Hello beautiful Goddesses – I hope you are starting to get excited about Christmas!
Gotta say, it’s not particularly Christmassy here in Bali, it feels different here that’s for sure! However, I’m getting into the Christmas Spirit still, and the beaches and weather more than makes up for how much I’m missing the Christmas markets and mulled wine dates!
Right – let’s get straight into it shall we. Holiday Season around food.
These are my 6 best tips and advice for you to navigate the holiday season around food. Because I know it can bring on anxiety and stress for anyone who has a challenging relationship with their eating and their weight.
Save this blog. Print it. Make notes. If you need to, read this every single day of the Christmas Holidays. Trust me – it will help. I spent 7 Christmases at war with food and my body, every New Year vowing that THIS YEAR I would change. Now, my job is to make sure THAT ISN’T YOU!!
Make 2017 your year of total self love and a beautiful relationship between you and food again. I believe it is 100% possible for you. Following these steps over Christmas will get you a great head start on walking into 2017 with your head held high and ready for an amazing year of YOU. I promise.
Don’t you dare say F it ’til January
Sure, everyone gets a little more relaxed, shall we say, around December time. But I want you to recognise every time you catch yourself thinking ‘Ah, F it – I’ll start in January’. This thought WILL occur throughout this month. It is your job to spot it and disrupt the pattern by choosing a new thought. When we delay our healthy efforts until January, you know what will happen. We go EVEN further the other way – which makes January seem even more of a challenge! Motivate yourself NOW – don’t put it off ’til New Year.
Be grounded in gratitude
Gratitude is your very best attitude. If you can remain grounded in gratitude for the entire holiday season, and remember all the things you have to be thankful for around Christmas, then you should be able to recognise that this season is NOT actually about the food, or your weight. This season is about love. It is about your family. It is about quality time with those you love. It is about giving yourself a break from work to just chill. If the Christmas Holidays feel like a real challenge for you around food and weight – your real job is to SEE just what else this holiday is about – and NOT make it all about the food. At the dinner table, focus on the people. Focus on the conversations. The entire experience. The food is part of the celebrations – sure – but the holidays do not need to completely revolve around the food.
Start your days with health
No matter what you eat the rest of the day, how you start your day can make a massive impact on how you feel and how your body wakes up. Can you start each morning with a healthy breakfast, or a smoothie? Just upgrading your first meal of the day can have a drastic effect on your energy levels and also will impact your food choices for the rest of the day. How you start your morning sets the tone for the entire day.
Make Love To Your Food
Yes, you read that right. Being a food lover is a beautiful thing. It means you are able to enjoy one of life’s great pleasures. If you’re a food lover, the chances are you’re also a sex lover. But think about the way you make love – and the way you eat. Same same, but different?! Here’s what I’m getting at – if we don’t SLOW DOWN, we MISS all the pleasure! Are you getting any pleasure from your food, or are you just inhaling it down, missing all the different textures, sensations and flavours? If it helps you slow down when you’re eating – practice making love to your food! This simply means – allow it to be a pleasurable experience. When you do this, you won’t find yourself overeating or inhaling the entire plate.
Listen to and respect your body at all times
Now is NOT the time of year to abandon your body. Now is the time of year to honour and respect her, to nourish and love her, and to LISTEN to her. Recognise how your body feels after certain foods. Recognise when your body is truly hungry. Yes – it’s okay to actually wait for hunger in the holiday season! I know – it can feel like a never ending food fest – but it is your responsibility to honour your body throughout this period and pay attention to your appetite. When you’re full – your body needs to digest your food.
Make Your Holiday GUILT FREE
That’s right – whatever happens during this season, choose to have an entire guilt free holiday season around food. Even if the above 5 steps go to pot on a few of the days, even if you find yourself stuffed full of mince pies, cheese and Baileys and passed out on the sofa infant of the fire. Great! Choose to LOVE yourself anyway. Choose to love every single choice. Stay present and choose to always love and forgive yourself, regardless. Christmas is not a time for you to beat yourself up, over ANYTHING! Instead, celebrate how far you’ve come this year. Love yourself the entire journey through.
For more support and live calls throughout the Christmas Season, join The Revolution where we are diving much deeper into these topics, holding weekly support webinars and Q+As throughout the season!
With love and festive cheer,
Mel
XO
