Today’s mini-episode of Balance With Sam is a snippet from a recent group coaching call I had with my girl gang! We talked about the upcoming holiday season and discuss steps and practices they can incorporate throughout the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to stay in control of their binging and enjoy themselves at the same time.

Ensuring you have an intentional relationship with food opens you up to the information food gives us. Certain foods will make you feel satisfied and full. Some foods will make you feel crap. Tune into how your body responds to the food and the information it gives you. This will give you a guide as to how to navigate your eating through the holiday period.

Top Takeaways

When you want to eat chocolate cake, make it worth it. Eat some really good chocolate cake and enjoy it. Don't settle for something you don’t really want. It won’t satisfy you and because you won’t really enjoy it, you might end up going overboard on a food that you didn’t really want to begin with.

Practice mindfulness. Especially during Thanksgiving, there’s going to be things at the table that are going to be outside of your control. Your only goal is to be mindful. Be mindful of the decisions that you’re making. Be mindful of what you’re eating. Think about what your boundaries are and what your relationship with food is. Know which foods don’t really do it for you but also which foods trigger you, which ones will set you off. Be intentional and mindful.

At the beginning of the day, visualize what it’s going to be like for you at the end of the day. How did the day go? Imagine the highest version of yourself and think about what she ate. What did she drink? What can you do throughout the day to end it feeling good?

Most importantly, remember Thanksgiving is just another meal and move into the abundance mindset. You can have those foods at any time. That mindset of “Oh I binge every Thanksgiving” is the past you. The past does not dictate your future. This is now. You get to create your reality this Thanksgiving, Remember, you are in control of you.