Tis the season for over eating!
Tis the season for over eating! I can’t seem to get away from talking about the holidays. I love this time of year and all the festivities of November and December. The food is delicious, the lights are mesmerizing, the parties are fun, and everything gets dressed up including us. This year I’m trying to be mindful of my waist line. I usually throw all my good eating habits out the window and enjoy every chocolate truffle, every savory dish, second helpings, and appetizers that are usually the same portion amount as my dinner plate. In the moment I am completely happy with all my decisions but then I start to feel so full that I can’t move and then I’m left with regret. This year I’m trying to approach things a little differently. Can’t I have my fun and eat it too? How does one enjoy the plunders of the holiday and not feel like a glutton? Well I may have discovered someone who can help. They come highly recommended and very inexpensive. It’s YOU! Our bodies are amazing creations that actually tell us when we need to eat, what we want to eat, and when we’ve had enough. How often do we ignore the signals our bodies tell us about food consumption? I think it’s extremely important to listen to our bodies. Enjoying all the tasty foods around the holidays is something we all look forward to. But if you want to fit into that cute New Year’s Eve outfit, that I know you’ve already picked out, here are a few tips to keep in mind.
- Don’t abstain from sweets or savory things so much that when you do allow yourself to eat those things you binge.
- Eat anything you want but only eat when you’re hungry, you know the rumbling empty feeling in the pit of your stomach. Food will taste much better and your body will actually use those calories instead of storing them.
- Eat slowly, enjoy every bite and don’t save the best bites for last. Eat the best parts first so at the end when you are full you won’t feel guilty about leaving the last couple of bites.
- Eating the best parts first. Think about how in the beginning of your meal you are hungry and every bite tastes the best. Then towards the end of your meal you are so full you aren’t even sure you can finish. If you’ve saved the best bites for last then you will feel guilty not eating them. Then all of a sudden dinner becomes an emotional encounter.
- Don’t get over emotional. Eating interacts with the part of our brain that responds to pleasure. Eating is a positive emotional experience. But if you overeat you feel uncomfortable and guilty then begin to beat yourself up. Getting overly emotional.
- Hit the reset button. The moment you over eat and get that horrible sick feeling and you start to feel all those guilty emotions welling up. Just stop and hit your reset button. Don’t tell yourself that because you ate something bad or over ate that your entire week is ruined. You are mentally giving yourself permission to eat poorly the rest of the week because of one mess up. Just hit your reset button and try again the next day or the next meal! You don’t have to wait the entire week to put yourself back on track just do it!
- You have to consider your beverage as part of your meal. If you choose to have a glass of wine/beer/soda/tea with dinner you must understand that those liquids fill you up faster. It’s a mental thing. If you decide to have a drink be mindful that you might feel fuller faster, so fill your plate accordingly.
Learning how to listen to our bodies is no easy task when there is delicious food to be had, but it’s a habit that becomes priceless in life. I am constantly reminding myself of these tips and my restart button has about worn down to nothing but I keep trying.
What are your hardest eating hang ups during the holidays?
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