You do not need to compensate for your holiday eating, today, tomorrow or any day!

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend filled with yummy food, family, and friends. 

While the festivities may have been wonderful, Monday after a holiday often starts with I need to be "good" today. The pressure to diet creeps in fast.

Eating too overfull when the holiday food comes out is perfectly normal. You may have eaten more than usual, as who can resist the special dishes that only appear once a year? We think we won't see it again until next year; I need to get it all in.  

To best avoid the after-holiday guilt and the annual January 1, I need to diet resolution; Please keep these thoughts in mind as you go through the rest of the holiday season.

• You do not need to compensate for your holiday eating today, tomorrow, or any day. Your restriction is what sets you up for a binge. Enjoy the holiday food without guilt or shame.

• You don't need to "cleanse" or "make up" for anything. Our bodies naturally know how to do this.

• Your body is naturally able to handle holiday meals—and again, the more you try to compensate for what you've eaten, the worse your relationship with food tends to become.

What can you do to ease your relationship with food and your body over the next few weeks?

• Take a breath or ground yourself before your meal.

• Check-in with your hunger using a hunger/fullness scale (1 you are starving and want to eat everything in sight and 10 bursting and uncomfortable). Understanding your hunger is a helpful skill to learn.

• Use the STOP acronym.

  • S: Stop when you are halfway through the meal

  • T: Take a deep breath

  • O: Observe your signs of satiety and taste

    • Pay attention to your belly.

    • Where are you on your hunger/satisfaction scale? (scale of 1- 10)

    • How is the food tasting?

    • Is the food worthy of continuing to eat?

    • Am I only eating because the food is still there?

  • P: Proceed

    • You get to choose whether to continue eating or not.

Being present is one of the first steps to ditching the diet.

I love sharing my thoughts and finding ways to support my community and hope you will check back here soon.

My partner and I are taking time off to rest, rejuvenate in the warmth of sun and sand, and sail in the Grenadines.

I am working hard to practice self-care. It is much easier to support others than myself and will be taking advantage of our limited internet access.

I will be back in a few weeks with more information to support you in having a joyful holiday season.

Have you missed my recent gifts? Be sure to grab my Mindful Eating Mediation and my Self-Care Tool Box to set yourself up for holiday health and wellness success!

Do you have questions? Let’s talk. While I am away for a couple of weeks, you can always schedule time on my calendar here.