In the US, this Thursday week is Thanksgiving and the official start of eating season. This is the season where the halls of Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers are empty. It probably doesn't matter to them because they are planning new ad campaigns to tell you they aren't diets, and that because celebrities can lose weight, so can you.
Their job isn't to help you be healthy or even really lose weight but to make you feel bad about yourself so they can make a big pot of money at the end of the diet industry rainbow. They want you to fail because tht means that you'll be back every single January.
When I first did Weight Watchers, I didn't restart in January. I was one of the weird folks who would start during eating season. The big rush came in January or right before summer.
To me it seemed you wanted to diet in the fall. This was the time of the worst temptations. Halloween candy, Thanksgiving Turkey and unlimited Christmas parties. You wanted to go through the holidays without gain. I also liked the nice small quiet meetings, soon to be shattered by the massive crowds the first week in January. January was also the usually time that my body was pissed over not having enough food and began to rebel with binges. I went to Weight Watchers on Thursday and I became used to Thursday night binge day.
I will admit that I did pick up some good habits from my dieting years (but it doesn't make up for the bad habits). The first is drinking water, the second is trying to be healthy (in my dieting days to me diet meant health), no matter what part of the year it was.
These two habits stuck with me and became stronger. Right now for the most part, I drink water or tea and that's it.
The second, the being "good" no matter what said with me, and strengthened with Health at Every Size. You see I did eat Halloween candy, will eat more than I should at Thanksgiving, eat, drink and be merry at the holiday parties but I will continue to eat my vegetables and move.
You see while dieting during eating season, once I went off the diet that was it. I stopped exercising and eating healthy foods. Because dieting was all or nothing.
Golda over at Body Love Wellness gives some good tips for surviving the holiday season, dealing with "Helpful" relatives, enjoying your holiday food, and learning not to stress completely out.
And speaking of diets, every year the Healthy Weight Network has the slim chance awards. Awards for the worst of the worst in dieting. Last years winner was HGC. And they are open for nominations.
So this season, keep your healthy habits by enjoying your holidays without worry about gain or loss.
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