7 Ways I’m Eating Over the Holiday Weekend (I’d pick a fave, but they’re all heavy lifters)

Beautifully presented “little bites” are one of the secrets to successfully losing and preserving.

Pearl One

The Big Weekend is upon us and I’m hoping you’ll join me as we head into the holiday’s endless food buffet with great tools that work well when we bring them to life.

This is exactly what I will be thinking and doing throughout the three-day weekend.

#1

I don’t go apathetic on myself. Meaning I don’t think, “Oh, it’s the holidays. I’ll eat to my heart’s content and diet later!” Thing is, I know deep-down that I care very much about making it to (and staying at) my preferred weight. I remind myself throughout the weekend that I want to make it to December 26 with my smart eating habits intact. That said, be scrupulous about tracking your daily eating in your pretty notebook you keep by the fridge. If you’re not yet tracking this weekend is the perfect time to begin.

#2

I do not let myself get hungry. I have a large breakfast by 9 a.m. and starting at noon I eat every two hours. I keep my food small and attractive. Presentation matters when we’re living the Bite-Size Lifestyle. Little bites are healthy food that you love that give you fuel in just three or four bites.

#3

I visualize. I envision the points in the weekend when obstacles will be thrown into my path and I write a solution for each obstacle. Planning in advance for challenging times is the smartest calculus for those of us who eat a bit too much.

#4

Today I’m shopping for the food I love (that loves me back). I don’t play games with this one. Our Trader Joe’s is a good 25 minutes from our house, but that’s where I’ll be today picking up the food I’m happy to reach for that makes smart eating easier: focaccia (in their bread section), small bites found in their frozen food section, and their Peanut Butter Protein Granola. (Okay, I might pick up a bottle of Brut Champagne; Brut is the driest and most low calorie of the holiday drinks.)

#5

I write in my journal daily. Noodling through each day gives me a safe space to vent about my internal landscape. When I’m mad, I journal. Same when I’m sad, bored, stressed, lonely and you get the gist.

#6

I have a long conversation with my journal about how I’m feeling when I wake up on Tuesday, December 26. I put myself into a future headspace and go into detail about the smart eating holiday eating experience that I just had. (Remember, nobody wakes up the next day thinking, “I’m so glad I inhaled the cookies last night!”)

#7

I allow myself small bites of fun-food here and there. That said, if eating anything decadent triggers you, forget what I just wrote. ♥

Pearl Two

Turns out that we don’t shrink our stomachs when we’re losing weight. A head scratcher because my experience has been that as I lost – and then learned to preserve – I’ve ended up needing very little food to feel full.

It sure feels like my stomach shrunk.

According to the experts, there’s no actual shrinkage happening. (Unless we have surgery.)

“Our stomachs have a reflex called receptive relaxation: As food enters your stomach, the muscles relax and expand out to accommodate more volume. In fact, your stomach can expand up to five times its volume after a meal as compared to before” explains Gastroenterologist Maged Rizk, MD for ClevelandClinic.org.

Still.

For whatever reason, I need very little food to feel full. And I think that’s a good thing. ♥

Pearl Three

James Clear wrote in Atomic Habits, “Arguably the most important skill is controlling your attention. This goes beyond merely avoiding distractions. The deeper skill is finding the highest and best use for your time, given what is important to you. More than anything else, controlling your attention is about being able to figure out what you should be working on and identifying what truly moves the needle.”

May I just say “bravo!! Mr. Clear.” My thought is that given our high-tech entertainment world it’s so easy to google our way out of life and into You Tube videos, Netflix shows, Instagram-this and Twitter-that.

“Fun” is at our disposal 24/7.

The best way I’ve found to make sense of the always available entertainment that dominates our lives in this century is to turn to our journals. Writing about what is underneath a tendency to distract ourselves is key. I was reading way too much Daily Mail (if you don’t know it, don’t go there), and my resolution for the new year is no Daily Mail. I already started in mid-November and so far haven’t yet succumbed.

The need to chill out is healthy and normal. We aren’t robots. We can’t go-go-go all day long. We need breaks

So, in your journal answer: how do I “zone out”? What is my history with a short attention span? Is there a healthier way to chill then surfing silly sites? When am I most likely to get distracted? What would it be like to plan my distractions in such a way that I’ll get more IRL experiences? I’m giving up a really goofball, time-waster site. Is there anything similar that you’d like to ditch? ♥

Pearl Four

When you need to laugh and commiserate: I give you Bossy Pants by Tina Fey and Yes Please! by Amy Poehler

These two women are hilarious. (Tina’s starts a bit slowly so hang in there and she speeds it up.) They go into detail about their early years, their first big breaks, and details you wouldn’t think they’d share. Amy goes into when it’s safe to make a joke and when you maybe should not.

Review: I highly recommend both. They’re right up with Seinfeld’s Is This Anything? ♥

Pearl Five

“I used to resent obstacles along the path, thinking, ‘If only that hadn’t happened life would be so good.’ Then I suddenly realized, life is the obstacles. There is no underlying path.” ♥

Janna Levin in Tribe of Mentors

If you have an annoying food problem, please share in the comments below, and I’ll get right back to you.

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Have a beautiful holiday weekend.

See you on Tuesday, December 26. 🙂

♥, Wendy

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I am not an expert, a doctor, a surgeon, a nurse or a nutritionist: the information within TheInspiredEater.com is based solely on my personal experience and is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. ♥