DON’T BE THE GRINCH!
In the classic story, the Grinch steals Christmas and has to go through a lot of shenanigans before he learns the lessons he needed to understand the power of the Christmas spirit. As we sit here a week before Christmas I want to share how you can keep yourself from becoming the “Grinch” that steals your own holiday spirit in the name of your health and fitness goals!
Be Aware Of Your Perspective
Like the Grinch, you might be approaching the holidays with a perspective shaped by your past experiences. Good intentions to enjoy Christmas treats ended in regretful overindulgence that led to a food hangover the day after or a holiday binger that showed no signs of stopping come New Years Day. Or maybe you stayed strict to your diet, because you “had to” and instead of enjoying time with family and friends, you focused on what you were missing, even resenting others who seemed to be effortlessly enjoying themselves. Year after year the holidays became a season of unease instead of a celebration. Making a conscious choice to shift your perspective is a powerful move. Ask yourself how you want to approach the holiday, how you want to feel before, during and after, and what is most important to you at this time of year? These questions help you shape how you want things to go, and give you a filter for your choices and actions.
Don’t Set Traps For Yourself
The inspiration for this entire email is the idea that too often we are the people who put the roadblocks to our success and happiness in our path. There’s no external Grinch trying to take them from you, it is how you react to the situations and environments surrounding the holidays that dictate your feelings in the end. So step forward with the intention of being your greatest ally right now, not your saboteur. When you know that you have your own back, you can identify the ways you might have sabotaged yourself in the past. Ways we often set traps for ourselves include not having a plan in place, believing that how we will manage food choices will magically be different this year with no work done, buying or preparing foods that we know we should not, and changing our healthy routines because “it’s the holidays!”
The Gift of Empowered Choices
One of the biggest “traps” we can fall into over this next week is believing that there is no healthy path for us to navigate the holiday. Things are “out of our control” so we might as well just go with the flow and hope things get better on January 1st. You have heard Coach Jon and I talk about making empowered choices and that is crucial here now! You are in charge of yourself and actions. That isn’t always easy but it is always true. You set your path for how you want to manage your food choices for Christmas. You take the actions needed to support those choices. Understand that your needs dictate your choices. If you believe that it is important to stay on your eating plan to navigate the holiday, you can do that! If you believe that there are food experiences and traditions that are an important part of your celebration, and you are feeling ready to consciously navigate the choice and its possible consequences, you can do that too! An empowered choice is one that you make standing in a place of power, not one you make out of fear or dishonesty with yourself. You need to not only make an active choice but feel good about making it. If you worry that you might beat yourself up for your choices or get stuck in a pattern of regret, that might not be the right choice. There will be times we make what we believe is an empowered choice and afterwards we learn that it was not the right choice, this is normal. Learn the necessary lessons from it and move on to what comes next. The truly amazing thing is when you learn that you not only get to make your choices but you get to manage your reaction to them in a healthy way. Remember here too that the choices other people make at the holidays when it comes to food has nothing to do with the choices you make. Don’t let them influence you or make you resentful of them!
Wrap Up Your Plan With A Bow On Top
So what does all of this add up to in the end? I can tell you it isn’t about stealing everyone’s Christmas in a big red bag and setting off on a dangerous sled ride! It means that you need to make a plan for your approach to food for Christmas, one that you feel good about, one directed by empowered choices. You are allowed to define your path and if it looks different than what your friends or family choose, this is okay. Check out two blogs I have written about how to handle their perspectives on your choices and why it is okay to stay on your current plan during a holiday’s meals. Planning does not have to mean that you decide each and every bite you take down to the measured gram in advance. It can mean deciding how you will approach the meal, how you will stay mindful throughout the day, and how you want to navigate any challenges you know may arise. Forethought is a huge gift to yourself that comes in a tiny package. Take some time to define your plan and set up how you will stay accountable to it. It sounds simple, and to some extent it is, but know that we understand that executing your plan may not be as simple and easy. Again, when you are focused on your health goals and self-care this is normal. It doesn’t make you weird to want to keep your priorities in place even when others have chosen not to!
"Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more." —The Narrator
I hope that if you have been feeling a bit Grinchy with Christmas fast approaching that what I have spoken to today will help you identify that perspective and make some changes. I make no promises that your heart will grow three sizes (in fact that sounds like a bad medical condition!) if you do work on your perspective, your choices, and your plan but I can promise that you will feel better if it helps you change old patterns and cycles that rear their grinchy heads during this season. Want to talk to someone about tackling these challenges and more? Connect with me or Jon now!
