November 23rd, 2009
Here is an excellent article (condensed) from natural weight loss expert Marna Goldstein Thall. If you’ve ever struggled with holiday eating before, you’ll love her practical advice for surviving the holidays without packing on the pounds.
Everyone loves Thanksgiving, don’t they? Yet there have been plenty of holiday meals where many have felt like large rolly pollies complete with hands on our aching, protruding bellies. Pants are stretched out to maximum capacity by the time the end of the holidays roll around, from all the stuffing, turkey, cranberries, and pumpkin pie — just some of the fabulous delicacies that make holiday meals absolutely scrumptious.
What if this holiday season you could enjoy all these delicious foods, but not overdo it? Yes, eat and enjoy, but know that by January 1st you won’t be looking for a weight loss plan to take all that holiday weight off. This holiday will be different for you. We know it can be! Here are five (5) tips to keep you feeling in tip-top shape both mind and body:
1. Differentiate between loving food and NEEDING food. It’s critical to get a handle on holiday foods by making sure you do up-front mental and emotional clearings before walking into a whole house full of “trigger-foods”.
2. Have you ever noticed that you overdo your eating out of habit, even when there is no logical reason for it? This automatic way of overeating during the holiday season is due to your cellular memory around this time of year. Your cells have become accustomed to overeating out of habit – it’s what we call you “cellular memory”. This memory is entirely unconscious and both your mind and your body will continue to repeat these old holiday patterns because your cellular memory is literally in the groove of having it this way. As you change your cells and their vibration, then you change this memory and your holiday eating outcome.
3. Begin clearing your holiday food triggers on ALL levels: the physical body is where you hold childhood and adolescent food triggers. The physical body cares primarily about keeping you protected and safe. The emotional body holds on to foods for comfort and soothing; mainly anything that is missing from the emotional body. The mental body holds on to food for either frustrated or boredom.
4. Find a program that will help you achieve permanent results. YOU are an individual, and YOU need an individualized method for tapping into why you lose focus and ultimately, end up eating too much. This holiday season make sure you find a program or strategy that sticks.
5 . Recent research has established that overweight people overeat because their food cravings are controlled by the same part of the brain that control drug cravings in addicts. This brain circuitry located in the hippocampus is the part of the brain that is also involved with emotion. It’s no wonder that during the holiday season your brain circuitry is driven wild by all the foods that are constantly being placed in front of you. Energy work along with cognitive and behavioral coaching to conquer food cravings will help you eliminate and clear blocked food cravings.
What are some of your tips for holiday survival?
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