What's In Your Easter Basket? Is It Healthy?

Ahh, another holiday to spend with family and friends. Ahh, another chocolate holiday. Can you go into a grocery store or drug store without tripping over chocolate bunnies or rubbing elbows with chocolate-covered eggs, chocolate malt balls, chocolate chicks, every kind of jelly bean you can think of...so, what's in your Easter basket? A little chocolate?

How does this happen?

Easter Bunny is sneaky? It just shows up?

Easter is a religious holiday, well, it's supposed to be. In today's world, who knows? Easter has become another glorified way to overindulge, to cheapen and to forget what the holiday is really supposed to be about. Sound familiar? Put your seatbelts on, I'm feeling real honest today and will probably step on some toes, again, chocolate toes probably.

Here goes...if you are a parent and your child is overweight and you fill their Easter baskets with chocolate goodies, you are responsible for your child being overweight. There, I said it. If you are a parent of a girl who has self-esteem issues and you fill their Easter basket with chocolate goodies, you are responsible for your child's self-esteem. There is a whole generation of girls who are being brought up to believe that chocolate will "solve" everything. From the time they begin menstruation, they are taught that chocolate will help them with PMS symptoms. They are taught by mom's with their chocolate stashes in the cupboard that chocolate is a cure-all when going through stressful times.

When you are a child, you are at the mercy of your parents. I had great parents who spoiled me and showed me their love at Easter by filling my basket with toys, but most of all, chocolate. Huge chocolate bunnies. Lots of chocolate eggs. I came to expect it every year. I thought it was normal.

When you become an adult, you are responsible for your actions. You are responsible for your habits and you can change them if you want. Many young adults cling to those habits that they learn as children and continue them into adulthood. But their bodies have changed. They are no longer running outside and playing during the day, they are cooped up in an office or home, working 8-10 hours a day. Their "rec" time is spent making quick dinner, helping with homework, cleaning house and transporting kids to and from games. They don't take the time to develop new habits because it's just easier to keep the old ones. Oh, and then along comes Easter and they fill their child's baskets with chocolate, because that's what they got. And they just get more and more overweight each year.

So, what do you do now?

Do you go crazy and eliminate all candy and chocolate from their baskets? Do you just give them a little? How can you get a balance?

In dealing with my clients who are sugar-addicted, there are two ways you can recover from an addiction:
-You can cut back slowly and a little bit at a time until it's no longer a problem.
Or
-You go cold turkey, cut it out of your life and never go back.

Which way is better?

It depends on your personality. Some people have a hard time eating just one of anything because it starts an avalanche of wanting more. Others can just cut it out and never go back. I kind of fell in between those categories. I did cut back, but at some point in my weight loss journey, I did have to cut it out completely. It wasn't forever, but it was for a good couple of months. If you are addicted to chocolate, it is not only a physical craving, but an emotional tie and an emotional addiction to it.

And that's the one you have to break.

Being overweight is not fun. You let your guard down at the holidays because that's what you've always done and you don't want to lose the joy of the holiday. But truly, the joy is in your heart, it's not in the chocolate in the basket. If you are overweight and continue to consume chocolate, then it is an addiction and that is what you need to overcome.

I do give my kids' Easter baskets, but they are not based on chocolate. I give them other things to show my love. Maybe a book my daughter wanted, or a movie my son wanted, or goofy socks, or I-Tunes gift card, something that is useful to them. You CAN show your love without chocolate, really, you can. I challenge you to try. Will you?

sandi@startwiththeinside.com