The Holiday Dilemma

Food, Stress, & Gratitude

Even though we are in the season of gratitude we are also in the season of FOOD!!!

          Here is the ultimate dilemma of the holidays – we come together to celebrate (using food to help us celebrate), but we are surrounded by people who have the potential to create stress: the in-laws, the weird cousin that you are not sure how they are related, but they come to every family event, the critical mother who never likes your apple pie = STRESS.

          And if that wasn’t enough – stress triggers our body to produce more cortisol. Cortisol is a powerful hunger inducer. In fact, it actually causes us to store fat!!

Holiday Family Functions = Stress = cortisol production = feeling hungry = diving face first into the candied yams = gaining weight and feeling terrible about yourself = making New Year’s resolutions to lose weight & get back in shape = more stress!!

(Does it ever stop?)

          Before you go down this vicious holiday cycle we need to change our relationship with food (you don’t need to stuff yourself as full as the turkey). Contrary to popular belief, wearing the stretchy pants or being able to unbutton your pants after a holiday meal does not make for a good holiday had by all.  Let’s do a few things different this year!!

Thanksgiving Dinner

1^st Step – Don’t over prepare - Maybe this year we don’t make a lot of leftovers. I know, leftover turkey sandwiches are great, but typically when we make a ton of food for a special holiday occasion we tend overeat. Playing Scrabble, Cranium, or Wii Fit is a far better game, than seeing who can make 3 round trips of the buffet table.  Make just enough food for you and your family to be satiated with minimal leftovers.

2^nd Step – Downsize the plates – we tend to grab the huge plates in our cupboards during the holidays. Most of us have the philosophy of making sure we try every dish which is prepared for the occasion.  It is okay to have a smaller plate with smaller portions. If you are still hungry, then you can go back and grab whatever dish you missed – but keep the portion small.  When we have large plates we tend to pile on the food. So, this makes it very difficult for us to even gauge how much we’ve eaten

3^rd Step – Manage your appetite -  If you are feeling hungry try a few other tricks of the trade first. Sometimes our bodies are dehydrated we feel hungry, even though it is really thirst. Start by drinking a glass of water (even try adding in some orange slices, cucumber slice, or frozen raspberries vs. ice cubes), after you have a glass of water see if you are still hungry. If you are have a small healthy snack.  Also, you can try doing physical activity too - go for a walk, play a game of touch football in the yard – do something to distract yourself from creating your own mashed potato mountain (a la Close Encounters).

4^th Step – RELAX!!!  Luckily the holidays are only once a year, so you only have to see your nagging in-laws in these close confided quarters sporadically throughout the year. But, one thing to remember – you only have control over YOUR THOUGHTS, YOUR FEELINGS, & YOUR BEHAVIORS. Everything else is out of your control. So, since it is out of your control – don’t worry about it!! See the holidays as a chance to unwind, get back to the basics of what the holidays are truly intended for – to give thanks.

The holidays are for practicing the art of gratitude, not for impressing a tough family critic. If, someone doesn’t like your cooking – who cares!!! Don’t waste your time trying to please someone who has created unrealistic standards and expectations for you. Instead, forget the stress of cooking this year and donate more food, money or time to a local charity kitchen, food bank or other charitable service. You know your efforts will be much appreciated here.  

 The holidays are about spending quality time with your family and friends. It isn’t a competition for who can have the best party, the best decorations, or the best Martha Stewart motif.  If there is someone who is going to rain on your enjoyment of the season, maybe this year you downsize and only spend quality time with the immediate family and friends who appreciate you and don’t judge you. Take the stress out of the holiday before it begins.

We’ve all had a rough few years with the economy, so this year is a perfect opportunity for us to get back to basics. We don’t need to stuff ourselves silly at meal time – give more food to charity than to your belly. We don’t need tons of gifts and presents – give each other just 1 or 2 things that we truly need…(maybe 1 want)….and give the money which you would have spent on the 3^rd gift to charity.  Put the money you would have spent on the 4^th gift into savings.  Remember – it’s not about the stuff. It’s about being thankful for what you have.