I Bit off Santa's Head...deal With It

In late August of 2019 I decided that I needed to make some changes to my lifestyle and do a bit of dieting. This plan came about one day while I was running errands and doing all of the usual daily things and I realized that I was overly tired and feeling a little winded. I brushed it off as maybe I just hadn't been getting enough sleep lately, but as that week and the next came and went I was still feeling this way no matter how much sleep I got. My next step was to have a chat with my doctor and make sure things were okay because I do have a thyroid issue and feeling run down and sleepy all of the time is usually a sign that my medication needs changed.

I went to the doctors and had blood work done. For once in my life my thyroid was stable, but my weight however was not. In the six months since my last visit I'd gained almost fifteen pounds. I was shocked because I hadn't really noticed the gain, but I also looking back I realized that I hadn't been eating the best of diets.

Summer around here is hot and I don't cook a lot in the heat so we were eating a lot of take out and sometimes on particularly hot evenings ice cream or even milkshakes. This was different for me because I usually lose weight in the summer and put on a few pounds through winter. Apparently my body decided to be a bit backwards last year.

My doctor wasn't pushy or anything, but she did tell me that I should probably try to lose a bit of the weight. My mind was already turning before I even left her office. I know exactly how to get my body to lose weight because I've done it several times in the past with great results.

I talked to my boyfriend about my weight gain and he hadn't even noticed it. He notices when I do other things, but apparently my weight gain had been completely off his radar. When I told him that I was going on a diet he agreed that if this was what I wanted to do then he'd support me, but he wasn't going to be pushy about it.

I gave myself one last weekend to consume all of the things that I know I can't have while I'm dieting and come Monday morning I was ready. I reweighed myself only to see that I'd gained an additional pound and a half. Sighing I put the scale back under the bathroom sink to be forgotten about until the next Monday. I weigh myself once a week from that point forward and I keep track of everything.

During week four and five things just went to hell in a hand basket. I got the flu and ended up living on crackers, Powerade, and chicken soup for almost two weeks. I just couldn't shake it and staying on my diet wasn't something that was possible. Once I got over being sick I was able to transition back onto my diet, but it wasn't the same.

My body had adjusted to having the sugar from the Powerade and also to having carbs again so me going back on my diet was something that I really had to work on. It was getting into the holiday times and everything around me was big heavy meals and every one of them involved some type of dessert. I know that I can eat light even with heavy meals, but dessert is my weakness. As a person who loves to cook and bake, dieting is difficult when it comes to those times of year when this has been your normal routine for many years.

After Thanksgiving comes Christmas and let me tell you...this is when I snapped. I got through all of the planning and shopping, but when it came time for me to help my mother make cookies and candy I broke my diet. I didn't even mean to, it just sort of happened before I really put any thought into it.

We were putting cut out cookies on trays to be decorated and my mom made the comment "If you're going to be grumpy for Christmas just cook the meal and find someplace else to be because nobody wants to deal with you". I then asked her why I've still got to cook a meal that once again I can't really have and she told me because it is expected of me. I had to hold back yelling at her because I knew it wasn't going to get me anywhere. I stood there looking at my mother, knowing that she didn't care about my diet or the fact that I was trying to better my health. Without a thought I reached down and grabbed a Santa cookie, biting off his head. After that I walked outside to get some air and yes, I at the entire cookie.

Week nineteen was Christmas and I mostly did pretty well. I did continue with my diet, but I had a very tiny sliver of pineapple upside down cake. Yes, it tasted like the best thing I'd eaten in a long time.

My last weigh in was the Monday before New Years.

I will put the links of what I used while on my diet down below. None of these links are sponsored.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=quest+protein+products&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

I used the Quest products because those are a personal preference.