Different Kind Of Holiday

Happy Bird day all, Wow...all I can say is...wow. Holidays are usually stressful under the best of cir****tances, throw in a little family friction and you have the motivation for every modern day holiday movie ever written My family no exception. There was ONE critical difference this year. Earlier today I was griping about the dinner in general, who was coming and possible problems that could arise...you know, the stuff we have all been through ( unless your name is Cleaver of course ) Anyhoo, it struck me mid-gripe, I was complaining about every thing under the sun EXCEPT my weight, my clothes, my general appearance and the usual tearful ending of " I can't go because I am so fat, they will all look at me and I just KNOW some clod will comment" It was such a revelation that I actually stopped *****ing about all that was "wrong" with the day! This time last year I silently sat there telling myself " This will be my last fat holiday" it all seemed so unattainable and far away. I'm happy to say I was truely able to be thankful this year for all I have been given. I was able to go and have a good time. On my plate I had: some meat, about a Tbsp. Of stuffing..same amount of mashed potatoes, a forkful of coleslaw,a piece of a roll, various bites of this and that. I would say all in all it probably added up to about 3/4 cup of food. Later I had coffee and a small bite of the sugar free cherry pie I made. My dinner was totally delicious! I was very satisfied with tastes of all my favorites and managed to stay on program easily. By the way, the cherry pie was the hit of the dessert table and was the first to go. Even the cheesecake was leftover! Sugar free rules, lol maybe that will be my next tattoo ( yes, I said next. I've had a rose tattoo for over 20 years ) I hope all of you had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed your families and friends. Linda

Hey, Linda! Thanx for sharing u'r holiday story. I'm sure we all can relate to parts of it--or maybe even all. My daughter and I had a quiet holiday together. We decorated and cooked together, then curled up together on the couch to read our different books (I highly recommend 'Silver Bells' by Luann Rice!) and then took a late afternoon nap. Of course, we were ravenous for left-overs around 8:00 PM. It was wonderful! We are looking forward to the huge family gathering on Sunday in Lancaster (schedules prevail us getting together on the holiday itself). But it also allows for our individual families to celebrate together as our own family units and then celebrate together as the 'clan'. We like it that way. Thankful also here in M-town! (((hugs))) -Karen

Hi Linda, This has been the best Holiday ever. Everyone meets over my sister in -laws. I would never wanted to go, I would of been stessing out a good 2 weeks a head and it was all about my weight, I was always the biggest one there. This is the first time I couldn't wait to see everyone, or was it have everyone see me.lol I just feel so comfortable. And I kinda hate to say this but I'm not the biggest anymore, now I'm third from the thinnest in our family group. I think only heavy people know what I mean. Today I'm cooking our Thanksgiving dinner and I'm about to tackle the outside Chrismas lights. I wouldn't have of had the energy last year. Now I can't wait until Christmas. P.S. HEADLINE NEWS- I weigh 1 lb. less then my hubby...life is good. Bobbie Kachmar

Good stuff Linda. I sort of felt out of place at first myself. I was invited by friends that I went to last year and of course things were a lot different this year. Everyone was enjoying wine and other alcoholic drinks and picking at different things as they came out of the oven or off the range. I just sat with my glass of water and ate a couple of carrot sticks in dip and didn't feel out of place at all. When it came down to eat, a small piece of turkey, a bit of stuffing, some mashed potatoes and gravy was it and I was full. It didn't bother me everyone else had their plates piled high, the only thing I missed was the Candied Sweet Potatoes... I love those things, but I knew what might happen because of the two lbs of brown sugar in them and I let them sit there. Sure, a couple of people mentioned I was going to waste away eating like that. My reply was, I'll take some Turkey Home and make me some turkey salad. So they loaded up a container for me and I made the best turkey salad today I've ever had. It turned out to be a Great Thanksgiving after all ! Tom 60 down and counting.....

I, too, had a great holiday. Went to sis-in-law's. Still was the biggest person there but oh so much less of me... (Sis-in-law weighs 80-something soaking wet!). My plate had a teaspoonfull of EVERYTHING on it and I was completely satisfied. Not interested in taking stuff home and was so amazed that eating with family and celebrating the actual holiday was more important than stuffing myself to a literal "death". Dianne