Many of you have probably already heard my discourse about why the last two months of the year are a toxic wasteland for dieters. There is usually a lot of leftover candy from Hallloween which starts the junk fest on November 1 (here’s a free tip: only buy bags of candy you don’t like- if you buy two 4lb bags of hershey’s miniatures and chocolate is your weakness, what do you think is going to happen with all the leftovers?) Then comes all of the early preparation for Thanksgiving, then Thanksgiving, then Thanksgiving leftovers. The mall food court lures in the unwary on Black Friday, then starts the Christmas bake-a-thon. Christmas candy, Christmas cookies, Christmas cakes, then a big dinner on Christmas day itself. The only thing people don’t seem to eat is the fruitcake.
Is it any wonder why New Year’s Eve brings a flood of resolutions to lose weight and why gyms experience their highest volume of new clients in January?
While I can’t steer anybody away from making poor choices over the holidays, I can help with a tip for the leftovers. If you’re anything like me, you hate to throw food away. It’ll sit in little plastic containers in the fridge getting whittled away a few bites at a time. While it feels profoundly wasteful, THROW THE LEFTOVERS AWAY. I know, I know- I hate to do it, too. But most of the leftovers of this season- candy, pie, broccoli rice casserole – are high fat, high sugar, or high calorie and not what you should be eating more than a little smidgin of anyway. Eating a few tablespoons of each at Thanksgiving is one thing, eating it for the whole next week is quite another.
One of my patients (who FYI lost weight over the Thanksgiving holiday) told me today that she had baked a chocolate pie for her sister to eat for the holiday. Sadly her sister is ill and had to be hospitalized earlier that week and stayed in the hospital over the holiday. Since she couldn’t give it to the intended recipient, she threw it in the trash. Yes, a freshly baked, never touched, chocolate pie. She tried to give it away, but since nobody wanted it she said, “..I’ve worked too hard to lose this weight and I like it too much to risk ruining it for a pie!”
To say I’m proud of her goes without saying 
9. December 2009 at 10:58 pm
This Thanksgiving was my first with my lapband and I bought gobs of tag a long bowls with lids. And I ate a teaspoon of favorites and after everyone finished we divided the food so that everyone there had a meal that evening and nothing was wasted. Thankyou Betty!!!! AND THEY HAD REALLY SMALL CONTAINERS THAT HELD HALF A CUP, GREAT TO DIVIDE CANS OF VEGS.
9. December 2009 at 11:53 pm
Good work! Remember that portion control is among the most important things that determine success with the Lap Band. Thanks for sharing your tips with everyone
12. January 2010 at 12:06 am
Throwing food away is the hardest thing for me. As a child it was put in my head I had to eat all my food on my plate, there are starving people in the world who’d be grateful for my unfinished food. I am doing really well with the concept now. Hope I keep it up!
12. January 2010 at 12:27 am
I tell people the Lap Band is about changing habits. “Hoarding” food is one habit we have to get rid off. Keep it up!