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3 Steps to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain
By Alice Greene

This is the time of year when every where you turn there are sweets, parties and holiday networking events.  It is hard to stay in control and avoid indulging, particularly when you are stressed or trying to fit so much into your schedule you can hardly find time for a decent meal.  Yet you probably don’t want to find yourself in January unable to zip up your pants and wishing you had found a way to control yourself.

The good news is being in control is much easier than you may have thought.  Here are 3 steps to get you through the holidays without finding yourself a size larger in the new year.

1. Notice What Your Body is Telling You
You can’t change your behavior if you aren’t really paying attention to what you are doing at the time you are doing it, and few people are conscious when they put food in their mouths.  Eating is something we do without being aware of whether we are even hungry, if something other than physical hunger is driving us, or even when we have already gotten full and are beginning to feel sick. 

Most likely you are eating without even knowing why you are doing it, and the only way to be in control is to start noticing the difference between physical and non-physical hunger.   It starts by noticing every single you time you start to get full, and to notice with interest – not judgment.  Once you start doing that, you may find you don’t like the way it feels.  You can also notice each time to reach for food if you are actually hungry and in need of that food.  You may also find in many cases that you aren’t eating for physical hunger.  So what are you eating for?

2. Get Curious About Why You Are Really Eating That Food
If you aren’t eating because you need the food, something else is driving you to eat.  That doesn’t make you wrong or bad.  It just means that your behavior is being driven subconsciously, which makes being in control very difficult when you aren’t aware of what is driving your actions.

The most common drivers during the holidays are Mindless Excess, Ravenous Response, Restricted Rebellion, Emotional Repression and Subconscious Beliefs.  These are five of the eight common reasons people overeat that I address in my book Inspired to Feel Good.

Mindless Excess is simply not paying attention to how much you are eating because you are focused on something else.  The solution is to focus on eating and when it is you get satisfied before getting full.

Ravenous Response occurs when you wait to eat until you are ravenous, and at that point you will be compelled to eat as much as you can as fast as you can to make up for what you didn’t eat earlier.  The obvious solution is to eat when you get hungry so you can stay in control throughout the day.  This is particularly important when going to networking events or parties.  If you show up hungry, you won’t be able to control your choices.  But if you eat a small meal or good-sized healthy snack ahead of time (like nuts and whole grain crackers, apple and low-fat cheese or a balanced food bar), then you will satisfied with just a handful of appetizers.

Restricted Rebellion is an emotional reaction to be deprived of food you want (or need) and rebelling against that restriction by eating as much of it as you can, while you can, not knowing if you’ll be able to – or will allow yourself to – have it again.  In fact the more you try to force yourself to be good, the more you will rebel given the chance.  And you have that chance all through the holidays.  The answer is to give yourself permission to have the foods you really love in moderation, which minimizes your inner rebellion to being deprived.  So at that party, look around and see which of the appetizers you think you’d like the most and let yourself have 4 or 5 of them along with one drink.  No guilt, only satisfaction.  And if you are starting to feel a bit full, stop, knowing you can have more of your favorite foods tomorrow.

Emotional Repression is what is typically called emotional eating.  This is the use of food to avoid dealing with emotions you don’t have time to deal with, the desire to face or the energy to work through.  Yet nine times out of ten, just allowing yourself to acknowledge you have the feelings and to consider what it is you really need besides food makes the issues seem less overwhelming.  During the holidays lots of old issues tend to bubble up, and food is a great distracter.  Instead, consider journaling to allow these feelings out even if you don’t do anything more with them.  That will help you avoid using food to push them away.

Subconscious Beliefs are also common drivers of overeating or eating when you aren’t hungry, and these beliefs are the rules you’ve taken on, whether you realize it or not.  They are beliefs such as ‘you have to eat everything on your plate’, ‘you shouldn’t waste food’, ‘you shouldn’t throw food away’, ‘food is a reward for hard work’, ‘you have to eat  the foods people give you as gifts’, ‘you have to eat the bad food to get it out of your house’, or ‘if someone offers you food or makes it, you have to accept and eat it’.  If you have any of these beliefs, they are driving your behaviors.  The way to stop is to identify the belief, change it and remind yourself of your new belief.  You do not have to eat the cookies just because the person offering them made them.  You can very nicely decline or even take a few to eat later, and then you can throw them away if you don’t really want them. 

3. Choose to Eat What Feels Best
The most important thing you can do for yourself during the holidays is to avoid dieting, which is a trigger for rebellious overeating when you inevitably blow it. 

Instead, eat because you are hungry and then choose foods that leave you feeling good physically without feeling deprived emotionally.  If you pay attention to how your body feels, you will know when you need food, when you’ve had too much and when food doesn’t really agree with you.  You may even discover foods you thought you enjoyed don’t actually taste all that good.

Give yourself permission to have foods you love without getting full, and ideally pair the sweets and holiday treats with a balanced meal or snack.  That way you will avoid getting sugar rushes and feeling sick.  You will also keep your blood sugars and metabolism better balanced, and you will be able to feel the difference.  Focus on eating what leaves you feeling good physically and emotionally, and you will be surprised to see you may naturally gravitate to healthier choices and combinations.

Have a great holiday feeling free to enjoy yourself without the guilt or the weight gain!

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