3 Simple Shifts to Stop Thanksgiving Overeating

Ah, Thanksgiving…a day of togetherness and celebration, a day set aside for expressing gratitude for our many blessings. Nowadays, though, this holiday — smack in the middle of The Season of Sugar Overload — has become synonymous with pigging out. For many, it’s a foodie free-for-all, which can lead you to gain weight, while playing havoc with your moods and plunging you into self-hating remorse. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Read on to discover 3 Simple Shifts to Stop Holiday Overeating.

1. Grow Bigger Eyes

You probably know the expression, “My eyes were bigger than my stomach?” This holiday is the perfect time for you to look at this old adage in a new way. Instead of using the maxim to explain away the mound of food on your plate, take this as a goal: You want to Grow Bigger Eyes. By this, I mean you want to see a grander, better vision of yourself. In that split-second moment that you decide how much to pile on your plate at a family-style meal or buffet or, while you’re hoping you can say, “No thank you” to your host, envision how you’d like to look and feel next week, next month, next year.

2. Focus on the Food

It’s easy to get distracted when you’re surrounded by chatter, laughter, and plates of food being passed in front of you. In fact, studies on eating behavior show that the more chaotic an environment, the more food a person tends to eat. Instead of allowing yourself to get waylaid by what’s happening around you, focus on the food in front of you. Look at it. Smell it. Taste it. Chew it. Swallow it. Put your fork for down. Chat with your dinner partners. Then turn your attention to your food again, treating it with the respect such a special meal deserves.

3. Think Abundantly.

Thanksgiving is a holiday of abundance. It’s a time when we give thanks for all the good in our lives — including the good food in front of us. But many of us approach the holiday meal with a mindset of scarcity. Your thinking—often subconscious—may go something like this: “Thanksgiving dinner comes only once a year, and after today, it will be gone. Therefore I need to eat as much of these holiday foods as possible while I have the chance!” Not healthy, abundant thinking, is it? Instead, eat until just before you’re comfortably sated. Then tell yourself that you’ve had enough of these yummy dishes for now. Your waistline will thank you tomorrow.