I know this post may seem early to you…but is it just me or did this month fly by?? Today is the 28th, which means that this Friday is Halloween, which means that next month is the highly anticipated grand kick-off of the Holiday season….all starting with that glorious day of shoveling as much food as humanly possible down your throat…Thanksgiving! Craziness. So I think it’s time to start prepping ourselves now.
I don’t know about you, but every year (up until the last two years) I left Thanksgiving (and Christmas….and New Years) feeling like a gross puffed up blow fish version of myself. I’m pretty sure I left every year waddling and struggle breathing my way back to my car. I bet it was a super attractive sight too..anyways, the point is that I always overate. Every year. And by overate I don’t mean I just ate a little bit more than I normally do in an afternoon, I mean overate by going into a straight up binge fest and eating anything and everything that was sitting out because “it only comes once a year and I don’t want to hurt Aunt Sally’s feelings and what if this dessert isn’t at Christmas and if I don’t try this I’ll never know if I like it and one more bite won’t kill me since it tasted good, and I might as well finish what I put on my plate so I’m not rude…OOOH are those M&M’s in there?!?”. I could continue, but I think we all get the gist here. It wasn’t pretty.
What makes it even less pretty is the negative self talk, punishment and hateful thoughts that would come that evening and into the next day…and the next day…as I continued to shove leftovers down my throat in large quantities because surely that would make me feel better and we can’t waste food, ‘waste not, want not’, right? Well my friends, I’m happy to say that that all changed two Thanksgivings ago. Now don’t get me wrong, I still ‘overate’ and ate more than I normally do and ate foods that I know don’t really make me feel my best the last two years…BUT it was done mindfully. Now before you cancel out the this screen and roll your eyes at me, allow me explain…
I fully support the Holidays. I love them. I love the tradition, the sense of community, the Holiday cheer if you will…it makes me happy. I also fully support the idea that they should be “feast days”. They are days of celebration and are meant to be shared with loved ones through meaningful conversation, time spent together and delicious indulgent meals. HOWEVER, coming from my past days of always being on a diet or in a “pseudo-diet” frame of mind, these days turned into “cheat days” that meant one thing and one thing only…FOOD! I completely lost sight of the actual more important part of these days…sharing them WITH others, engaging in meaningful conversation, catching up with family members I haven’t talked to in awhile, being an assertive listener, engaging in others’ lives. I would walk into the party, immediately find the food and pretty much obsess over it the rest of the night. Then afterwards, I’d be in a negative mood and obsess over how much I ate and regret would be the only thing I would walk away with. Not a sense of community, love or happiness.
Well, two years ago, I chose to NOT let that happen. I chose to flip my Thanksgiving paradigm on it’s head. Two years ago I made a promise to myself and a plan of attack to walk into the party with my “intentional” shoes on. I walked into my Aunt’s house with the intention of sniffing out good conversation, people I haven’t connected with in awhile and those who I knew were in a place where they needed a good listener and I engaged with them. That became my primary focus…as it should have been the last 20 something years of my life. And my secondary focus became the homemade, delicious and abundant spread of food. So how did that play out for me?? Here is the excerpt from my journal of my “plan of attack” I wrote before that Thanksgiving:
‘I’m going to be picky with my food. I’m going to choose to be a “food diva”. I’m going to leave judgement and “should and shouldn’t’s” at the door and I am going to first put the items on my plate that I KNOW I love and look forward to every year and then a few others that look and sound good to me in that moment. Then, I am going to eat them slowly. I’m going to chew the heck out of each bite…savoring the flavors and textures, I’m going to put my fork down in between bites to continue my conversations with those around me, and I am going to go into my favorite part of the evening (dessert) 😉 with some room for my favorite Thanksgiving dish – homemade pumpkin pie with whipped cream. I am going to savor that just as much as my meal and I will hopefully leave the party at peace with my food choices, filled up with joy and happiness and ready to get back to my “normal” routine on Friday. How does that sound for a plan of attack?! :)’
I think we all fall into the food vacuum around the Holidays, which is ok, but I would challenge you each to think about what it really is you want to walk away with this year. The button on your pants undone and struggle breaths for days….or time well spent with others, a delicious meal and a sense of family, bonding and enjoyment? Some of you might have read this and thought “wow, this girl is nuts…I have no idea what she is talking about”. If you did, that’s so awesome and means you are at a great place in your relationship with food. But for those of us out there that have ever struggled with food around the Holidays, I think it can be a good thing to step back and really ask ourselves what it is we’d LIKE to leave the Holidays with and set up a “plan of attack”.
Ultimately, life is about showing up each day feeling your best, and personally, I am DONE showing up to days feeling gross, defeated and uncomfortable in my body. I made that decision nearly two years ago now when I began this journey to finding balance. So the question is, how can you choose to use this Holiday season as a growth opportunity? POST BELOW one way you can set yourself up for a Holiday season free of food coma’s!
Stephanie
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