Special Occasion Etiquette

Today my ward Graduated from High School.  We couldn't be prouder of him.  He had such a long journey to get to this point.  He will be leaving for the US Army come October.  However, there are a few issues for those with Celiac at these types of occasions.  As we were leaving the Graduation, The School officials tried to press a Cookie and lemonade into my hands.  I had to decline; in fact I wouldn't even touch the snacks.  I didn't want the gluten on my hand from the cookies and I had no idea of how, where or with what the lemonade was made.  This means that I couldn't safely consume anything.  While our Ward understood why I politely said no thank you and wouldn't let the snacks touch me, the person pushing them did not.  They only understood when I told them that I was allergic.  

Over Eating before the Diet

I am one of those people that will overeat before starting a diet.  Just knowing that I am going to start a diet will cause me to overeat.  Inside my head I am thinking "it's ok, I will make up for this later!" the answer to that is no, I won't, also that is not a healthy way for me to handle things.  I will be starting my HCG diet on Friday of next week and I have already noticed that I have upped my carbs as well as my sugars.  Although to be fair part of that might be PMS for me.  I want to eat what I will be missing for a time.  However, this is not a healthy way to handle it.  So if you are like me you will start to get craving for something in particular do what you would normally do and eat it in moderation.  I have put together a few tips for myself on how to help do that so that I don’t gain weight before I plan to lose it.

Chew more: Simple enough, I plan on chewing and enjoying the food I am craving more. 

Don't emotionally eat: this can be harder for me.  While I do consume far less calories than the average since I only eat about 1200 anyway.  I can eat emotionally, not when I am sad or depressed or angry, then I don't eat at all but when I am being social and/or happy I will start to eat around 1500 to 2000 a day and with my issues I can't do that. This goes for movies as well I almost need to eat something at a movie theater, I shouldn't do that.

Get on a schedule:  For me this is very important.  I tend to not get hungry in a normal time frame.  This can put my body into starvation mode so when I do eat I store every calorie.  Yuck, what I need to do is eat around five very small meals a day.

Set the amount: eat only that amount and allow yourself something like celery or raw vegetables if you are still hungry. 

Watch portion sizes: In some cases the portion sizes can be an issue.  Especially if the suggested portion size is less than a teaspoon and you used a heaping helping.  Those calories can add up fast.

I think if I can keep to these few small rules I will be fine until I start my diet.  Here is hoping.