Celebrating my small victories

So, the christmas season is winding down. I'm on day 3 of optifast. And I must say that yesterday may have been one of the hardest days of my life.

My close family and friends have one thing in common, they love with food. Food is a big part of our celebrations, to not eat is to offend. To allow them to cook for and feed you provides the ultimate satisfaction.

We started our day at home, I'm having a hard time with the shakes, so I forced half of one down before leaving, and a big cup of decaf tea.

First stop was fairly early, so with the exception of some random sweets we were able to exchange gifts and leave with no incident.

Our second stop was later in the day, dinner was about ready, the house was smelling heavenly, and we were offered to stay more than once, my saving grace was that I still had another stop to make.

Our third and final stop of the day the food was already out. That side of the family is a lot less formal, more like a buffet style. I had baked sweets christmas eve, so came armed with my contribution. So then- "you made lemon squares? so did I. You try mine I will try yours"

On top of numerous "did you eat?" "You're not eating?" inquiries.

I got out of there as quickly as I could, and came home to a nice big cup of chicken broth *which is very tasty if you add garlic and red pepper flakes*

I almost broke at one point and said "I'll just have some soup" "NO" my daughter said "grandma puts sugar in that!" Thank goodness for her. I was able to resist and I feel great about it today.

So-day 3. Got a birthday to go to tonight, have already advised the birthday girl I'll be coming later for the party, but skipping the foods and drinks that will be available early in the evening.

And then there were 11.

It sounds like you handled yesterday superbly! I know it is tough.

Good luck!

Congratulations on getting through your first non-eating holiday!  You made it!  I commend you for staying strong and holding fast to your program. 

My family was the same way--food everywhere and everything imaginable--and the main focus was the food--never anything healthy either.  Now that I have a few years under my belt with RNY, I approach celebrations much differently now.  Its more about the company, conversation and trying new things.   I love to cook and I get a lot of satisfaction out of people enjoying my food.  I cook everything from scratch for two reasons. 1) You know exactly what goes into what you are eating.  2) Its a lot cheaper to buy ingredients and make food yourself then to buy everything pre-made or ready-to-eat.  I am pursuing my dream of becoming a professional chef in a local restaurant.  Hopefully, the executive chef will train me and I will be able to make money at it!!!  I've always wanted to work doing something I love and one of my passions and outlets for creativity is creating delicious, healthy things. 

Congratulations again and good luck in completing your 2 week liquid pre-op diet. 

M'Lane