It’s that time of the year again! The Christmas lights are up, the wind is blowing, the grass is brown and the skies are gray, and along with it all, holiday snacks and treats are everywhere. It can be so hard to avoid the goodies because they show up in places that they wouldn’t be any other time of the year! Next thing you know, you’re eating a handful of M&Ms, grabbing a cookie from a tray, or snacking on a slice of rum cake someone sent you and now it’s hanging out on your kitchen counter.

 

It’s a challenge. ‘Tis the season of giving and people love to gift food! I used to have gifts from my coworkers show up on my desk during this season – bags of chocolates, cookie mixes in snowman-shaped containers, and gift-wrapped truffles. The thought was lovely and I was always touched by the generosity, but I mean really – the temptation!

 

 

I’ve got something new for you today! I’m going to take you through a quick exercise to help you ditch the temptation, just like I do for the students in my courses. Ready? Let’s go!

 

First, get out your notebook. You’re going to need it to write a few things down. Now, you’re going to want to skip this step, thinking that you’ll just do it in your head. Don’t.

If you do the exercise in your head, that’s ok, but writing nails down the work in your brain. It’s something about the action of writing that slows down your brain enough to record the work. It makes it easier for your brain to remember the work when you need it!

 

On the front side of the paper at the top of the page, write down a temptation you face during the holidays. I’d choose the bowl of peanut M&Ms (that’s the one I grew up with, so now my brain wants to grab a handful whenever I see them).

Under the temptation, write the title “Why I want to eat ____”. Then write down every reason you can think of why you WANT to eat it. It might be super basic, like “Mmmm, I want some!”, or “I love those!”. Your brain doesn’t need to be sneaky or sophisticated to get what it wants, it just needs to offer you a thought that you agree with. This list probably won’t take you long.

On the back side of the paper at the top, write the title “Why I DON’T want to eat ______”. Then write down every reason you can think of why you don’t want to eat them. This list might be harder to make because your brain will have to reach for reasons. That’s ok – stick with it. It’s fine if the list is shorter than the front side. But it’s really important that you write down the negative part of eating the tempting goodie.

Why?

Because you need to help your brain pause when faced with temptation. When your brain says, “Eat that!” and you don’t have a reason not to, you’ll be eating before you know it. When you have reasons NOT to eat something, you will get a moment where your brain is giving you both eat and don’t-eat signals at the same time. The argument will give you a moment, and the moment allows you a chance to choose. That little pause is crucial – it’s how you’ll decide on purpose what you want to do instead of mindlessly grabbing the food when you see it.

This exercise might take you 5-10 minutes. It’s not much when you think of how many times you’ll need to help your brain face temptation over the holiday season! So get out a timer and get to work!

 

 

You can get through the holidays without gaining weight! If you need more help like this, go to the courses area of my site and gift yourself Weight Loss For The Holidays – it’s not too late! If you want help managing the urgent, panicky feeling you get when you want to eat, get the Mindful Eating Meditations course. It will help you feel back in control and make it easier to find the pause when you need it.

If you want the power of one-on-one coaching to supercharge your weight loss efforts, schedule a free consultation with me on my calendar and we will meet to get you started toward permanent weight loss success!

 

Here’s your video help for the week!