WEâRE seven days into August and the holiday season has well and truly started (unless youâre reading this in Australia, New Zealand or South Africa!) Iâm constantly hearing people say âIâm a little bit worried about how Iâm going to cope with food when Iâm on holiday â I usually pig out and I love having a cocktail or two in the evening.â
So I thought it might be a good time to give you a little help on how to get through all the temptations of Summer and stay in control of your weight.Iâm sure you know the story â itâs almost as if your mind is saying âWoo hoo weâre on holiday and that means I have permission to eat anything you want to eat â and lots of it!â
Then you get disappointed because you feel like youâve fallen off the wagon and you beat yourself up.
This time of year can be really difficult and create all sorts of challenges, concerns and anxieties about food and your weight. Most people coming to my Slimpod programme do so after years of unsuccessfully trying to lose weight and have almost been conditioned to what I call âseasonal dietingâ.
Hereâs how it goes (and do let me know below if you recognise it!).
In January the media lures you into the latest âamazingâ weight loss revelation (itâs a diet). You are into it for four to five weeks, lose some weight and then lose motivation â because willpower doesnât last, sadly.
Then youâre feeling a bit rubbish for the next few months until May/June comes and – yes, you guessed it â the next revolutionary, all singing, all dancing Summer bikini diet is launched!
Youâre on that until your summer holiday (around now) and then you just canât keep it up because itâs Summer and dieting is miserable and boring in the holidays isnât it?!
All those nice things youâre depriving yourself of while everyone else is having fun and enjoying themselves. So rather than feeling rubbish you break the diet and blame your Summer eating again on your own lack of willpower!
Then you limp along and around October time the media starts up again! âLose two dress sizes in time for those Christmas parties,â the headlines shout! You hop on because basically youâre losing it to put it all back on again over ChristmasâŠand so it goes on! Nightmare!
If youâre on a Slimpod programme, this may well have stopped already and youâre noticing youâre far more in control.
Youâll also be noticing you donât want much of the sugary stuff â which is great. However I do know that dieting behaviour is really hard to shift and can sometimes be triggered if youâre not aware of it.
Summer eating and drinking – how to handle it
So hereâs a few tips on Summer eating which will give you a boost!
ONE: Summer puts you into what I call a âSummer diet trance stateâ â in English, this means youâll be out of routine and be in a very different state of mind. âlâll just put my weight loss on hold and enjoy myself for a few weeksâ kind of trance state!! If you feel this is you â and I know Iâll get lots of comments saying Iâm reading your minds â PLEASE PLEASE wake up from that trance and shake yourself off! You donât need to eat for Britain this month!
TWO: You can still ENJOY the summer AND lose weight. Just be in the right mindset.. The CRUCIAL thing is to build little rewards into your life over the next four or five weeks and donât let ice-creams, cocktails etc become obstacles to your success and derail you. Lots of people think theyâve blown their healthy eating regime just because theyâve had some ice-cream. This then becomes a very useful excuse to eat, too.
The important thing to remember is this is an automatic pattern of behaviour thatâs been running in your life for quite a while and you need to be aware itâs happening before you can do something about it. So if something like this is happening now â chill!. Stop thinking itâs the end of the world because it isnât! Recognise itâs happening and do something about it.
Use the treats to help with your success instead of letting them make you feel guilty. Itâs all in your head after all! Use the treats as a little reward for reaching a mini goal â which could be anything you choose.
If youâre going on a trip then rather than feeling bad after having an ice cream, give yourself permission to have one. Itâs truly not going to be the end of the world and when you do this you change your mindset from throwing in the towel and âstrugglingâ to being kind to yourself and honouring the time of year.
Summer eating and drinking really is that simple. If you want a cocktail, have one. You may be surprised and one might be enough. Itâs really all about flipping your mindset from “Iâve blown it and I donât careâ to âIâm going to have these little treats but I can still be in control.â
There are people coming back from holidays and rejoicing in the fact that theyâve enjoyed themselves and put on no weight when they would ordinarily have pigged out and be at least 8lbs heavier. The lovely Elaine, one of our Tameside nurses, recently came back from holiday and was so happy because she put no weight on.
Keep up your activity because in the summer we tend to be a bit lazier if the weather is hot. Raise your heart rate for just 15 minutes a day! This will really help to manage the treats too!
So have fun and enjoy your holiday and your Summer eating without worrying!
14 thoughts on “Summer eating and drinking – hot tips for staying cool about it”
This is so true! I go on holiday in September but I feel in control this time. When I was on holiday last year I bought a “ninety-nine” and was just going to lick it when a seagull swooped down and stole the flake, I didn’t know whether to be angry or thank the seagull for removing some of the temptation!
Well done Catherine!
Sandra you really can read minds! Your emails and gentle reminders are definitely a big part of my Slimpod journey. I am sure most of us recognise the yearly cycle you outlined ha ha. Thanks to the Slimpod team I have been able to keep things mostly under control, so far. My holiday was at the beginning of June due to work pressures. I just need to figure out how to control my stress levels as that is when I want chocolate. I do listen every night to the Chillpod and it does help.
Great stuff Sylvia and Iâm glad weâre helping you succeed!
Sandra. I love your blogs, pods frankly the thinking slimmer experience for me has been a lifeline. Iâve been on it for 5 weeks and already notice so many changes. No longer feel guilty about food, more relaxed, no chocolate cravings and only one sweet purchase in all that time!!!
I completely recognised the summer cycle and also as I was reading the blog realised that this time Iâm not in it!!!! Simply amazing..
Last week I had 2 yoghurts & 4 crackers in one day was about to feel down about that binge then realised my goodness compared to before (pizza, patties plus ice cream = binge) this is a radical shift for me. #winning ????
FAB Pearl! This is SO great to hear – well done you! Keep up the good work!
I am over half way through the 70 day with out sugar challenge and have been on holiday in Cyprus for 2 weeks with a week left. In this time I have had no ice cream or cocktails in fact nothing with sugar. My only treat was a frozen yogurt which is just full fat greek yogurt and berries. Thanks to Sandra and slimpod.
Absolutely in agreement, I love my holidays, 6 countries in six months, had the local delicacies in eCh one and still manage to stay in control all thanks to slimpod ?
Totally agree with all youâve said Sandra. And pleased to report fantastic holiday with no weight gain thanks to Thinking Slimmer.
Great read Sandra. I can honestly say that this summer was the first time Iâve returned from a holiday and my clothes didnât feel tight and I didnât feel bloated and blobby. All thanks to you and Slimpod
This is so true it was my birthday and on the Saturday I had a piece of cake and on the Tuesday went to cinema and had a small popcorn my treats back on the healthy eating now it does work if you are sensible
I have two holidays in August (just done one) with the family and i am the only person on Slimpod (6 weeks) đ so i took my running gear , listened to my slimpod , took loads of fruit and water with me, so i did not get stuck hungry and it felt like a normal day at home . OMG there was a moment when i stood in a long queue in a Cafe and the cakes were amazing in the glass counter….the power of slimpod was great i got to the counter and i heard myself order pot of tea, bottle water and a chicken salad đ
That all made so much sense! Thank you!
Excellent tips. I have dieted for years, gone on holiday, eaten everything I felt like & then back to misery at weigh in on returning home.