Limiting Beliefs and The Holidays
Limiting Beliefs and The Holidays
A video blog from Steph Wagner, bariatric dietitian
Holidays post-weight loss surgery
You don’t have to be a surgery patient to know the holidays are BRUTAL for eating well and staying active. And they are here!!
I turned on my camera and decided to make this a more conversational style blog. Why? Because I feel personal conversation is a great way to get ourselves to consider what we are believing that is holding us back in some way.
The holidays are sure to have limiting beliefs for each of us because there is so much emotion tied to what makes this season so special to us.
What makes the holidays so special? While there may be some similarities, the answers will be different for each of us. Herein lie the limiting beliefs to start challenging!
If you think the holidays won’t be the same without _______. It could be a limiting belief.
And you know what, there might be some things that you just aren’t willing to miss out on. I think that’s okay too if you plan ahead well.
The real reason we get off track
The funny thing about the holidays is that the actual holiday is ONE DAY. Or if we are counting Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years…it’s THREE DAYS.
But that’s not when holiday weight gain happens.
It’s in all the weeks in between. It’s the holiday season.
This is where planning ahead because crucial. I’m not saying planning ahead has to be 7 meals a day, 3 meals a week, everything planned to a tee. In fact, if you feel like meal plans must look like that, you might have a limiting belief about meal plans.
A meal plan can be a scratch piece of paper with the next two nights of dinners and a quick grocery list written down. If it gets you ahead of the next 24-48 hours, it counts!
*Members you can make quick little meal plans using the new recipe collections feature!
The real reason we get off track during the holidays? In my opinion, when we feel off track, we tend to let everything slide. We eat things that don’t actually make the holidays special to us, we just eat them because they are there and we “aren’t doing very well right now anyway.”
Limiting beliefs to consider during the holidays
Limiting beliefs will look different for everyone. These are just quick notes to get your wheels turning as you consider yours.
Do you need to eat/bake _____ for the holidays to be special? (If yes, then plan ahead for your splurge!)
Do you have to be on plan to make good choices? If someone brought fudge to work, don’t worry about what you ate last night to make the decision on if it’s worth it to you to eat it.
Is it possible to eat well and stay active when traveling? Hosting? What would that look like?
Will _____ really be upset if you don’t make that dish this year?
Can you give gifts that aren’t food related that people look forward to just as much?
Are you too busy to meal plan? Can it be a smaller version of the meal plan you have in mind?
Enough guessing from me, what are your limiting beliefs around the holidays?
I always prepare my Thanksgiving dishes the same way and people might be disappointed if I change my recipe is one limiting belief. I always associate the savory smell of the cooking Thanksgiving dishes with great joy as it always reminds me of my Granny’s house. I make the food the way I was taught and to change it feels like a betrayal of her or my choosing to forget her traditions. I have had to think hard over this emotion. I always thought I was an emotional eater but then I realized I’m an even more emotional cook. The memory of my Granny and my childhood and people’s approval of me were huge. This has been a very limiting belief for decades for me. I love to cook but I want to approach it differently. I plan on trying to make my meal this year in a healthier fashion. I have changed the way I cook to incorporate these healthier styles of cooking and my meals have been delicious and my husband has been pleased as well and others just like it and don’t know it is a dish prepared in a healthy, thought out, planned dish. Thanksgiving will be first big trial of adapting long-standing ingredients for healthier choices. I am actually excited about it!