Thanksgiving Tips

Happy almost thanksgiving!

It's the Tuesday before and we are gearing up for family time and good food. If you're like me, thanksgiving is a tough holiday. I typically try to not make every situation about food and try to focus on conversation and experiences... but this holiday is very food oriented. 

Over the years I have spent the holiday measuring out my food, counting my calories, and restricting. 

I used to bring egg whites to my grandma's. Make a separate dinner. Make my own yams with no butter. Avoided sweets. 

And it always ended with a panic attack or binging. 

One meal will not make you fat as well as one meal will not make you healthier.

It's hard to look at food as comforting and safe nowadays because we are taught to feel guilt with every calorie we place on our tongue. It's something we need to relearn. But with every experience we can either fall back into old habits or test out new ways. 

Here are some tips to help you get through Thanksgiving

1. Give yourself acceptance to eat

Yes, it can be that simple. Is it always? Not really. Relearning comes into play here. Don't go into a meal giving yourself a limit on what you can and can't eat. This will create guilt if you surpass the amount. Try allowing yourself to eat the pie, taking another helping of mashed potatoes, another glass of wine. Allowing yourself will help illuminate the post-meal guilt because you didn't make any "rules".

2. Signs to help you figure out if you're still hungry or full

Use this hunger scale before eating, during eating, and as you're finishing to check in with yourself: 

1-2 (extreme hunger): feeling completely famished, and maybe even feeling weak or light headed.

3-5 (hunger): your stomach might signal that you feel hungry.

6-8 (pleasantly full): feeling satisfied.

9-10 (extreme fullness): feeling physically ill and extremely uncomfortable because of fullness.

3. Do not avoid eating the day of Thanksgiving

It's easy to want to "prepare for a large meal" by avoiding food completely. But this will result in extreme hunger and potentially binge eating and feeling immense discomfort. Eat throughout the day, the meals and snacks do not need to be huge! But do not go into a meal feeling weak, hungry in an animalistic way, or having deep, loud stomach grumbles. 

4. Do not avoiding eating the next day

You ate, your body knows how to digest it, deep breath, move forward with your day. Do not go into the following day with a new diet or restriction set up. The same process will happen of restriction, starvation, binge eating, and guilt. Stop the pattern and eat as normal the following day. YOUR BODY KNOWS WHAT TO DO!

5. It's okay to have more than 1 or 2 servings

Do not think that having 2 or 3 servings is overeating. AND do not dictate what you eat based on someone around you that ate less or more. Being able to understand that you're still hungry and want another helping is SO healthy and should not be a bad thing. Let your body tell you when it's ready to stop. If you want more, eat more. If you don't give yourself permission, I WILL! :)

Remember, food is meant to be enjoyed. Don't make it the enemy. Society and the diet industry telling you to diet and restrict is the enemy.