How to survive Christmas when your family is not supporting your diet?


#1

Hey guys !

I’ll be on a trip in my family in law during 2 weeks (Christmas and New Year Eve celebration) and I don’t know how to survive. They are French and pretty food loving people (lots of wine too).

They had been making fun of my “weird diet” last year when I was doing intermittent fasting to lower my cholesterol (too much triglycerides). This year I’ve just started keto and I’d really like to see progress with my percentage of body fat and cholesterol. But since I can’t make them cook keto, I know that I will eat carb during 2 weeks in order to be polite and lessen the potential frictions in the family.

Did you have experience similar situation and how hard is it to be on keto tracks again after ?
Do you have any tips in order to diminish the carb load but without upsetting the family ?


(Donna ) #2

I sympathize with you. I went through this years ago, when I first went Low Carb and had to spend holidays at my in-law’s home. My mother in law prided herself on her cooking and me coming there with ‘all these rules’ insulted her and her cooking, apparently. I was supposed to shut up and eat what she cooked and compliment her, abundantly, on her delicious cooking! It was stressful and there were some pretty rude comments made to me. Everyone else started using the word SUGAR in conversation and would say it with exaggerated emphasis. Ugh.

So, enough of me reliving that torturous time. Suggestions for you: there will have to be a main meat source at every meal, right? Eat it. Scrape off any flour-based sauce as best you can. Have you practiced any intermittent fasting, yet? Maybe now would be a good time to skip a meal here and there? Will you guys go out to eat at all, or will everything be prepared by a family member?

I feel for you. Lack of control over my food choices was (still is!) a big deal to me. I don’t want others to dictate what (and now, when) I must eat. When mother in law visits these days, we eat out.

I don’t know if I was any help. I’m sorry.


#3

@ChubbyFrenchAsian It can be hard to get back into keto if you stray, but people do it all the time. I would vote for not making a big deal of it (to them) and just navigate each day/situation as you see best. It can help the social pressure a lot if you pile your plate with the foods that fit your plan and enjoy the heck out of them. That way 1) you’re happy and satisfied 2) they see you enjoying food (which can be really important socially) and 3) you’re then legitimately too full to eat the other stuff.

You can slip in IF here and there without calling it IF, which will make you feel more in control without making a big deal about it. "Oh, I’m not hungry first thing but I can’t wait for the coffee! who’s making the coffee? What’s the plan for today - isn’t it beautiful out? Nah, I really don’t feel like a croissant right now, thanks. So how’s Emil doing with his new job? "

Also - you didn’t ask for advice about this so feel free to disregard, and I hope this isn’t offensive - but since this is your first post (right?) I figured it was worth a mention: “ChubbyFrenchAsian” sounds absolutely adorable to me, but if “chubby” is not what you want to be, then I would find a new username that either reflects where you’re headed or at least doesn’t contradict your goal.


#4

Thanks for your kind answer ! It’s always a relief to see that you are not alone in this kind of situation.
I’m planning on a fast before going to my in law but I’ve never done long fast, always 24h every 2 days. But I always had problem with hunger and stress. So I’m a bit afraid of hunger after this two weeks…


#5

Thanks for your answer ! Well, I’m a emotional eater and I’m really not good with diplomacy in family but I’ll try your method in order to distract their focus.
I’m actually chubby ^^,
I’ll change my pseudo when I’ll get rid of my extra cholesterol and visceral fat.


#6

Fundamentally your eating is none of their business, and generally when you fully understand that, they’ll be forced to accept it as well.

Good luck!


#7

Also, you can check in here while you’re on your trip. Folks sometimes post an emergency “help! I need some moral support” and they get it :slight_smile:


(Gary) #8

Hi “CFB”, I would not fast before Christmas. I’m usually pretty hungry after I fast. Having a lot of non keto foods around is too dangerous for me after a fast. Here’s what I do; The week before I’m going off of keto, I eat a lot of chicken, lean meats and lots of veggies. I really try to limit my fat content and I drink a lot of water. When the time comes I’ll eat what I want to (I do skip the really bad stuff) keeping my portions on the smaller size. I focus on not feeling full. I’ll even have a piece of pie! Then after the holidays I’ll do my fast. For me fasting afterwards does two things; It gets me back into Ketosis fast (pardon the pun) and second, it kind of resets my ability to eat keto foods.


#9

Thanks gary57 ! I think that I’ll fast before because I know it will be more easy than after. And I hope that I’ll be able to fast after in order to be in ketosis again quickly.
I’m a repentant carboholic and it’s very very very difficult to not eat the yummy French fries or the patisseries… (OK, I know that why these kind of food got me here but I’m still working on my carb recovery).
I’ve tried IF before Keto and it was really dreadful. I was thinking of Ben & Jerry ice-cream all day long before actually binging on it. At that time, I didn’t know nothing about keto and I was in the CICO mentality. For me, I thought that I could eat crap (ice-cream, chips, patisserie), stop eating, and eat again. Now I know that it’s not true. But I still remember the cravings and I’m afraid of that vicious circle.


(Gary) #10

Good luck! Remember if you fall off of the preverbal wagon, every day you wake up, is a new day to get right back on track!


#11

The French tend to cock quite heavy with fats (duck/goose lard) and usually have at least some saussisson/olives at apéro, animal protein for the main course, a cheese plate after that… you’ll certainly not starve if only picking the items you want.

Unless they receive you in a very formal way, you’ll serve yourself from the dishes they pass around, so if you don’t make a fuss about your diet, it may even go unnoticed. Except for the bûche de Noël (a carb-heavy dessert on the 24th) where it will be difficult to pass.

In any case, you have a medical reason to justify your choices. You’d probably been mocked if you were vegan lol :slight_smile:


#12

Thanks for your answer !! I’ll try to navigate between the bread, pasta and patisserie ^^,


#13

And don’t forget to skip breakfast, it’s mostly carbs with a little bit of fat.