Holiday Planning

[Keri W.]

Well, here we are...the "fattest" months of the year, November & December. I really appreciate the blog regarding whether to begin a Whole30 or not, during the holidays. I've been continuously following the Whole9 way of living for a few months now. I'm not really keeping track of what Whole30 I'm on, because I just love how I feel and look when I'm sticking to the Whole9 principles. However, I decided that it would be smart of me to plan what I'm going to do during the next 2 months with Thanksgiving, weddings, and Christmas knocking on my door. Thanksgiving has never been much of an issue for me. I don't like pie, stuffing does nothing for me, and I don't like the feeling of being stuffed. I'm pretty sure that I will not have any temptation issues and I plan to eat paleo as always. The wedding will be an issue since I don't get to control how my food is made or what I'm served. Also, I love cake...BUT I know that if I eat the cake, I will feel awful physically and psychologically. I can't have this cake anyway, due to celiac disease. Christmas is going to be interesting though. I tend to end up with many boxes of chocolates that are given to me as gifts. These chocolates are excellent and definitely a huge temptation. I can't just stop at one piece. It will be difficult to not open up a box while in the car on my way home from a party. They are expensive...so I feel guilty just throwing them away. I also don't want to offend the person giving me the gift. So...I need to fight that sugar dragon fiercely. The problem is that I won't know when to prepare for that problem. The chocolates will appear all season long...students, friends, etc. enjoy giving them. I'm going to need to be on guard every day. Haha! Oh well. There are worse things to be concerned about. I'm just curious as to how you'd deal with this situation and what your plans are for the Whole9 way of living.

[Xandra]

Become "allergic" to chocolate. Inform your friends and relatives ahead of time that you are unable to consume chocolates because you have been noticing a reaction to them (completely true!). Have a plan for donating your excellent chocolates to a food pantry as soon as you receive them. People on food assistance rarely receive any treats as part of their food allowance, and they will really appreciate them.

[jhmomi]

You are great to start planning your holiday strategy now. Any way you can share with family and friends that you no longer consume sugar (or sugar-free sweetened) foods? The more of them that that know now on November 1, the less chocolate you will get at Christmas. It seems if this is your new healthy lifestyle and you are happy with it, they probably would want to know. I think if you had a peanut allergy, for example, family and friends would want you to share that so they don't give you something you can't have.

[Derval]

Can I tell my mother-in-law I no longer consume sawdust dry turkey & ham?

[Susan W]

Keri, what about sort of doing a Switch Witch thing on yourself. Maybe donate these wonderful chocolates to a womens shelter or something similar and then do something nice for yourself that isn't necessarily food related. Our family has done the Switch Witch for generations...we just never had that clever name for it. We called it Casper's Caper. Jess and her stepsister and sister would set their Halloween candy by the door and the next morning, there'd be fun toys in it's place. We usually donated the candy to the senior center for their holiday bash and toss what we didn't think they would want. I always had a twinge of "why am I gifting things that I won't eat myself", but throwing things away is hard for me.

[Emily]

A few years ago I asked people to stop giving me things as gifts and I found that this really stressed people out. I ultimately found that if I provided them with some type of substitution my request seemed to go over much better (in my case I provided a list of groups I'd like to donate to, a list of potential experiences I'd be interested in (massage, movies, plays, restaurants I wanted to try, etc)).

So, I think letting people know that you no longer eat chocolate is a good idea, and if you can gracefully do it, I'd recommend providing them a substitute.

Perhaps you want a small donation made to [your local animal shelter or some other group...]? Or is there something you do use that could meet this need? Fun office supplies, stamps, ... I don't know.

Just a thought... the holidays are so stressful anyways.

[Keri W.]

Wow...great ideas everyone! I really appreciate your thoughts. I think the easiest thing for me to do is mention that I have some allergy issues. It is amazing how people will not accept your desire to not eat certain things due to diet....especially during the holidays. They like to use the line "but you can have a little bit...it is the holidays after all!" I don't want a single piece of candy. One piece = entire box and anything else I can get my hands on. Haha! My last ditch effort will be duct tape around my mouth!

Can I tell my mother-in-law I no longer consume sawdust dry turkey & ham?

Hee hee! Derval...behave yourself hahahaha!

[Xandra]

I don't want a single piece of candy.

You can do this. I made it through Halloween surrounded by candy, taking comfort in knowing I had a plan to give away the candy and that was where the candy was going. And that is where it went and I'm so glad to have it gone.

I also had a support group going with a few friends who were also trying to keep their hands out of the candy jar. Every day we checked in and gave high fives for adding another day of staying candy-free through Halloween. Several of us made it through because we knew we were checking in the next day and we wanted to add that day.

Plan your work and work your plan, and you can do this.

[Keri W.]

I also had a support group going with a few friends who were also trying to keep their hands out of the candy jar. Every day we checked in and gave high fives for adding another day of staying candy-free through Halloween. Several of us made it through because we knew we were checking in the next day and we wanted to add that day.

Plan your work and work your plan, and you can do this.

Oooooh! Excellent idea!! Checking in with friends is great! I will do this. Thanks for the idea!

[NinjaSarah]

The problem I've found with telling someone you have an allergy is if you decide to off-road and enjoy something later on. Trying that route has already almost bitten me in the bum, fortunately i was able to do a bait-and-switch in the conversation and distracted my coworker. Ah life.

I've gotten much better at firmly telling people No Thank You, with a smile of course. Sometimes I accept something and either pitch it or pass it on later.

With a box of really nice chocolates...if you do get some at a party what about putting them in the trunk so you can't easily open them in the car. And I love the donate idea, people who have to utilize food pantries &/or shelters would probably appreciate a truly nice treat item for the holiday season, sadly so much crap is donated...

My family has always had a tradition of Cookie Day. When nearly all of the women get together adn bake, all day. I'm 1 of 10 kids (5 girls), my mom was 1 of 10 (6 girls) plus nieces....that's a lot of people and a lot of cookies. We would divide of course, but still....I started making up goodie plates for my neighbors, for any holiday party I was invited to, for work, couldn't donate to charity since they were homemade goods. That really helped get the abundance of sugar out of my house. If there were left overs, I just wrapped them up in the colorful saran I had covered the plate iwth and left them with the host to do with as they pleased. Ninja style.