HOW I LOST WEIGHT OVER CHRISTMAS - Weight Loss Part 16

My goal over Christmas was to simply maintain my weight. Enjoy myself, but not overindulge like I would have done previously, whilst at the same time allowing myself to have a treat or two.

When I stepped on the scales a week after Christmas I found myself announcing on Facebook that I'd somehow managed to lose 2.5lbs that week. I was rather surprised to say the least, and a friend even commented on my post saying:

"You are the only adult in the UK that has lost weight this week. On average, every adult puts on half a stone over Christmas".

This certainly would have been true a year ago, what with all the roast tatties, chocolate, crisps, takeaways and alcohol...

An average day for me over the festive period would often look a little like this:

• Get up late morning, early afternoon and have some breakfast. Usually more like lunch...
• Sit in the house and snack on chocolate and crisps between breakfast and dinner (lunch would be non-existent because I got up so late).
• Have dinner.
• Go out and socialise, and drink quite a lot of alcohol.
• Go and get a takeaway in the early hours.
• Go home, go to bed and repeat.

Sound familiar? I'm sure many can relate!

The sleeping pattern this year was pretty much the same, but the eating and drinking habits were a bit different:

• Get up late morning, early afternoon and have some breakfast. A slice of toast and a glass of juice.
• Go out and walk somewhere. Maybe with a purpose such as shopping, or just along the river just to get out!
• Have dinner.
• Go out and socialise, drinking diet drinks. Or on the odd occasion, have a gin and soda.
• Go home and go to bed.

You'll note that the biggest difference here was the lack of snacking, very little alcohol and NO late-night takeaways. I also didn't go overboard on the roast tatties on Christmas day.

I'm not saying I didn't have any snack or chocolate. I did! Just nowhere near the amount I used to...

Instead of munching my way through half a box of after eights in an evening, I'd only allow myself two a day. There were crisps in the house, but I managed to avoid them for the most part.

I also don't think I managed to drink as much alcohol the whole week as I used to in one night over Christmas. So that definitely made a difference!

Walk along the River Ness, Inverness

The other significant difference was the level of exercise I was getting. There wasn't a single day where I stayed indoors and didn't go out and walk. I made sure I was out every day! I also made a point of not using the car if I didn't have to.

So, not only did I avoid piling on the pounds this Christmas, but I also managed to lose a couple too. This was definitely made easier by the new habits I'd learnt over the past year:

• Not snacking (very often).
• Eating less chocolate.
• Drinking less alcohol.
• Eating less carbs.
• Walking when and where ever possible.

I'm not sure I would have managed it if I hadn't already have these learned habits, and if I wasn't so determined to avoid undoing all the hard work I've done.

So, the key to losing weight over Christmas? Learned habits and stubbornness!

I think my stubbornness has helped me a lot through this journey. Forcing myself not to give up. Not allowing myself to slip back into bad habits. Telling myself I'm not allowed to lazy. 

And last, but not least, telling myself: I CAN DO THIS!!!

DISCLAIMER: Just a wee reminder that this is what has worked for me. There's no guarantee that it will work for everyone as we are all different. I’m not a professional!