by Marisue Alsobrook

The secret to guilt free holiday eating is in our mind and approach to mealtime.  Temptations and overeating surrounds us from Thanksgiving to New Years. Meals are brimming with mashed potatoes, turkey and yummy stuffing, sending out a powerful call to one and all. Pies, cakes and creamy fudge can leave us frighteningly full. Then, we are quickly overwhelmed with feelings of depression, guilt and self disgust.

Stop! There’s no need to feel guilty. In the first place, if you’re trying to lose weight, just agree in advance of mealtime, that the holiday menu is going to upset that plan. Still, that doesn’t mean you have to indulge yourself and eat platefuls of food every 2 hours. However, neither should you dissolve into a puddle of despair with every bite you put into your mouth.

I always find it annoying that teens and some adults can consume 3 plates of holiday specials, which include all the mashed potatoes and gravy, yams, and rolls you can possibly imagine, and then top it off by consuming 3 pieces of pecan pie, countless bites of fudge and cake, and finish the day with their long winter’s nap all without gaining a single ounce. Well, we may not be able to have their metabolism, but we can still enjoy the special holiday treats if we do a few simple things to help ourselves.

Start today by changing your thinking. Get control of the attitude, make a few mild changes in your day’s activity and you’ll enjoy the holidays just like all the naturally skinny people do.

Here are 6 simple steps to eating without guilt:

1. Relax. You can survive eating a few meals of “shouldn’t” and settle for gaining a few pounds rather than many. Set your thinking into a pattern of eating, and walking.

2. Decide. For every plateful of ‘no-no’s’ you will walk 30 minutes. It’s simple: Eating equal’s walking; walking equal’s endorphins; endorphins equal’s feeling good, and best of all, walking equals less weight.

3. Visit. Sometimes we fill the holiday time with munching. Instead, family, friends and visitors can occupy your time and fill your heart and keep you busy. If you don’t have family around, accept invitations from others, or better yet, get involved in a local charity serving food to the needy during the holidays. When you do eat in groups, avoid the temptation to talk constantly about what you shouldn’t be eating, all while putting the temptations in your mouth. All that will do is call attention to what and how much you are eating, and frankly it’s a downer. All of us feel guilty while eating the potatoes, pies and fudge. No one wants to hear how bad it is for us as we eat it.

4. Be Optimistic. Ok, you know you’re overweight, others know you’re overweight. But it’s the Holidays. You know you’re going to eat. Eating is not cheating. Give yourself permission to sample the season’s goodies. Then, keep the conversation about food light. Focus on the fun. (Just remember rule number 2. Eating equals walking–and also helps eliminate the guilt because you realize you’re compensating by exercising.)

5. Take Action. Holidays are followed by pounds. Don’t let depression follow your holiday overeating! Instead, call yourself to action! Turn serving portions into small bites. Go for the green, orange and red vegetables. Eat all you want of them and smaller amounts of the temptations. Talk and Walk!

To summarize the steps to eliminating the feelings of guilt from overeating, here’s what all the food and sweet treats cost:

• You’re going to enjoy the season
• Walk more if you eat more
• Visit with loved ones
• Forgive yourself for small indulgences
• Eat bites instead of full portions

6. Tomorrow. Thank God for tomorrow, where all our sins are buried and forgiven. Tomorrow contains the plan for redemption from the day before. Did I say “walk?”  Come on, you can do it!  And by the way, Merry Christmas! and would you please pass the potatoes?

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