don't over eat

The 25 days of Christmas: How to keep in touch with your best self over the holiday season

 

 

Day #7-

DON'T OVEREAT

 

Yesterday we talked about letting go of being perfect, but we also have to talk about the other end of the spectrum.  Don't let go too much.  Don't over do it.

This may seem obvious, but someone has to say it.

For me, the issue of over eating does not occur so much at my everyday meals with Joel, but rather the meals that we share with other people.  A lot of times I keep eating because 1) the food tastes good and/or 2) I don't want the fellowship of the meal to end.  I guess I'm a social over eater, you know, like a social coffee drinker.

There are a few negatives that this kind of social overeating leads to...

• weight gain- especially over the holiday season when we are in social situations more often than the rest of the year.
• being frustrated with myself.  I knew I should not eat that much, but yet it seemed like I couldn't stop.  Gahhh! 
• on top of being frustrated with myself- I tend to have less than quality interactions with the people that I am around.  The whole reason I ate so much in the first place was to spend time with them and now my mood is in the pits and so is my experience of the evening. 
• I loose confidence, I eat more- it's a downward spiral.     

I'm sure there are more feelings that could be associated with overeating, but you get the idea.

Here are some ideas that will nip overeating in the bud...

• Put everything on a plate before you eat it- this will help in two areas.  The first being the continual graze that happens at parties.  You loose track of how much you actually ate pretty quickly, so you keep going.  Instead, if you put everything on a plate before you consume it, it will help you realize how much you are actually eating.  The second is picking at crumbs.  Although we like to deny it, those crumbs add up.
• Focus on your conversations and interactions- if you are really involved in an interaction that keeps your attention, you are less likely to keep eating.  I would advise you to try to stay away from those conversations where you go 15 minutes without doing anything but shaking your head in acknowledgement that you are still awake.  I know you're trying to be polite, but if it leads you to eating the whole bowl of M&Ms that are sitting next to you, it's not worth it.  Just politely excuse yourself and move on.
• Wear clothes that you feel cute and confident in- I once heard it said that if you wear tighter clothes to a party you won't eat as much.  I haven't tried this one out yet intentionally, but in thinking back over my wardrobe choices over the past few years, I could see how that would help.  Nothing too tight please...use your judgement.
• Allow yourself to eat what you really want- again you'll have to know thyself on this one, but hear me out.  If you eye up a double chocolate cheesecake at the beginning of the night and tell yourself you can't have it, you will spend the rest of the night snacking on other things just to stay away from the cheesecake.  What if you would just allow yourself a reasonable piece of the cheesecake and skip snacking the rest of the night.  I'm willing to bet you will consume less in the end.  The key point here is reasonable piece, once.  

Catch up on the 25 Days of Christmas Series

Introduction
Remember who you are
Interrupt patterns
How to keep your focus
Rethink holiday traditions 
Create supportive environments 
Let go of perfect