With all the holiday meals coming in the next week, I could only have one goal and that is to balance my enjoyment of good food with my desire for good health. There are many articles online about avoiding over consumption over the Christmas season with a lot of great tips, but I find for myself and for many of my patients, coming into meals with a lot of rules doesn't lead to better eating, it just leads to a lot of guilt after I break every one of them. So, I have one simple rule: think before I eat.
Sometimes when surrounded by food, I find it easy to eat absentmindedly, and it's only later when I'm feeling stuffed that I realize I didn't really enjoy a lot of the things I was eating. I'm not a puritan when it comes to food, but if I'm going to eat something that isn't healthy, I'd like it to be worth it, so I'm going to ask myself one question: "do I really want this?" If the answer is no, then I probably should not grab it. If the answer is yes, I have one follow up: "how will I feel about this in a couple hours?" For most foods, I have a pretty good idea of exactly how my stomach is going to feel if I overindulge, so when I take a second to think about it, I can feel that sensation. The last question is: "Is it worth it?" If I think that the delicious treat in front of me is worth the nausea I'll experience later, then I'm free to go for it. The trick is that most of the time if I take the 30 seconds to think through those questions, I'll say no to a lot of foods that I otherwise would have eaten and regretted later.
I'll report on how this strategy worked out for me on Monday instead next week. I hope that everyone's holidays are healthy and happy!
Sometimes when surrounded by food, I find it easy to eat absentmindedly, and it's only later when I'm feeling stuffed that I realize I didn't really enjoy a lot of the things I was eating. I'm not a puritan when it comes to food, but if I'm going to eat something that isn't healthy, I'd like it to be worth it, so I'm going to ask myself one question: "do I really want this?" If the answer is no, then I probably should not grab it. If the answer is yes, I have one follow up: "how will I feel about this in a couple hours?" For most foods, I have a pretty good idea of exactly how my stomach is going to feel if I overindulge, so when I take a second to think about it, I can feel that sensation. The last question is: "Is it worth it?" If I think that the delicious treat in front of me is worth the nausea I'll experience later, then I'm free to go for it. The trick is that most of the time if I take the 30 seconds to think through those questions, I'll say no to a lot of foods that I otherwise would have eaten and regretted later.
I'll report on how this strategy worked out for me on Monday instead next week. I hope that everyone's holidays are healthy and happy!
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