Recovering from Christmas Past

Christmas is two days behind us, but if you’re at all like me you may still be feeling the bloat of the holiday.

Christmas morning 2015 Oddly warm and breathtakingly beautiful!

Christmas morning 2015 Oddly warm and breathtakingly beautiful!

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If I were to list all that I ate on Christmas day and to calculate the calories, or in my case as I count with Weight Watchers, the SmartPoints, I would be overwhelmed by the sheer excess.

candy, cupcakes, holiday ham, baked mac and cheese, casseroles, casseroles, casseroles, quick breads, croissants, pecan pie, ice cream...

candy, cupcakes, holiday ham, baked mac and cheese, casseroles, casseroles, casseroles, quick breads, croissants, pecan pie, ice cream…

 

I’m not going to do that. It doesn’t matter anymore.

That’s right, what I ate on Christmas day doesn’t matter at all. It has nothing to do with what I weight, how much weight I’ll gain. It’s truly as though it didn’t happen. If you’re surprised I’m so casual about eating a huge amount of food, most of which was swimming in fat and liberally doused with sugar, don’t be!

This IS NOT ME, but it very accurately describes how I felt before falling into bed Christmas night!

This IS NOT ME, but it very accurately describes how I felt before falling into bed Christmas night!

The most damaging thing I could do to my continuing weight maintenance efforts is beat myself up with guilt and regret because I responded to good food the way I was programmed to respond by my genes and conditioning.

I did it. I loved it. It’s mentally out of my system and in a few days in will be physically out of my system too! I’m not going to go to any great lengths to atone for my sins. Indeed, no sins were committed. Eating is not sinning.

If you’re wondering where do I go from here, wonder no more. I just pick up with my normal routine. I get back to eating and exercising like normal. The eating part isn’t the challenge, although the exercise part is taking more thought an effort than usual after my exercise machine broke about a week ago.

Poor, little broken exercise machine is getting better. While his spine repairs itself, he appreciates company in his therapeutic pen!

Poor, little broken exercise machine is getting better. While his spine repairs itself, he appreciates company in his therapeutic pen!

How was your holiday? Was it magnificent? Did it taste too good to eat conservatively? I certainly hope so!

Gathering for a family photo after the Christmas meal. Look at that! I feel like I gained 100 pounds, but I look just like I looked on the night BEFORE CHRISTMAS!

Gathering for a family photo after the Christmas meal. Look at that! I feel like I gained 100 pounds, but I look just like I looked on the night BEFORE CHRISTMAS!

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Now that’s it over, I hope you will join me! Let’s skip the guilt and work on getting more fit by skipping a little rope, or if you’re not up to skipping rope, skipping stones instead!

Jackie Conn

About Jackie Conn

Jackie Conn is married and has four grown daughters and four grandchildren. She is a Weight Watchers success story. She's a weight loss expert with 25 years of experience guiding women and men to their weight-related goals. Her articles on weight management have been published in health, family and women's magazines. She has been a regular guest on Channel 5 WABI news, FOX network morning program Good Day Maine and 207 on WCSH.