alternatives. For example if you’re not eating chocolate to try to loose festive pounds, you’ll subconsciously go for other sugary foods, like cakes and biscuits, for the sugar craving hit, which you’ll feel good about, until you step on those scales again and you see no weight lost, or even worse, weight gained, and thus, the viscous cycle restarts.
Instead, try tweaking those “bad” foods you’re consuming. For example, having them less frequently, and/or when you do have them, having less in volume and/or as a treat for yourself for eating well for a period. For example, a few squares of your favourite chocolate after a “good day” eating and exercise wise, however that looks to you!
These enjoyable foods need to feature in your diet in moderation, banning yourself from eating them or even worse, punishing yourself after eating them, will make you feel depressed and anxious and as I said before, you’ll look for “craving satisfiers” and the dangerous cycle will continue. Including them in moderation will make your diet more enjoyable and sustainable and if it’s sustainable, it will be far more likely to succeed!
Moderation, not starvation!
