Thanksgiving Day Survival - Part Two

Part Two...which is worse? Is it the overload of food that drives you crazy or the overload of relatives that drives you to food?

As I counsel more and more clients on how to actually survive Thanksgiving Day - not overeating, eating healthy foods, drinking water, etc. - one thing keeps coming up, family dynamics. Every family is unique and in my belief, every family is somewhat dysfunctional. And it's funny, the personalities that are similar, the characters that are similar in every family and it seems that there's always one [sometimes more] that just knows how to push the buttons when you are trying to eat right. For the purpose of this blog, we'll call that person "crazy". I know, just hang with me...

So, you try to prepare for the day. You cook good foods, you know what you want to do, you're drinking your water, everything is fine and then boom, crazy does something crazy and you find yourself taking an extra slice of pie, going back for thirds and fourths, having another glass of wine and before you know it, you're sitting on the sofa unbuckling your belt and unsnapping the top botton on your pants and you're miserable. Crazy keeps going crazy, 'cause that's what she/he does and you wonder where you went wrong. Huh?

How can this be avoided?

You can't control crazy - so what are you supposed to do?

You're right. You can't control crazy. Crazy is as crazy does. Crazy has been acting crazy because she/he has always done it and just gets away with it. Doesn't matter if it is right or wrong. You're in a family, you're supposed to forgive and forget, right? Then why are you always the one trying to get crazy to stop acting crazy?

When a family gets together, it should be a good event. There should be laughter, friendship, fellowship, sharing, happiness. And sometimes there is. But sometimes there is jealousy, disagreements, different parenting styles, different opinions, sadness. And when you add food into the equation, lots of food, oftentimes it just gets caught up in the moment and you overeat. Some people find it very difficult to get together with family and not overeat, esp. when they start living a healthy lifestyle. For one thing, you are more aware. You are more aware of what you are eating, how your body is responding and your emotions. Overeating is equated with not being aware, not being aware of how your body is responding [until it's too late] and covering up your emotions. With Food.

I know this is a sensitive topic and I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you.

I could make a lot of money selling products and packages, but I choose not to, because I want you to know the truth. And the truth is you have to start with the inside. You have to make the decisions to face your problems, to face the crazy's out there, to put what you KNOW about nutrition into action and then, just to DO IT.

Crazy is not going away. So deal with it. Find a way to deal with it.

In my personal life, it was about boundaries with crazy. I had to decide to go with my instincts and limit contact with crazy. This was not liked by some in my family. Too harsh. Not forgiving and forgetting. I had to make it a point to not be around crazy in order to limit any affects that crazy could have in my life. And this meant affecting the dynamics of our family get-togethers. It was hard, but so worth it as now I have eliminated that problem and don't overeat because I can't handle a crazy person. Do what it takes.

What is crazy's objective? In my case, it was "if it's not about crazy, it's not about crazy, and on and on" all attention had to be on crazy and it usually was, one way or another. So, take that attention away. It doesn't mean that crazy is going to change, it means that you are.

You change your environment.

You change your reactions.

You change your patterns.

You get healthy. Don't wait for another holiday to just get by, do it now. Prepare yourself emotionally to make it through Thanksgiving Day. I know you can do it. Just start with the inside...