The Holidays are Tricky.

[Osteopot]

More of a rant than anything, because I just need to get it out to people who'll understand.

Recap: DX with severe OA in both hips at 39, am now 41.

Over the last few weeks, I conducted an experiment by cutting the 300 calories of snacks (milk chocolate, tortilla chips, regular chips) I was eating to about 50 calories of dark chocolate to see how my hips felt (I use MyFitnessPal to track everything, and have done so for three years). And I'll be darned if it hasn't made a difference. Perfect, no, but enough of a difference to make me realize that my eating had to change.

And now we have the holidays, and I am bombarded with things I really *cannot* eat because they cause me pain...and I just want to scream. It's just brutal to be raised as a kid to eat things because they taste good and bring you joy while you're eating them, only to grow up and realize those same things now cause excruciating pain, as well as pack on the pounds which exacerbates things (and the whole reason I use MFP is because I lost 50 pounds and work my tail off to maintain the weight I'm at, as it really does help my joints feel better).

It's just my husband and I, so we aren't feeling any family/friend pressure to make a huge meal and gorge - it's more social media and even the news with all the recipes that are getting to me.

So my coping strategy is to work through most of tomorrow and stay off the news. Dunno how else to deal. Sigh. Thanks for reading, if you got this far.

[HeronNS]

It is tough. I found my gut got retrained when I was on prednisone for polymyalgia and pretty much gave up all "white" carbs. I now believe that when we have food cravings it's really our gut microbiome demanding what it most likes. Giving up the foods you most like which are ones which are bad for you, giving them up completely for even as little as a week or two, and filling up with foods which are "good", like heaps of salad, could give you the boost you need to help you resist what you know does you no good. Oddly enough I found myself craving kale halfway through my first winter on prednisone. I have never since, five years now, felt irresistible cravings for snack foods, etc, although I can from time to time enjoy small quantities. i no longer seek them out. I can only explain this by changes to my gut health. I do eat fermented foods on a regular basis. If you aren't used to them, but would like to try, introduce them slowly. Give your gut time to adapt. Good sources of friendly gut microflora include yoghurt, of course, but also kefir and many different kinds of fermented vegetables, sauerkraut most well-known.

[Masla]

I totally understand. The snacks are everywhere when going shopping or looking at hings online. (I live in America) Anyway. I need to lose weight. At least 20 lbs. During this pandemic I have gained 15 lbs. Tell me how exactly have you done it. And rant away. We all need to release stress for its just hard now. Have a great Christmas.

[Constance13]

Staying off the news is the most healthy thing we can do these days.

Enjoy your time together - nothing else really matters. Eat what you like in minuscule amounts during the festive days.

🤶🍀🍸🍾💐