Bad Time For Weight Loss Goals

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Let me give everyone a little freedom. The holidays are not the time to be focusing on weight loss!!!

If you are focusing on weight loss during the holidays season you are just setting yourself up for frustration and disappointment. AND creating more emotional tension around your relationship with food.

This is the time of year for you to celebrate with friends and family. To eat and drink a little extra. If you go into events telling yourself that you can’t have this or that you can only have x amount of drinks, when you do eat or drink extra you will feel disappointed. Then you say screw it and end up over eating.

Think about it. You tell yourself you won’t have any cookies at a party. Then you get there and it’s your favorite cookie. Your internal dialogue is a conversation about will power and just saying no. So when you do finally have the cookie you feel like a failure and say “well I already ate this cookie let me just have another.”

OR

You have one cookie and feel guilty for “falling into temptation.” You end up eating the cookie quickly thinking “I shouldn’t be eating this.” Because of your internal dialogue you don’t even taste the cookie so you reach for a second, but then feel even more guilty because you had another cookie. This continues….

Instead of focusing on “managing” your consumption or placing restrictions around foods at events, I encourage you to go in with a different mindset focusing on two things:

  1. Mindful Eating

  2. Body Cues

I talk a lot about mindful eating. The whole premiss is to be present while eating and actually enjoy your food. So when you have food think about the taste, texture, and smell. Truly enjoy the food instead of scarfing it down.

Give your body some credit, it has kept you alive this long. While you’re eating check in with yourself by asking a few simple question:

  1. How does this make me feel

  2. Do I actually like the taste

  3. Am I full or hungry

  4. Am I thirsty or hungry

  5. Do i feel satisfied

By simply checking in with yourself without judgement you give your body the authority to make choices based on how you feel and how you want to feel. Which is completely different than telling your body how it should feel.

Next time you are at a function give yourself the space to practice mindful eating and listen to your body cues. Take the pressure off of yourself and stop focusing on restriction. You will naturally end up having less and feel better about your food choices when you don’t put unrealistic expectations on yourself.