Survival Guide

The mince pies are everywhere and I can’t get out: A brief survival guide for festive fasting

~ eaton24 ~ 3 Comments

Fasting days at the moment seem to be a little more torturous than normal. I’m putting this down to the season of ‘merriment’. With mince pies in the cupboard along with cheese, pate and all sorts of other goodies, events such as Christmas ‘lights on’ festivals and pubs with open fires beckon and tempt us with the promise of mulled wine and comfort food make fasting days tougher than ever. In fact everyone in the office today is a walking, talking mince pie..

As I’m not really a big breakfaster on a normal day I find the fasting days more of a challenge in the evenings. Hot soup at lunch generally keeps the hunger gremlins at bay until about 1700 hours at which point I HAVE TO EAT SOMETHING NOW! Or somebody gets hurt.

I’ve come up with a little routine which helps me curb the temptation during cold wintery evenings:

  1. Eat something– Protein is good if you have enough calories to play with. The other night I had roast trout fillet on a bed of spinach leaf and plum tomato salad, a little feta and olives and a lemon and dill dressing. I didn’t go to bed hungry- which is always the aim.
  2. Avoid the TV– at this time of year the adverts alone are enough to make me want to break a fast. I have been known to uncontrollably shout ‘I WANT CHOCOLATE BAUBLES’ at the telly in response the one of this year’s supermarket advertising delights. You know the one.
  3. Read a book– It’s always good to stay distracted. At the moment I like to indulge in a trashy Christmas novel (a guilty pleasure). Alternatives if you’re not the bookish type are: magazines, newspapers or doing a spot of online Christmas shopping for an extra sense of accomplishment!
  4. Peppermint tea– Mint is apparently an appetite suppressant. It could be the placebo effect of course, and it isn’t quite the same as having a proper brew (white, one sugar) but it seems to work for me.
  5. Have a bath– This is probably my favourite part of the fasting day evening (or close second after the bit that involves eating). I’ll play my favourite new itunes purchase and wallow in bubbles and self pity. It’s blissful.