Do you feel bad just looking at the pastries, hamburgers on the grill, Christmas cookies, candy, etc.? Every party I’ve attended, I think, “oh no, here we go again. Let me make a game plan”. I’d start by eating beforehand and hope this would keep me from over indulging.
I’d arrive, all would go well. Then BAM, I would try “just a little” and this turned into a food frenzy. Cookies, cheese, meats, candy – all stuff I wasn’t supposed to have. Parties are free passes to eat right? It’s the holidays, or vacation, or a party, so I can go crazy and it’s perfectly normal, right?
The next day I’d think, “I can’t believe I ate that much, what did I do?!?!” Then, I’d pledge to go on a diet and exercise more. Which I did. But then I cheat on my diet, fail to exercise, and the diet binge cycle would continue.
If this sounds familiar to you – keep reading! There’s a way to enjoy socializing without the binging, guilt tripping, and excessive exercising.
- Eat what you want. Yep, you heard me right. Don’t try to plan ahead on what you will or will not eat. When you get there, just eat what you feel like having. In other words, don’t try to trick your brain into eating less – restricting yourself will only cause binging.
- Stop judging. Stop beating yourself up for eating whatever it is you decide to eat at the party. News flash, it’s 1 friggin day out of the year, it’s not going to kill you!
- Be in the moment. Make a point to not worry about food and be in the moment of enjoying your friends and family. If tomorrow didn’t arrive, would you be happy you were thinking about food or would you be happy you spent quality time with your friends and family?
- Don’t compare yourself to others. It’s not worth it. This will only lead to overeating anyway. “Angie is so thin, and yet she’s eating the bacon wrapped mini – weanies – therefore, I can too!”. Guess what, whether skinny girl ate them or not, you can still eat them – see step 1!
- Don’t binge exercise the next day. Your body is perfectly capable of regulating and it will regulate without you forcing it to. Trust me, your body is well aware when you eat more than it needs. It will cue you the next day to either eat or not eat, depending on what it needs.
Parties and vacations are not meant to induce self-hate. The good times are meant for us to relax and enjoy friends and family. Too often we spend our time hung up on food and what will happen if we indulge. Do yourself a favor and relax. Enjoy your time; food is not worth stressing about.