The Theme for the Season: It’s Not Just About Holiday Eating
“How am I supposed to enjoy the holidays if I’m not eating sugar?”, one slightly disgruntled client asked me yesterday after reading my post suggesting that cutting out sugar, now, is the most important thing we can do to keep our eating, and health, on track during the festivities.
Hold on a second.
When did the focus of the enjoying the holidays become completely about not only making less than healthy food choices, but doing so in excess, as if to approach with the mentality of, “I’ll eat as much as I want now, and then I’ll get my act together on January 1st”?
I have a few bones to pick with this concept.
Regardless of what holiday you celebrate (and I’m not going down the religious route), aside from one’s faith, isn’t this time of year also about togetherness, giving, paying it forward and taking time to think about what is really important and celebrating that?
Second, I find that any client who reports feeling the need to cheat or who keeps postponing their foray into True Paleo tends to not be following the Paleo lifestyle accurately. If we eat a balance of healthy, fresh veggies, wild proteins and natural fats, we are nourished, satiated, focused with a high energy level and not spending the day experiencing blood sugar peaks and valleys, all the while daydreaming about the next meal because we simply haven’t eaten enough, or had the proper balance of real food at our last meal.
Compare this idea to a child who wants a toy they cannot have; they’d likely want it more simply because it’s value grows when it’s not something they can have immediate access to. Once they are given the toy, they may not end up playing with it as much because it’s lost it’s allure.
What if those foods you think you’re going to covet lose their allure, too? Putting two and two together and making the connection that when you eat certain foods, you will surely feel poorly and when you eat other foods, you will feel fantastic, makes it so much simpler to choose wisely.
The idea of enjoying the holidays, surrounded by those you love and not feeling as though you’re being deprived due to avoiding Aunt Martha’s holiday brownies and egg nog needn’t be a walk down fantasy lane; it’s a very feasible reality.
Why not be the first one in your circle of friends, family or colleagues to test out the theory? There’s nothing to lose aside from some unwanted pounds and blood sugar crashes.
Sounds like a win-win situation to me!
