Don’t diet at Christmas.
The hardcore out there will no doubt be reading that and thinking that I’m wrong and that dieting is an all year round activity. However, that would mean using something I really don’t have – willpower.
Literally as soon as my birthday hits in mid-November I will get presents that involve something calorific, and delicious.
From there it’s a sea of chocolates, takeaways and people bringing in treats to the office. I should say no, and my ever-growing stomach would thank me for saying it, but I just can’t.
I still go to the gym (albeit only once this week…) and if I hadn’t been there this month I’d be the size of a house. There’s only so much food you can hide away though and claim that you’re ‘bulking’. Problem is that when you’re eating the wrong foods you start to become more hulking than bulking. And then I start sulking.
I wish I had more willpower but I’m always one of those people who has to eat every couple of hours. Left to fend for myself I will eat the wrong things to satisfy my hunger and then regret it hours later.
I wish I knew what type of eater I am. Am I a grazer, who will happily eat all day? Am I someone who would benefit from eating just three meals and not spreading it out? Or am I just a greedy fat bastard who can’t say no to food?
The problem is I’ve always found that emotions are linked to food. If I’m celebrating then we’ll often get a takeaway, if we’re commiserating then J will ask what I want to eat to cheer me up and if I’m tired then sometimes we’ll aim for the convenient over the healthy.
We always regret it (not taste-wise, it’s always delicious) but we always regret that 10 weak minutes where we reached for the takeaway menu rather than for the vegetable drawer.
So what to do for the New Year? The problem I find is I inevitably say that I’ll start properly with the diet and the working out in the New Year. But then that leads me to sound like one of those knobs who says ‘New Year, New Me.’ So instead I’ll say in the New Year I’m going to concentrate on working out and eating properly. Same me, just thinner and more muscular.
Unless someone fancies a takeaway in January.