Healthy Holiday Tips #2 – Banish the Guilt

Welcome to Part II of Healthy Holiday Tips – Banish the Guilt

If you do end up overindulging this holiday season, please don’t fret or think negative thoughts. That’s just as bad as eating an entire box of cookies in one go. Instead take it as a learning opportunity and decide how you will incorporate more healthier foods into your life again.

And don’t fall into the trap of: well I’ve already ruined the holiday season eating might as well keep going. This binge/purge mentality is what the dieting industry thrives on and what we’re giving a big fat F-You to.

How Do you Do This?

1. Be present and mindful of what you’re eating and actually enjoy it! Don’t imagine that what you just ate will land on your hips (I used to do this) – cause guess what, thoughts become things – we create our reality, the more you associate negative thinking with food, the more food becomes the enemy and the harder it is for you to shed the pounds. I had a client tell me that food feels heavy for her, so no wonder she herself is heavy – her words.
2. Take positive action, if you overindulged- forget what happened the day before.  Make sure you start tomorrow with a good breakfast, or a green smoothie.
3. Get out of your head and into your body. Go for a walk, get moving, be physical, yoga, meditate.
4. Purge your negative thinking, write it down and get it out of your head and burn the paper, after you have your healthy breakfast!
5. Decide whether or not what you’re about to eat is going to benefit you or take away from you. If you think of food in terms of good/bad, then you’ve vilified it, but if you think of it in terms of whether it benefits you or not, you’ve empowered yourself and the food. If you are about to eat a cookie but you are thinking negative thoughts about that cookie, I’d prefer it if you didn’t eat it because it’s those thoughts that will get you in trouble. However, if you eat the cookie with gusto, love and appreciation, it becomes a whole other positive experience.
6. You don’t have to eat 6 portions because you’re sitting at the xmas table. Nobody feels good after eating that much food – you feel horrible and want to die. Keep Portion control top of mind – while sitting at the table, you keep eating because maybe you don’t want to be there. The family meal is a lost art. Hours are spent in the kitchen preparing a meal that gets devoured in less than 20 minutes. Everyone inhales the food then you’ve eaten way more than you wanted to. Just because the food is in front of you doesn’t mean you have to eat it (unless it’s veggies of course!) This is actually one of the most common reasons why bloating happens. Your digestive energy is being focused elsewhere, you’re eating way too fast. I know you’re used to eating fast, but take just 15 to do nothing but eat. You’ll feel much better afterwards and you won’t have to unbutton the top button of your jeans!
7. Talk to someone/Post in Facebook and tag me for help.

Action point: Think of something you love…music, reading, painting, something you don’t have time to do it. On the day you have blackout eating, and you want to get moving but aren’t motivated…reward yourself for the action. Listen to music, take your ipad to the gym and watch your fave program. Use a non-food way to reward yourself.

How will you reward yourself this holiday season for sticking to your health goals?

Is this a struggle area of your life? Let’s get on a free call to talk about it.