Christmas temptations? Take a leap in January!

Most of us want to feel safe, perhaps even more so while on vacation. However, if you have a food addiction, it can be difficult to feel safe during the Christmas season.

Everyone knows that holidays bring gastronomic temptations. It is simply accepted that we will eat those foods, gain weight, and establish the same weight loss resolution that we established last year and the year before.

To make this worse is how constant the temptations are: every day, all day, even more than usual. Seasonal stress doesn’t help either: long lines, crowds everywhere, parties, the financial pressure of holiday gifts, so much more.

These tensions can and do lead to emotional eating. And if we feel like we’re about to give in to emotional cues, tempting foods are there.

The worst stress of the holidays?

Family pressures can be the worst. Who is the “food trafficker” in your family?

One customer had food battles with her mother throughout the season. Mom made the Christmas treats that she knew her daughter loved. My client told her mother that she didn’t want the treats because she was trying to lose weight. She told mom not to have them either because they were unhealthy.

Well mom never changed her demeanor and kept pushing the homemade treats. My client never developed better arguments. It took me a while to realize that my client wanted to lose the battle. It was his “victim” excuse for eating Christmas meals.

What can you do instead?

Let’s say you want to win this Christmas season. Here are tips to help you feel more confident.

• Set your health goals right now: weight loss, health, better mood, more energy. Make December your health month.

• Refuse to eat junk that will sabotage those goals.

• Exercise every day. I use effective 10-12 minute high intensity interval workouts (HIIT) that anyone can fit into a busy day.

• Do not take food home from the holidays, even if it is offered repeatedly.

• If you can’t refuse food, stop at the nearest trash can on the way home and throw it out. DO NOT take it home and pretend you are not going to eat it.

• If you are going to a potluck, bring a healthy plate: salad, roasted vegetables, fresh fruit, and nuts for dessert.

• Focus on family and friends. Make others feel safe during the holidays. Send prayers of healing and love to everyone you meet.

Yes, this will require discipline. OBJECTIVE!

Temptations will tempt you less because you set solid goals. December will feel safe. And you will feel safe.

“Every day you try a little harder, eat a little better, maybe go to bed a little earlier.” – Jonathan Horton, gymnast