Swallowed by Holiday Foods

Holidays are times of food vulnerability for people who struggle with weight, foods, food addiction, health, and wellness.

There are a lot of people white knuckling the next couple weeks. I am one of them, even though my foods look much different than they used to.

The holiday season has always exposed the biggest gap between who I want to be and who I am around food.

Who I want to be is someone who is a moderate, someone who indulges some but not too much, someone whose willpower is as natural as her smile.

Who I have to be is someone who eats whole, unprocessed plants without salt, oil, and sugar. I am indulging more than I should, but I will recover quickly.

But, that has not always been the case.

The Shadows of Holidays Past

My resolve to be a moderate around holiday foods crumbled with the first colorful sugar cookie; the first taste of a rich, warm comfort meal that was prepared with love for family.

Love of family and friends filled these foods, a tantalizing ingredient baked into their beckoning call. The illusion of love in the food still provides a real enemy for me to fight.

The social acceptability of reckless overeating casts a deceptive glow over the celebrations, an atmosphere as alluring and destructive for me as the food itself.

But, the real monster hid in the shadows, the enemy that silently controlled my life through the never-ending compulsion to eat rich, processed, unhealthy foods.

Giving in to this wild abandon looked more joyful than it was.

The holiday experience started as a fun, festive frolic through the tastiest treats of the year, a celebration of decadent culinary creations.

But soon, holiday foods swallowed me, ensnaring me in their annual traps. Holiday foods in holiday quantities consumed me.

The foods ate my body and my mind. Physically, I felt bloated, swollen, achy, and tired. Failure fed failure.

Guilt, shame, and self-blame skulked in the shadows of holiday events, even the most positive ones.

Hope for Holiday Present

Today may not be a great time to start transformative changes. But, today can be a great day to plan for changes.

The hope that comes with starting a new year is a real force. Soon, there will be a collective focus on self-improvement that will permeate society and the media.

This widespread movement around positive personal changes can work to our advantages. We can plan now for how we can use that momentum in our own journeys.

Planning for change can be an important action step in creating a foundation for transformative changes.

Making the decision to change is a powerful act of hope and belief. And, that is an important step out of the shadows.