It’s official… the holidays are about to begin and it all starts with Halloween. There are roughly sixty-two days of Holiday “survival.” In those sixty-two days, most of us undergo at least four major Holidays with numerous parties, gatherings and potlucks in between. There is no other time of the year that is more focused on food, especially comfort foods and sweets than right now. “Tis the season” to eat!
It is supposed to be the happiest time of the year, yet so many people are more stressed, tired and anxious than ever. Most of it stems from not having control. From outside it seems so easy to control your holiday cravings, forgoing the mounds of Halloween candy, pumpkin pie and cookie extravaganzas, believing that if you can restrict your eating enough then you can also control your weight and appearance. This is happiness, or as many of us perceive it. But in the end does this really make us happier and healthier?
The sad irony is that dieting does the opposite of what many believe. In fact dieting will come in and rob you of all control and steal your joy. As humans we are not hardwired to withstand indefinite restriction and deprivation. Willpower acts as a muscle, you can fatigue it until the point of exhaustion. The more we try to restrict and deprive ourselves of the things we crave, the harder it gets to hold onto the reigns. But that doesn’t stop us from trying, because we are in control, right? For those very strict dieters out there who still believe restriction offers control, we dig our heels deeper and hold on with all that we have. This manifests as unfortunate behavior allowing us to binge on foods we don’t even enjoy. You all have been there, right? We deprive ourselves for so long that before you know it, you are sneaking upstairs where the cookies are to eat a few while nobody is looking.
I’m also talking about bingeing on bland foods like rice cakes, 100 calorie snack packs and mounds of leafy greens topped with your sugar-free, nutrient-free dressing. This in the end does nothing but create an evil war between body and mind. Your mind wants to win the battle of weight, gaining ultimate control. Your body, well it wants you to wave the red flag in defeat for it always will win, and that is a promise. The reality, you don’t have control, and you may never get to your “ideal” weight but that isn’t an easy statement to swallow. Letting go of dieting, especially during the holidays isn’t an easy truth. But the reality, the only way you can truly be joyful and your body to thank you is to feed it what you enjoy. You must be happy in order to gain control.
Don’t let your mind win this war. You don’t have to lose convenience, flavor and fun in order to be healthier, you just have to choose to change your mind. You have to let your body gain control and forget those silly brain games. Lets do a little test just to prove how easy it is to trick our brains by doing a few brain games.
Were you fooled? Luckily, it isn’t as easy to trick our bodies as it is our minds. The good news, our bodies know what they want, what they need and most importantly they know what to do with real, wholesome food. Feed it what it needs and it will return the favor. Plus, these real, wholesome foods can be really tasty.
Unfortunately, many of you have denied yourself so long that you have no idea what foods you actually enjoy. Training your mind to embrace food and pleasure takes some soul-searching and truly enjoying real foods takes a leap of faith. Even more important is the habit of identifying the foods that are worth an occasional splurge and letting go of all of the others. Only you can decide when special trumps health or convenience. I challenge you to overcome your mind, choose to make a right choice and most importantly enjoy this holiday season.
[Tweet “When your choices are based on values, not restriction you will get control of your habit.”]
Let’s do this together. Let me help you make the most of your Holidays by creating a healthy atmosphere and change of mind that will help you to overcome your worries this season. I have developed a plan that will allow you to relax, sleep well and most importantly enjoy delicious holiday food without the guilt and worry of the scale. How am I going to help? I have created what I am calling Well Fed Daily. This is sixty-one days of information that will keep you grooving through the holidays, jeans intact and feeling better than ever.
Forget the holiday weight gain and invest in the guidance you need to succeed at this thing called health. From November 1st to January 1st you will receive a daily email and check-in helping to prepare you, motivate you, ensure your success and most importantly teach you how to be well fed through the holiday season. From craving control to delicious recipes and everything in between. It is just what you need to overcome holiday cravings, making this a stress-free, happy and healthy holiday season. That is sixty-one days of support, motivation and accountability and all for just $15!
Give yourself the best present this Holiday season with that being your health.
