‘Tis the season to be jolly!
Or is it? Well… Not for everyone. Throwback to my life 7 years ago and I was dreading december. I was on a ‘health streak’ as I often was. December meant being invited to all sorts of occasions where all the ‘satan foods’ would be. Oh, the temptation… I had succumbed so many times to cookies in the past that I had accepted I was ‘uncontrollable’ around food and needed to be geared in by a tight regimen of pure organic whole foods and the complete absence of anything sweet in a 3 km wide range. Self-sabotage was my middle name.
Needless to say when the time came around for celebration, I wasn’t so much interested in catching up with my family as I was consumed by the fear of succumbing to food again. I would already be making plans for how to compensate eating before haven touched a single thing, all the while pinching my thighs in disgust.
I had been absorbed in controlling my food and body for such a long time now, that I never fully considered the effects it had on my ‘gusto’, my zest for life, my relationships. In fact, somewhere along the road to “Health”, I had started to fully buy into the idea that food control and the ideal body were conditions sine qua non for leading a fulfilling life.
Lost moments… O how I wish someone would have told me about intuitive eating, body acceptance and how to “feel your feelings” when I was 15, but it took me many more years of struggle and failed dieting to come to my senses.
Reclaim your Joy
This may be a shocker, but one of the main reasons we overeat is because we try to overcontrol food in the first place. Ditch the control & fear and you make place for your body’s natural cues of when to eat and when to stop. Even faced with your all-time binge food, you actually need no willpower, you just need to tune into what your body tells you. I can now be the proud owner of cake, chocolate and ice-cream without abusing them, I eat a piece and that is that. For more details on this magic, you can read up here.
If you resonated even just a little bit with my story, I need you to hear this: ” Your body is simply the meat suit surrounding your beautiful persona, the size of it does not define your worth, the size of it will never truly make you happy. You are so so sO much more than your body. You are the big smile who enters the room, you are the person people feel at home with, you are the go-getter at work, you are the one with the best jokes, you are the sensitive one, you are the crazy one that stands out, you are brave, you are fierce, you are a survivor, you are a shining light. Your body is NOT worth stressing over on christmas day, your body is NOT worth losing energy over.”
You don’t have to fear the holiday dinners. You don’t have to starve yourself all day to “save calories” and you don’t have to punish yourself in 2019 with a new fad diet to get back ‘on track’.
Instead practice “Relaxing, trusting and focusing on joy”. Relax: You will not ruin your health or gain massive amounts of weight by indulging during the holidays. Trust: your body can metabolise the extra food perfectly fine and yes you can eat dessert without eating the whole cake. Focus on joy: Whenever you catch yourself going down the “food-fear lane”, whenever you feel guilt or shame, shift your focus on something you enjoy about the holidays. Your mum’s laugh? Your dad’s jokes? the decorations? the music? The fireplace? your kids happy with their presents? Your dog in the snow?
And in 2019? Why not try detoxing from your diet mentality and create a relaxed, balanced and effortless relationship with food. Step away from the shame, the guilt, the pain and choose for Joy. The weight and the health will fall into place naturally. Already want to get going? Get my free self-care method here and be on your merry way…