The holidays - will you extend your food choices?

(Cathrine Helle) #1

I’m curious how others deal with this. Christmas is an extremely social time with a very high focus on traditional foods - do you all include more in your diet for these occasions, or do you ‘stick to plan’?

Luckily, Christmas is a meat heavy holiday here in Norway, with traditional dishes made with pork, fish or lamb, so for the most part I’ll be fine. But there’s also an abundance of sweets, cookies / cakes and desserts that are kind of part of the Christmas experience. Previous years I’ve made some exceptions for a couple of the desserts and such, as they do remind me of childhood, my grandmother, and holds some sentimental value to me. I haven’t considered this ‘cheating’ in any way - even back when my goal was weight loss.

Now that my focus has shifted towards gut healing rather than weight loss, it’s a bit different. I don’t think a small portion of this/that or the other will be devastatingly detrimental to my health situation, but I can’t help but feel like I’m undoing a lot of the work I’ve done up to this point. As someone who’s symptoms can’t be directly linked to one specific thing in the diet and it seems to be a more systemic struggle, it’s really hard to figure out where to draw the line at what is acceptable in these situations.

Other than that, I’m SO looking forward to Christmas, family time and over a whole week off work! :smiley:

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #2

I’m going to stick to the plan but will have some special things. I’m going to make tapenade and have it with parmesan crisps. Probably on xmas day fresh oysters and prime rib with some veggy and salad.

We are 3 of 4 keto. I’m not sure what the carber will eat (youngest daughter).

Always smoked salmon and cream cheese this time of year.

#3

Off keto completely for me.
Back on with vengeance afterwards!

#6

My wife and I have decided we’re going to be a little less strict with keto on Christmas Day. Christmas Day is also our son’s birthday so there’ll be some birthday cake to contend with as well. But, I’ll have a potato, maybe a lolly or two and definitely some fresh fruit. But most likely will fast before and after.

We both survived a heavy carb/sugar meal at a friend’s place recently so we know we can bounce back without any problems, especially with each other’s support.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #7

Good question. I’m going to the big family Christmas party at Grandma’s and don’t intend to eat off plan. There should be a decent amount of low carb dips I can just plop onto my plate and eat with veggies (if I feel the need). But if one of my aunts makes Buckeyes, I’m screwed. It’s the only treat that I might have a taste of.

(Allie) #8

I won’t because I’m antisocial and don’t mix with humans in real life if I can help it :joy:

(The amazing autoimmune 🦄) #9

One of the things I remember hearing Jason Fung say was that social interactions are important and also that you shouldn’t feel deprived. So “when you go to the wedding have a piece of cake”. I do think it is hard for those of us who have a sugar addiction to do this. So for my first Keto Christmas I am going to let myself not think about food on Christmas Day, in other words eat as I please, whatever I want, and then fast the next day.

I have already been to two office Christmas parties, where I tried my best to stay Keto (eating what looks like Keto foods who knows if they were)and I am heading out to my mom’s for vacation tomorrow, I am worried about the whole week at my mom’s but I decided I am going to “help” in the kitchen every night and cook a keto dish for everyone and that is what I am going to eat. I also traditionally make breakfast everyday to help out so that will easily be Keto.

I hope it works out. If nothing else my husband says we will just eat the meat and veggies and stay low carb.

(less is more, more or less) #10

Yea, eating and socializing is the frontline of where we (hello) extroverts live.

As alcoholics learn, we don’t have to eat like everyone else to be social like everyone else.

I delight in not eating all this destructive-sugary candy carbbage. I’m maintaining my weight. I’m not joking about “Oh I’m getting so fat!” as I toss the cookies down my gullet, triggering hunger reflexes in my brain which I never-satisfy with more carbbage. It’s a holiday dance I have no interest in dancing, having done it for 5 decades. I’m also not napping on the couch after ravaging my body’s insulin, I engage with the few people left standing. :wink:

More interestingly, if I don’t broach my LCHF eating, people don’t care. We still have great conversations and great times.

I love seeing everyone and I love this time of year, even without the carbbage.

edit / update

Oops, I, too, failed to read the category of the post. Reading is so hard. Although I admire my zero-carb adherents, I am unable to follow such a regimen for reasons outside the scope of this thread.

(Steaks b4 cakes! 🥩🥂) #11

This year as a fellow ketoer, I’ve decided to shift my focus on the time spent with my family rather than all the food. It’s still going to be a big test of the will power but I’ve done so well so far.
Instead of tracking my food intake and monitoring what I eat and when, I’ve decided to take a couple of days off over Xmas and just enjoy keto-friendly foods. That will be my treat, just taking some time off from being so ‘mindful’. I’ve already made up a batch of fat bombs (some with sweetener and some without) and got my dark chocolate at the ready!

Merry Christmas to you :blush: and enjoy your time off!

(Brian) #12

I’ll likely stretch into “low carb” territory, above keto on several occasions. But I do that from time to time anyway.

So far, the Christmas parties I’ve been to so far I’ve not had anything significant. One, I had nothing but water. Another, I had like 1 bite of a dessert someone wanted me to taste. At another, I had two small cookies and some meat & cheese. None of that was enough that I really thought it was any big deal at all. No bingeing. It’s not that there wasn’t a ton of carbage at them all. It was everywhere. Funny thing, it was more like “decoration” than “food”. And if I did have cravings, it wasn’t for sweets, it was for protein!

Christmas day is likely to be just my wife and I at home, enjoying a quiet day. The food will be typical for us any other day. New Years Day, we’re having friends over and I’ve got a large piece of chuck that I’m brineing in the refrigerator right now that I’ll sous vide for a couple of days ahead. We’ll make some sauerkraut, a little cole slaw for one that doesn’t like sauerkraut, probably some green beans, probably some sweet potatoes, and there will be 2 or 3 keto desserts to pick over. One of our guests may bring some black-eyed peas and I’ll probably have a small spoonful of them to be polite. Maybe not quite keto, depending upon how many of those sweet potatoes and black-eyed peas I decide to eat (may not be many of either) but not so bad at all.

We do eat pretty well. :slight_smile:

(Cindy) #13

Christmas for us is pretty low key. Dinner will have a number of carbs (mashed potatoes, corn, dressing), but there’ll be chicken and some other veg…so that will be my dinner. No trouble there because I don’t usually eat a lot at dinner anyway. Oh, and I might have a single roll of homemade bread IF I really want it.

What I am planning to eat though…a small piece of pecan pie. I don’t eat store bought pecan pie and only fix it once per year. So I’m going to have a small piece and not worry about it.

I did this at Thanksgiving…decided to eat “off plan” and it worked out ok. I didn’t get right back to keto immediately…took until Sunday. But even so, I didn’t crazily over-do it, just had a couple cookies each day.

In a way, this is important to me. I don’t have an ED or anything, but I tend to want to be a perfectionist. If I’m telling myself “no carbs,” then I worry if I eat something I didn’t fix (there might be carbs in there!). Even eating a steak out at a restaurant, I think “What if the seasoning they used has sugar?” So having days where I relax my vigilance, but can STILL GO BACK to this WOE, is important, because I’m trusting myself.

Life really shouldn’t be about all or nothing, I think. And realistically, this is probably my mom’s last Christmas (just as Thanksgiving was probably her last one…this is going to be a [spoiler]fucked[/spoiler] year of lasts. :frowning: So if sitting around sharing pecan pie is what it’s about, I’m ok with that. On a good note (since I mentioned my mom…again…), her appetite is returning!!!

(Brian) #14

Ouch…

I’m sorry, Cindy. I think I have an idea of what you’re going through. Lost my mom about a year and a half ago. It’s not easy.

Hope you are able to make some good memories and enjoy the time you have left. When they’re gone, they’re gone, and they leave a big hole when they go.

(Cindy) #15

Yeah, it sucks, doesn’t it? We’ve always been very close…my parents divorced when I was 13 and I grew up more like my mom’s sister than daughter. She didn’t handle the divorce well for the first few years, so I was the stable one. She regrets that I had to grow up so fast…I don’t. She’s been my best friend and her loss will leave a HUGE hole in my life. :frowning:
Maybe she’ll be the 2% that live longer than expected.

(KCKO, KCFO) #16

Only added thing is black eyed peas on New Year’s Day, it is a Southern tradition. I have it with ham and cabbage, so otherwise keto.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #17

I ate off plan with family the last two days, but am back on now. No more socializing on the horizon so Christmas will be spent at home eating keto.

#18

No need to ditch the keto - after the roast lamb and steamed veggies with added butter I’ll be full.

Desert - maybe a piece of dark chocolate and nuts.

Easy.

(Andrea) #19

I’ve been on holiday for the last 9 days and I’ve transitioned to a more lo-keto diet, eating a few veggies etc but never anything close to 50g carbs of day. I’ve now got another 9 days at a family members house before I get home. This is my yearly hols and they usually centre around trying out new eating places. As fun as it’s been…and boy have I missed high quality avocados…, I can say my bowels are certainly not the happiest! From once or twice a week to once or twice a day! lol

But I’ve just had a big cote de boeuf all to myself…maybe I am looking forward to getting back to carnivore than I thought!!

(Tovan Nhsh) #20

" Maybe she’ll be the 2% that live longer than expected. "
Someone has to be part of the 2% & I sincerely hope your mom is one of them. I am close to my mom as well & am dreading that day.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #21

Interesting how many people on this ZC/carnivore thread are talking about eating carbohydrate. Are all of you carnivores, or are some of you regular ketonians who still eat carbs anyway? I ask, because I am wondering what people’s experiences have been going off ZC and eating plant foods? Is it as dramatic as the effects on a ketonian who returns to being a sugar burner?

(Laurie) #22

I’m an addict.

I’m not a drinker, but I can have a taste of some special drink, and it ends there because I’m not an alcoholic. However, this does not hold true for food. With food, I know that “just one” and “just once” can lead to a fall, and it can take me years to recover. Because I’m addicted to carbs.

So if socializing is going to result in my going off plan–or even being pressured to go off plan–then it just isn’t worth it.

I avoid socializing for the month of December; it’s just too dangerous and traumatic. On Christmas Day, I do normal activities and eat what I would eat on any other day.