Heading into the holiday season, people often start getting panicky about their eating habits. This might be because they're on a roll with healthy eating, or because they feel like the year is wrapping up, and they aren't where they'd like to be. Either way, the abundance of family and friend gatherings can leave you feeling a little stressed about what to do. While the strategy I recommend here can be super helpful during this time of the year, it's also a great mental approach for the rest of the year, too!
So here's something to think about: maximize the moments that you don't really care about. What's that mean? Well, let's break down how many ACTUAL meals there are throughout the holidays that include special things. A few? Maybe 10-15 at most, if you're a super social person with lots of obligations. Now, let's put that number into context. Let's say you eat 3 meals a day for a year. That puts you at 1095 meals for the year, and we're stressing about 10-15 of those (again, at most!). That's less than ONE PERCENT of the meals you will eat over the course of the year.
So, rather than focusing on those very few meals, and whether or not you should tighten things up and abstain from Aunt Kathy's amazing chocolate pie... what if instead we focused on allllll the other meals you have in the next few months that you don't really care that much about? Can you toss some extra fruits and veggies into those quick lunches you have alone? Can you prep a few morning smoothies for the breakfasts when you're running out the door?
How can we shift focus to maximizing the mundane, so you can truly enjoy those special meals that come now and again, knowing what you're doing the majority of the time supports your goals?
(Below: A delicious meal from a vacation. Using this mindset on vacation is also helpful!)
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