By Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom
You might be surprised to hear that the day after Thanksgiving can be a big barrier for many people when it comes to sticking with a healthy lifestyle over the holidays. This is the day most people make the decision to indulge smartly and adjust their eating and activity patterns to adapt to the culinary treats of the season, or disconnect from mindful eating until January and “worry about it later.”
The first step in this decision starts with what I call “eater’s remorse” – feeling bad about your overindulgences of the previous day. It’s easy to get stuck in the mindset that you’ve gotten off track, and there’s no hope for your diet, so why not just keep eating until New Year’s Day.
Today is the day to adjust your thinking for weight control success. No more guilt!
Thanksgiving is just one day of eating, even if you’ve eaten way more than you intended. Don’t feel guilty about your past eating. Learn from your eating behavior, to see how you can take better control for the rest of the holiday season. One of the best ways to do this is to plan ahead for special holiday meals. If you tackle your vulnerable eating situations head on, you’ll set yourself up for holiday eating success. Modify your goals when it comes to holiday weight loss and stick with weight stability from now until the end of the year. Just don’t gain.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be providing some easy tips that will help support healthy holiday eating without feeling deprived. I’m a big fan of the “3 Fs” of the holidays: family, fun, and food.
What tips do you have for enjoying a healthy holiday season?
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