Every time the holidays come around, the hopeful eyes and ears of millions of people tune into the ocean of what media tells them to eat in order to avoid gaining weight.
Depending on the tips they have learned, folks start counting calories, restricting certain food groups, measuring out portions, or, what’s even worse, avoiding the holiday parties altogether.
In this article I propose to open up your minds to a paradigm shift: what if you abandon the holiday food vigilance and the New Year’s resolution? Instead, what if you focus on your living before and after the holidays?
In my book Diet Slave No More!, I present the case for finding your inner balance, which is incompatible with any restrictions. Let me dwell on this a little bit here and show you how this directly applies to “avoiding holiday gain” fears.
First of all, why do we eat? We are made up of 37 trillion little units called cells. Each one contains an amazing factory inside, which we sort of learned about in high school biology class. These “cell dudes” work for us 24/7. You depend on them for everything, but they also depend on you… for feeding them properly.
You see, cells don’t need very much food, but they need it often and they really care about the best quality of nourishment they are getting via your mouth and guts.
The complicated journey, which your meal makes on its way to the cells is in and of itself a miracle. Remember all the belching you had last week after eating food X? Some of you may have felt bloated for days after eating food Y. Others may have had cramps and diarrhea after eating food Z at that dinner last night.
Whatever the trigger, each of the unpleasant sensations was actually a lifeboat sent to you by your cells, who were screaming: “Hey! Pay attention! I don’t like the stuff you fed me! It’s breaking me and you down.”
So, every unpleasant symptom is actually a communication you received, and you should stop and think about what your body is asking you to either do or avoid. Your cells are infinitely smarter than all the scientists of the world. They have inborn self-preservation mechanisms built into them, which won’t let you hurt them for too long.
This is why all diets eventually fail. Any diet is just someone else’s idea of what’s good for your body. And that, my friend, is incompatible with your own personal blueprint, which cannot be changed. In my book, I ask the reader to look inside themselves, connect with their own unique balancing mechanisms, and then heal them.
Once this self-balancing job is done, you emerge as someone who is eating well all the time… every day.
Your cells know what to expect from you long-term and they have faith in you. Since you treat them with love and care day in and day out, they are in turn, keeping you healthy and feeling good. Your body and mind get used to smaller portions and, over the course of time, you develop a comfortable routine which becomes your everyday lifestyle.
Now, back to the daunting holidays: Thanksgiving or Christmas, for example. Holidays are a time to rejoice; a time to celebrate with friends and family. Granted, the holiday feasts are typically not what you are used to in your healthy daily routine, but that’s OK!
Your body, in its infinite wisdom, knows that you are on a holiday regime today or today and tomorrow. And it’s fine with that, as long as you are happy. It will bounce back to its routine as soon as the holiday is over, effortlessly and automatically. Holiday eating is like a pair of very expensive stilettos: you wear them on special occasion, but the toes comfortably recognize and welcome comfortable shoes the next morning.
So, my message to all of you folks out there… be mindful of your healthy eating on a daily basis, and stop worrying about the holiday celebrations.
Eat, dance, and be merry.
The complicated journey, which your meal makes on its way to the cells is in and of itself a miracle. Remember all the belching you had last week after eating food X? Some of you may have felt bloated for days after eating food Y. Others may have had cramps and diarrhea after eating food Z at that dinner last night.
Whatever the trigger, each of the unpleasant sensations was actually a lifeboat sent to you by your cells, who were screaming: “Hey! Pay attention! I don’t like the stuff you fed me! It’s breaking me and you down.”
So, every unpleasant symptom is actually a communication you received, and you should stop and think about what your body is asking you to either do or avoid. Your cells are infinitely smarter than all the scientists of the world. They have inborn self-preservation mechanisms built into them, which won’t let you hurt them for too long.
This is why all diets eventually fail. Any diet is just someone else’s idea of what’s good for your body. And that, my friend, is incompatible with your own personal blueprint, which cannot be changed. In my book, I ask the reader to look inside themselves, connect with their own unique balancing mechanisms, and then heal them.
Once this self-balancing job is done, you emerge as someone who is eating well all the time… every day.
Your cells know what to expect from you long-term and they have faith in you. Since you treat them with love and care day in and day out, they are in turn, keeping you healthy and feeling good. Your body and mind get used to smaller portions and, over the course of time, you develop a comfortable routine which becomes your everyday lifestyle.
Now, back to the daunting holidays: Thanksgiving or Christmas, for example. Holidays are a time to rejoice; a time to celebrate with friends and family. Granted, the holiday feasts are typically not what you are used to in your healthy daily routine, but that’s OK!
Your body, in its infinite wisdom, knows that you are on a holiday regime today or today and tomorrow. And it’s fine with that, as long as you are happy. It will bounce back to its routine as soon as the holiday is over, effortlessly and automatically. Holiday eating is like a pair of very expensive stilettos: you wear them on special occasion, but the toes comfortably recognize and welcome comfortable shoes the next morning.
So, my message to all of you folks out there… be mindful of your healthy eating on a daily basis, and stop worrying about the holiday celebrations.
Eat, dance, and be merry.