Holiday Cravings? Get Control Now.
December 21, 2009 by Sarah Jenks
Filed under Featured, Nutrition
Let’s face it. Cravings can get really intense over the holidays. For one, there is so much temptation. Rich, sugary, fatty, delicious food is EVERYWHERE. It’s unavoidable. And our sweet tooth is just out of control. It can get incredibly overwhelming. So how can you eliminate the urge to eat everything in sight?
It is all about understanding where your cravings come from.
Obviously, we all need to eat plenty every day to keep ourselves physically nourished. But what we really need to do is see if we can distinguish between the times we’re eating for physical nourishment, and the times we’re eating for emotional nourishment. A lot of time, when we get the uncontrollable urge to snack, we are not actually hungry. So before you dive into that bowl of red and green m&ms, identify why you want to nibble. When we understand our cravings, food loses its power over us. We put ourselves in the driver’s seat. And if we start to eat when we are not hungry, there will be no end to our munching. So, next time you are at a holiday party or dinner, and find yourself wanting to consume everything in site, consider the following reasons why you may want a third helping of latkes or a fifth Christmas cookie.
* The holiday party you are attending makes you nervous. Maybe you are expecting your ex to walk through the door any moment, or you don’t know anyone but the hostess who is busy chatting with all of her guests. Being nervous makes us feel uneasy, ungrounded and creates a hollow pit in our stomach. To get rid of this uncomfortable feeling – we eat. Focusing on the tastes and textures of foods temporarily distracts us, but when you stop nibbling, the nervousness is still there. Instead of reaching for every hors d’oeuvre that passes by, we need try to sit with our nerves, get acquainted with that pit in your stomach, and trust it will fade in time. One solution to avoiding nervous eating? Try striking up a conversation with another person who is standing alone. You may be helping them out too!
* The food feels “special” because you only get to eat it one time a year. I refer to this as the “Last Supper Mentality”, the idea that the opportunity to eat this type of cookie is so rare, that you must eat as much as you can before the opportunity is gone. The reality is that there is ALWAYS an opportunity to eat your favorite foods. Especially in New York. We can get our hands on any type of food any time we want. So we need to tell ourselves that if we still want more of that special food tomorrow, or the next day, that we will go get it. Maybe ask the hostess where she bought the cookies you find so rare and divine, if she made them, ask for the recipe. Bottom line: if we truly understand that food is plentiful, holiday treats will lose their allure.
* Holiday food is packed with sugar, and sugar is addicting. Think about it- it is a lot easier to stop eating apple slices than it is Christmas cookies. Why is this? It actually goes a lot deeper than just the cookies tasting better. When we eat refined sugar, our body produces an abundance of insulin in an attempt to regulate our blood sugar levels. What happens is that the abrupt insulin spike actually causes our blood sugar levels to drop below normal, causing us to want more sugar. So what to do? Obviously the best strategy is to avoid sugar, but that is nearly impossible over the holidays. So next time you eat a cookie, have a piece of fruit when you crave your next sweet to regulate your blood sugar levels more effectively. The addiction can last a few days after consuming a lot of sugar, so be prepared.
* We fall into old habits. New York is a very high-energy city. We are constantly working, meeting friends, going to the gym, attending events… and often, there is almost no time to eat. But when we go home for the holidays we often find ourselves with lots of time on our hands, and lots of food in front of us! At the parents’ house in the ‘burbs, the pace dramatically changes. We may start to fall into old habits that we had in high school, or that we developed during the many holiday weekends at home in past. We may sit and talk for hours over a huge cheese spread or have pancakes for breakfast every morning. And, even though working out five days a week in New York City is effortless, the idea of going for a 3 mile run through our hometown can be a huge challenge. We have unlearned so many of these habits in our daily life, but when we return home, we often fall back into old patterns. Next time, ask yourself what drives you to eat differently at home, or maybe have a conversation with your Mom about helping with the cooking and adding some healthy dishes to your meal. Get the whole family to exercise together. Start to redefine your habits at home, so that next year things are that much easier.
* Stress plays a huge role in weight gain. When we are stressed, we have increased levels of the hormone cortisol, which causes us to retain fat in your abdomen. And we know that there are so many things that can stress us out… especially during the holidays!
Your mother is grilling you about finding a man
You don’t like the dress you are wearing
You have three parties to go to tonight
You really wish your boyfriend wouldn’t wear that stupid Christmas sweater to every party
You have to get up at 6am tomorrow to finish a project at work and it is already midnight
Your mother-in-law keeps insisting that she should stay at your house for the Holidays instead of the hotel down the street.
Your kids want a Wii for Christmas
You haven’t worked out for a week (because you have been going to so many parties) and your tummy is starting to bulge
Find ways to reduce your stress. Breathe, go for a short walk, meditate for five minutes. Visualize the stress melting away. Do what works for you. Holding onto your stress is a choice, let it go! When you can learn to let go of stress, you let go of excess weight.
Understanding where cravings come from can have a very powerful effect on our ability to make healthy choices through the holidays. When we can celebrate by focusing on our health and well-being, our energy will be higher, our mood better, our mental-clarity improved and there is a good chance we can even lose weight over the next few weeks. Can you imagine how amazing it would be to wake up feeling fabulous on January 1st? That is really the best gift we can receive this season, and the beauty of it, is we can give it to ourselves!
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Sarah Jenks is a Nutrition Consultant and Weight Loss coach in New York City. Sarah has an easy, no-stress, no-deprivation approach to achieving your ideal body, that fits into the New Yorker’s busy schedule and lifestyle. To learn more about Sarah, and to download her free report: “What to Do if you Feel Fat, Stressed and Pissed Off!” go to Sarah’s nutrition and weight loss website.
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