Every year around the holidays, I hear people talk about the weight they’re going to gain before the New Year, and I always find it a little bit baffling. I think the reason I don’t gain weight between Thanksgiving and Christmas is that I indulge in treats year-round. If I want to savor a decadent triple mousse cake in the middle of July, by God I am going to eat it!
But that means when Christmas rolls around, I don’t feel the need to eat two dozen Christmas cookies, followed by pecan pie, pumpkin cheesecake, and washed down with a gallon of eggnog.
In my quest to develop a healthy relationship with food, I’ve realized the importance of indulgence, the importance of savoring. Whenever I’ve lived in a state of total self-denial, deciding that certain foods are 100% off limits, two things happen. First, I become enraged. Constantly. Especially when I’m eating (and since eating is a really joyous experience, why would I want to cause myself to be filled with rage when I sit down to a meal?). But the second thing is that I end up freaking out one night and eating about 2,000 pounds of junk.
When I know that I can eat whatever I want, and that food will be available to me again the next time I want it, I tend to be able to focus on the savoring experience and then STOP.
So have that brownie square. Close your eyes while you chew it. Experience the silky mouth feel. The chocolatey goodness. And then stop.
Contributed by Katie Howard, Ideal Weight Guest Blogger
Katie made a very good observation. The same also goes with diet plans. Binging in between diet plans defeats the purpose of the diet itself. But moderating your intake of these sinful foodstuffs will satisfy the hungry palette.
Posted by: Gilberto Shneider | October 18, 2011 at 02:42 PM