Temptations Are Everywhere

Bring it on Santa! Halloween is over and from what I have seen already, the stores are decorated and ready for the Christmas season and this can mean only one thing...

…the holidays are among us and everywhere you look there is going to be temptation. Some people think that just because you have weight loss surgery that you are automatically cured of eating junk food. I have written about this in the past but I will say it again…weight loss surgery of any type is a tool…not a cure. I had surgery on my stomach, not on my head. I still have to see and smell all of the wonderful holiday treats and foods and have to make a conscious decision of what I put in my mouth.

I do not know about you, but the temptations for me started last week with all of the Halloween candy that is around the office. I swear every corner I turned there was a jar of chocolaty goodness looking me dead in the eyes. One day someone brought donuts, another there was cookies, and yesterday there were mini-cupcakes. For the most part, it is easy for me to say no. I usually came to this decision after standing in front of the treat just smelling it. Not going to lie, I did indulge a few times. Did it hurt the scale or me? No. Yesterday, I had a mini-cupcake, two fun size Hershey bars, and (gasp) a fun size pack of peanut M&M’s. I totally blew my daily carbohydrate intake out of the water. I normally do not take in more than 30 grams of carbohydrates per day. Yesterday, I took in approximately 70 grams. Still very low but it’s more than double my daily intake.

I made those choices on my own and I do not consider them a failure. In order to be successful, I have to live in the real world and the real world is full of junk food. It was Halloween. I got my candy fix and I am over it. I am not worried about Thanksgiving but I am nervous about Christmas. Starbucks already lured me in with their “The wait is over” sign for Eggnog Lattes. However, I did not succumb to their evil marketing scheme this time. I will allow myself to divulge in ONE this holiday season but I will wait until it is closer to Christmas so I can slow sip it next to the Christmas tree on a Sunday morning while reading the newspaper or flipping through the holiday advertisements (another evil marketing scheme).

This holiday season is going to be a true test to see just how much I have learned over these past eight months (and how strong I am emotionally). For me, it is easy to say no…but…it is still easy to say yes.

Let the holiday temptation games begin!