This December eat — and drink — with intention and blow January-You away.
Hello Thrivers!
This post is from the past but updated. I love the inherent message about you and I shaping December rather than allowing December to shape us.
As I explain every holiday season, December is not the time to focus on weight loss, but it is the perfect time to “hold” your weight throughout the thirty-one days. Remember beating yourself up is the polar opposite of what creates a lifetime weight loss. (I’ve tried both ways and only one works so be sweet with yourself.)
Let’s go!
Pearl One
I live in Atlanta where it’s hot in July. My sister lives in Arizona where it also gets into the billions every summer. My grandma was in Southern California.
- I call Atlanta’s heat, “humid.”
- My sister calls Tucson’s heat, “dry.”
- My LA-suburb grandma called the heat she lived in “muggy.”
When I tell you that it’s “blazing” or “freezing” outside, you immediately know what I mean.
Naming things makes them real and helps us talk about them with each other without calling concepts or items “the thingy.” We need to give “the thing” a real name.
Which leads to my point, we don’t have enough words for smart eating, and that needs to change.
Today, we’re talking about what I call “intentional eating.”
When I’ve strayed off the Smart Eating Path — because of course I do — and know that I’m too engaged in discovering which brand of ice cream has the best sale, one of the ways I rein myself in is with smart self-talk. I ask myself, “are you ready to get back to intentional-eating or do you want to continue going Cookie Monster on the kitchen?”
Asking myself this question is powerful because it floods my brain with everything that “intentional-eating” means to me including:
- having my smart foods on hand in the kitchen
- going everywhere with my cold-tote packed in smart snacks
- eating an early dinner at 6 p.m. and going to bed around 8 p.m. with a delicious book-dessert
- using the very effective “drip, drip, drip” method that I featured here.
- creating an “intentional eating list” (I tape on inside of cupboard) that will whisk me out of the doldrums and back to the smart food that I love. At that, I remember, “this is doable, this is doable, this really is doable.”
Your Takeaway
The next time you’ve overeaten — because you and I both will — and want to get back onto the Smart Eating Path, read your intentional eating list and gently guide yourself back to where you most want to be. ♥
Pearl Two
Our journal-writing prompt pearl! Write to these questions:
- Write an intentional eating list for yourself. Tape in Cupboard.
- What is the hardest part of staying on the smart eating plan?
- What’s the best part about smart eating?
- Do I take seriously that when I’m craving some type of food-porn, my body is really crying out for smart food?
- When I overeat or make an impulsive choice, how do I usually respond to myself? How can I respond to myself without judgment?
- How do I talk to myself when I’m struggling with food?
- What kind of self-talk would I most love to instill inside of me? ♥
Photo by Jorge Dominguez by Unsplash
Pearl Three
Sequencing is taken directly from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The purpose of sequences is to help us move from reacting to circumstances to responding. I encourage you to do a sequence a day in your journal. Powerful stuff. Apply to your own life.
The Initial Sequence
- Situation (be concrete): When I was a kid, Mom and Dad produced lavish Christmases for the kids and there was always one huge gift (the grand finale) at the end: one year it was a puppy, another bikes.
- Initial thought. “Yes, those were the days and I want to produce the same beautiful holidays for my kids!!
- Feeling: Stress to get the “right” gifts and a sense of urgency to make a masterpiece holiday one for the ages (every single year).
- Action: I rack my brain for gifts and end up spending money poorly.
- Result: December becomes a super stressful month as I bake the “right” cookies, find gorgeous wrapping paper, get the Christmas cards in the mail, and the wreath on the door and so forth.
The Chosen Sequence
- Situation (be concrete): When I was a kid, Mom and Dad produced lavish Christmases for the kids and there was always one huge gift (the grand finale) at the end: one year it was a puppy, another it was bikes.
- Chosen thought: “Yes, Mom and Dad produced a beautiful Christmas, but I need to remember that they also had a strict rule: they gave gifts on birthdays or at Christmas only. Otherwise, there were never gifts (other than back-to-school items in August). There was also one giant gift at each Christmas like a puppy or a bike. Because The Scarfer and I essentially get my sons what they need/want throughout the year, I simply can’t pull off an over-the-top grand event for the holidays.
- Feeling: Empathetic towards myself.
- Action: I’ve come to realize that of course I can’t do lavish gifts at Christmas-time if I also give my sons items throughout the year.
- Result: Happy to report that these days, my Decembers are way more chill. ♥
Photo by Natalie Grainger for Unsplash
Pearl Four
Cold outside? This read is like a mug of hot chocolate. Snuggle up with your fur-kid and Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher. You might remember her as the author of The Shell Seekers. In Winter Solstice you’ll find cozy Cornwall, England, warm hearts, and family drama that makes it an ideal book-dessert for curling up and forgetting the world for a while. Plus it has a fun Christmas theme. ♥
Pearl Five
“The most important thing in life is to stop saying ‘I wish’ and start saying ‘I will’. Consider nothing impossible then treat possibilities as probabilities.” ♥
Charles Dickens
Okay, no presure but we’re now 24 days from Christmas Day. If you’re buying for kids, check out the Lego Christmas tree and Lego Santa on his sleigh with the reindeer. I wish my kids were still at the cute Lego stage. A couple of years back I gave each of them (so they can take into their adult lives) The Complete Calvin and Hobbes Hardcover Box Set or they also have a paperback box set. Who doesn’t love loves Calvin and his tiger!
I would love a follow Instagram or Facebook
Let’s do this together: live the holidays for January-You!
♥, Wendy
You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.
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I am not an expert, doctor, surgeon, nurse, dietician, or 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.
