Want to Feel Elated Come January? How to Strategize the Days of December for a Happy New-You!

It’s “sweater-weather” if you watch SNL.

Pearl One

As beautiful and wondrous as December can be, it also delivers a wallop of calories, calories, and more calories.  It’s a difficult month for everyone; the “live a little!” vibe seems to permeate every corner of the season.

So, I figured what we need is a solid December-eating game plan that sees us playing offense and not defense.

Pull out your journal for strategizing the holiday. What do I mean? Well, each morning let’s journal-write about where the obstacles will likely be for that particular day. Let’s write down the challenging part of that day and add to it a game plan. Again, we’re writing for that day only.

Agreeing to write a new mission plan for each day in December encourages us to engage with our unconscious well before we go off course and eat willy-nilly.

So, in my journal tomorrow morning I might write something like this:

Tuesday December 12-3-24

Obstacle #1: I know there’s leftover apple pie in the fridge, but since Matt loves it so much I won’t squirt ketchup on it and throw it in the trash.

My game plan: I’ll wrap the pie slice and hide the visual from myself in the fridge. (I use my “out of sight, out of my mind” muscle every single day).

Obstacle #2: I have lunch with Julie today. She picked meeting at La Creama because it’s close to her office.

My game plan: first, before I leave the house, I’ll pull up the La Creama’s menu online. I will see quickly that this adorable bakery and lunch spot is calorie-central. I study the menu on my screen for a long moment – because the menu is brimming in high calorie food — and then finally pick the egg and bagel sandwich with cream cheese on the side so I can smear a little on versus the thick smears they may spread on the bagel. I specifically need to ask that cream cheese be placed on the side. (But if the sandwich shows up with cream cheese on the bagel, I scrape most it off and use just a little.)

As I’m perusing the menu I see in the kid’s section a “fresh berry cup.” I’ll order that too. (Occasionally I order from the kid’s menu because the portion size is so good. ) I write it all down so I won’t forget when it’s time to order.

Then I take a good long look at the menu and try to find a good Plan B if Plan A doesn’t work for some reason. Plan B will be La Creama’s oatmeal with blueberries along with the fruit cup. I write my game plan out and put the paper into my purse.

Once at La Creama I order the egg and bagel sandwich with cream cheese on the side and the fresh fruit cup. I notice how easy I’ve made restaurant-dining easier for myself.

La Crema is known for its excellent coffee so that’s where I put my focus for the lunch. I order my favorite latte.

I also consciously decide to pick a table away from the display case of gorgeous calories because I know that the food is meant to be alluring. I consciously remind myself why I’m at La Creama in the first place: to see Julie and catch up and not dig into the food-porn.

Obstacle #3: After lunch, I plan to visit a specialty food shop to get a Christmas gift for my son. The food shop will be a challenge because like La Creama, the place is brimming in stunning calories.

My game plan: If I’m getting a mite hungry, I eat the banana I brought in my cold-tote (placed in the side pocket) to take the edge off my hunger before I head into the store.

Why am I hungry after lunch? Julie and I talked a long while after we’d eaten. And since I never stuff myself, I’m often hungry about two hours later. Hence the banana. (I don’t play the I’ll-be-fine game.

When you wake up in December, write a new obstacle plan for yourself and remember December is all about preserving our current weight and taking what I call a “holding” break.. This month our priority is strengthening our habits. That”s it! ♥

Pearl Two

In my history, I was snacking too much to ever feel all that hungry. Looking back, I thought everyone left Mexican restaurants feeling Thanksgiving-stuffed. That was me: I overate and then went back to hardcore dieting. Overeat, then under-eat. Over and over the pendulum would swing for almost three decades.

Today I literally never overeat. My goal is to walk away from the table with my stomach on neutral. I don’t feel full or empty; my stomach loves to live somewhere in the space between hungry and full.

Let’s spend this holiday season never once stuffing ourselves or under-eating. This holiday season it’s all about preserving our smart habits. ♥

Pearl Three

Sequencing is taken directly from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The purpose of sequences is to help us move from knee-jerk reacting to responding to circumstances. I encourage you to do a sequence a day in your journal. Powerful stuff.

Default Sequence

• Situation: My Husband said that if I was going to lose weight it would have happened by now. He rolls his eyes.  
• Knee-jerk thought: What a jerk. But what if he’s right?
• Feeling: angry and dumb that I’m “trying” again.
• Action: I don’t speak to him for the rest of today.
• Result: The enthusiasm I had for smart eating ebbs away and nothing changes.

Chosen Sequence

• Situation: My Husband makes fun of me and says that if I was going to lose weight it would have happened by now. He rolls his eyes.
• Chosen thought: I’m an individual inside this marriage. Jack might not get the point of what I’m doing and that’s okay. He can have his own thoughts.
• Feeling: I’m feeling proud that I had my own back enough to say, “we don’t need to eat the same way and we can a loving relationship.”
• Action: Pulls out journal and starts writing about herself.
• Result: Our girl stays on the Smart Eating Path and her husband eventually gets it. But most importantly she gets it. ♥

Pearl Four

Books love us and want us to be happy.

Hello Molly! by Molly Shannon saw me “making the conscious choice” to read past my bedtime thinking, “just one more chapter.”  This funny woman from Saturday Night Live opens with the car accident that killed both her mom and little sister when Molly was just four-years-old. It sounds sad which of course it is, but then Hello Molly! spins into the most amazing stories of her child and young adulthood.

She’s sixty, my age exactly. And the things she was doing in the 1970’s is unforgettable. (I might have “doorbell ditched” as a kid, but I never was as cool as Molly.)

Also, it wasn’t a hop, skip and jump to SNL for Molly. She graduated at age of twenty-two (give or take) and didn’t join SNL until she was thirty-five. Those thirteen years in between was Molly hustling like you wouldn’t believe. She’s the epitome of a go-getter to the core. If you love memoirs, Hello Molly! Is an outstanding book-dessert. ♥

Pearl Five

I already know what giving up feels like. I want to see what happens if I don’t.”

Neila Rey

Please join me this week in being imperfect and going for it anyhow.

And if you’ve enjoyed this post please to a friend!

Just 22 days and 13 hours until Christmas! Yikes. I think I love the whole of December. It’s a fun month.

♥, Wendy

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