Food and celebration are always around this time of year. And, believe it or not are right around the corner. My mother always told me when I was a kid, that time would fly by as I got older. I never believed her. Guess she was right, should have listened!
Before 2020, this time of year would bring up stress and anxiety for many of my clients. There was always parties, buffets, family, friends and FOOD. This year, it is looking like it will be different. That doesn’t mean it will be any less stressful. What seems to come up for you as we turn the corner and slide into Thanksgiving?
This time of year, I always make a couple of special food related yummies to share as gifts and enjoy myself. Before my commitment to reject restriction, deprivation and dieting, I would always eat way too much. Of course, each “eating episode” was followed first by feelings of shame, guilt, humiliation and disappointment. Next, my degrading inner voice (my Mini-Me) would rear her ugly head. I would beat myself up for hours. Finally ending with some type of physical punishment. (Aerobics classes, running, stair-mastering etc). I would vow not to eat any the next day, only to repeat this cycle for the whole 2 months of the holidays. (Yes, I would continue to make more and more)
No matter what comes this holiday, we know there will be food. So I want to share with you this Intuitive Eating Bill of Rights, written by my mentor Evelyn Tribole. Food is fuel for our bodies, it is to be enjoyed, tasted, savored. It provides us with the physical and mental energy to live our lives. Don’t miss out on one more holiday season feeling guilty and ashamed. Life is too short.
You have PERMISSION…
Intuitive Eater’s Bill of Rights (by Evelyn Tribole)
What if peace on earth could begin at the dinner table? Imagine experiencing an inner peace, free from incessant worry about what to eat. It’s hard to enjoy the holidays when you are preoccupied with eating or worried about what to say to relatives who have an annual tradition of telling you what and how to eat.
Consider your Intuitive Eating Bill of Rights, as we enter the holiday season, to help you foster inner peace with food, mind and body.
1. You have the right to savor your meal, without cajoling or judgment, and without discussion of calories eaten or the amount of exercise needed to burn off said calories.
2. You have the right to enjoy second servings without apology.
3. You have the right to honor your fullness, even if that means saying “no thank you” to dessert or a second helping of food.
4. It is not your responsibility to make someone happy (or feel loved) by overeating or eating something you don’t like, even if it took hours to prepare a specialty holiday dish.
5. You have the right to say, “No thank you,” without explanation, when offered more food.
6. You have permission to make those favorite holiday cookies your grandmother used to make.
7. You have the right to eat pumpkin pie or sugar cookies for breakfast.
Remember, no one, except for you, knows how you feel, both emotionally and physically.
Only you can be the expert of your body, which requires inner attunement, rather than the external, well-meaning, suggestions from family.
Copyright © 2010 by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD
If you are ready to gain body confidence, food freedom and self acceptance…watch this free webinar. And then join the Body Joyful Revolution. A private safe, nonjudgmental space that empowers and inspires women, regardless of size, shape or weight to feel comfortable and confident in their bodies and selves.
