I had a turkey rollup but that just didn't do it so I went back for a blueberry scone.

This is from a phone conversation with one of my girlfriends last week. She told me that she had an unpleasant, rather upsetting conversation with a renter of a property she owns. To cope with the mental stress, she went for a workout at the Y. Feeling better but still upset, she stopped at Whole Foods for a turkey rollup to refuel. Half laughing, half irritated she said the turkey rollup just didn’t do it for her and she went right back for a big ‘ol blueberry scone.

“Susan”, she said, “it was lunch time and I was hungry after my workout but I was also eating because I was upset. I knew what I was doing but did it anyway. There was so much food out for Thanksgiving and it all looked so good.”

Last week  we talked about how eat with our eyes. That’s one of the reasons food ads work so well. The food looks great, we get a desire or craving for it, we’ve got to have it now and boom, we eat. Usually we feel better while we’re eating but then the guilt sets in. Why did I eat that? I wasn’t hungry…you know the drill.

Now we’re a little over a week away from Thanksgiving. Let’s rethink the guilt we put upon ourselves. Someone serves you a piece of cheesecake, let’s say, and that bird that constantly sits on your shoulder tweets in your ear, “you’re not going to eat that, A-R-E Y-O-U? Surely, you’re NOT going to eat the ENTIRE thing!”

STUFF A SOCK IN THE BIRD’S MOUTH!

Why has food become either good or bad depending on what it is which then makes you a good or bad person if you eat it? Sure, there are less healthy choices than others but what you choose doesn’t make you a wonderful or rotten person. It’s a choice. Sometimes we choose to make the healthier selections and sometimes we don’t. Beating yourself up over less healthy choices only hurts you and stacks on unneeded guilt.

Instead, have a plan of action for the holidays. Goodies galore will be everywhere. Think 80-20 or better yet, 90-10. In other words, choose to eat well 90% of the time and then allow yourself those favorite indulgences in reasonable amounts WITHOUT the guilt. A healthy diet is not about deprivation but rather about choices--which include the goodies you choose to have and the permission to enjoy each and every bite when you do.

Dr. Susan