Welcome back!

It’s week 2 of Party Season! We are well into holiday time – the weather is cooler, the sales are happening, and we’re all getting ready for Thanksgiving next week.

I personally cannot wait. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the family togetherness, the time away from work, movie nights, the slower mornings, the leftovers, and NO MORE COOKING for the weekend after Thanksgiving dinner because the frig is FULL.

But with the good stuff comes this nagging worry that the scale is going to give me some smoke because of all the food that I ate for Thanksgiving. At least, that’s how it used to be. I’d be all excited about the weekend, but I’d be dreading it at the same time because I knew I’d be mad at myself come Monday morning when my pants were tight and the scale was telling on me.

Now I enjoy the food, savor the leftovers, lean into the relaxation, and start the Christmas season without worrying about the scale. Why? Because I don’t overeat for Thanksgiving anymore. How? Let’s get into why we overeat in the first place so you can see what’s been causing you to eat more than you really need…

 

 

Thanksgiving is a special meal. And with the special meal come “special” foods. I put special in quotes because really, food is just food. And as much as you might love Aunt Tanya’s pound cake, it’s really still just food. There’s nothing particularly special about it. But your mind thinks it is – I can hear you arguing with me right now!

Here’s the thing: we think certain foods are special because we only make and eat them on special occasions. If we made homemade cranberry sauce and roasted a turkey once a week, it wouldn’t seem so special. If we made mac and cheese from scratch every Sunday, it wouldn’t be that big a deal. It’s the scarcity that makes it seem special. Our brain knows that this is a rare occasion to eat this food and assigns a rare and “special” status to it.

It’s the same thing the Girl Scouts do to market their cookies. And it works, because when cookie season comes around, you buy boxes of these cookies because you can only get them once a year. But really, they’re just boxed cookies. You might like them, but if you could grab a box at the store anytime, you wouldn’t buy ten boxes at once during cookie season.

You do the same thing at Thanksgiving. You think you have to eat all the food served because you’re not going to be able to eat it again for another year. But is that true?

 

 

Nope. Truthfully, you could make stuffing and gravy anytime. You might not, but you could. I actually make two pans of stuffing and freeze one for later. When I feel like a Thanksgiving remix meal, I pull it out and defrost some leftover gravy and we have it again. Is it delicious? Yes. But because I know I can have it again, it’s not necessary for me to eat as much of it as possible on Thanksgiving day. It’s just not as urgent.

Same thing with the mac and cheese. I’ve already bought enough ingredients for a double recipe and have told my daughter who’s making it to make two pans so we can freeze one. I’m not a huge mac and cheese fan, but my kids are, and I LOVE the idea of pulling dinner out of the freezer later. Thinking about having even more leftovers makes me want to eat even LESS.

What about Aunt Tanya’s cake? She’s only bringing one and everyone is gonna kill it, so I’ve got to get mine now. Are you sure? Most years, everyone is so full from dinner that they don’t even want dessert – they’re asking for a sliver of this or that, mostly because they don’t want to miss out. But there’s always plenty of leftover desserts. You could cut a few slices and hide them in the freezer for yourself. You could ask Aunt Tanya to make you a personal-sized cake for yourself for later – she’ll be flattered that you love her baking so much! You could even dare to ask her for the recipe so you can make it anytime you want – she just might give it to you to carry on her cake legacy.

 

It’s so interesting how a meal with so much food triggers such a sense of scarcity for so many of us. But it’s helpful to know that it’s just a mind trick that we can choose NOT to believe. Think about the foods you think are the most important for Thanksgiving – how can you make them not feel so “special” so you feel more in control around them? You absolutely can enjoy the food and NOT overeat!

 

 

You can enjoy your holidays and not derail your weight loss goals. I have some help for you! Go to www.drandreachristianparks.com and you can get my Mindful Eating Meditations mini-course – it will help you manage your mind in little short meditations so you can decide when you’re hungry, when you’re full enough, and help you manage the mind drama around food BEFORE you eat all the cookies on the plate!

Also, my Weight Loss For The Holidays mini-course is coming out too! So make sure you’ve signed up on the website to be on my email list so you’re the first to be notified when it’s live!

 

Here’s your video help for the week – there’s a mini-meditation at the end to help you manage your holiday eating too!