It’s Thanksgiving, and whatever you’re doing I hope you have a peaceful, joyful, and relaxing day. I know that won’t happen if you eat or drink too much, so instead of restricting yourself, remember my mantra:

“I can have my cake (unhealthy food) and eat it too (health and confidence in my body), I just can’t eat that much cake.”

If you’re worried about falling off the wagon read through my Conscious Eating Guidelines. Keep this email in your inbox and read it a few times before you head to your Thanksgiving meal.

❤️ Eat only when you are physically hungry

Ask yourself before you put anything in your mouth, “am I physically hungry or is this emotional?” “What would really nourish me right now, what am I really hungry for?”

❤️ Center yourself before each meal or snack

Take three slow, deep breaths and reflect on what type of emotions you are feeling and therefore bringing to the meal. Do you feel rushed? Stressed? Bored? Tired? Clear out this energy so you can focus on the act of eating.

Repeat your daily intention before you eat: “I intend to only eat when I am physically hungry and soothe myself in other ways when I am not.”

❤️ Make space between you and the food

Before you put food in your mouth, take space to think about the reward/consequence of this behavior. If what you are about to eat is not in alignment with what you want most, pivot your energy and thoughts and redirect to make a new and better choice.

❤️ Eat and do nothing else

Focus only on the food when you are eating, focus on everything else other than food when you are not.

❤️ Love foods that love you back

Avoid foods that cause physical discomfort to the body. Honor your body’s communication system.

❤️ Eat like you are judging a Top Chef competition

Slow down, and look to enjoy the flavor profile, textures, and smells.

❤️ Halfway through your meal, take a breather

Set your fork down and place your attention on something else for 5 minutes. Self-soothe by telling yourself if you are still hungry when you return to the food, you can continue eating. Your mantra: “There’s always more.”

❤️ Check-in with your thoughts, they are the root of all behaviors

Practice thinking in a way that promotes love, compassion, and kindness. Everything else is an act against you and will only result in eating out of discomfort.

❤️ You Bite It, You Write It

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Writing your food down allows you to see patterns and make connections to why you are eating what you are eating. This is also a practice in non-judgment!

If you falter, don’t write it off as a failure and dive knee-deep into the pie, take some deep breaths, go for a walk, and start again with your next meal or snack. It’s often what we eat after we’ve decided “we failed” that is far more destructive than the meal we tripped up on in the first place.