pumpkin pie

Do the holidays stress you out in the area of eating? Do you feel panic set in with Thanksgiving just around the corner?

If that describes you, take a deep breath, relax, and imagine making it through the holidays relaxed and calm, thankful for the many blessings you have been given rather than being focused on the mistakes you made and the pounds you gained.

You can make it through the holidays unscathed. How? Here’s how we plan to do just that.

Sure, we are going to do everything on the front end to set our selves up for success. We’ll have a plan – one that includes enjoying (in moderation) our favorite dishes of sweet potatoes with brown sugar & pecans, dressing, green bean casserole, and of course, pumpkin pie. Then we will try to cut out any unnecessary calories that we might consume just because those foods are available – you know, those tempting appetizers and sweets that sit out hours before and after the feast. And we will even probably try to get in a run or two if at all possible.

These are just a few of the strategies we will employ to help us stay on course.

And although these things are all good, in our opinion, they aren’t the primary factor ensuring victory. We think there is something even better to guarantee success during these challenging eating occasions and it is this:

Reframe your definition of failure.

Remember that famous Thomas Edison quote that says, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Would you take the Thomas Edison approach this Thanksgiving and be your own scientist – experimenting with what works and what doesn’t regarding Peace with Food?

Regardless of whether or not we stick to our plan, (and let’s all admit it, there are times where the best-laid plans get tossed to the wayside in the heat of the moment) we can learn what works and what doesn’t and then do it better next time.

Sure, we will do our best to follow peace this Thanksgiving and be wise, but if things don’t go exactly as we had planned, we will come out with data regarding what worked and what didn’t.

And in our mind, that is not failure, it is just one step further down the path of Peace with Food.

Have a Happy (And Peaceful) Thanksgiving!!

Take-Home Message:

Take the Thomas Edison approach and see every mistake not as a failure, but just one more way that doesn’t work. When you make failure impossible you can move on wiser and smarter!

I was walking down the aisles of my grocery store today just minding my own business. My thoughts were on the next errands I had to run, trying to estimate the time it would take for each and determine if I would be able to complete them before my 1:00 p.m. appointment.

As I pushed my cart, I was met with the blitz of holiday food conveniently placed where it could not be missed. There, in the center aisle, were the ingredients for your favorite Thanksgiving feast. Green bean casserole with French fried onions, dressing, pumpkin pie, cookie mixes, Velveeta cheese with RO*TEL, You name it, it was probably there. And all I could do was send up a whisper of “thanks”.

For a brief moment I was reminded of my dieting days, the days before I had this incredible thing called Peace with Food. Back then, I couldn’t go to the grocery store during the holidays without facing one of two options:

Option 1 – Go off my diet and indulge which would inevitably result in me spiraling out of control.
Option 2 – Resist the incredible urge to buy these “off-limit” tempting foods. The result of this option? Resent my diet for making me feel deprived which would eventually cause me to throw off all restraint, indulge, and spiral out of control.

Two different options. The same end result.

But thankfully, that was before Peace with Food. Now I am no longer tormented with the grocery store or with the foods frequently flashed before us during the holidays. That is because I now know that I can have whatever I want, just maybe not as much as I want. And with this freedom to enjoy the foods I love, surprisingly I really don’t desire them that much and when I do, I now know how to enjoy them in moderation and then move on, feeling content and satisfied.

Yes, I am thankful for many things this Thanksgiving and Peace with Food is definitely one of them.