How does overindulgence show up for you during the holidays?
For me it's:
- too much food
- too much sugar
- too much alcohol
The byproducts of this decision to overindulge for me, are:
- weight gain
- higher anxiety
- increased cravings
- low energy
- generic "blah" feeling
So why do we overindulge?
Its a 2-part explanation and in this post I'll be going over the first part.
Part 1 - We overindulge when we are happy.
This is pretty simple. Our primitive brain is programmed to consume. When we have a little something that's good, our brain urges us to consume more.
Because... if a little of something is good, a lot of something is better!
So, when we are in a situation where the company is good, the food is delicious and the wine is flowing are brains are prodding us to keep consuming.
You have spent many, many years training your brain to see food and drink as the main source of your pleasure. So if you take that away or limit it your brain lashes out like a 5yr old.
Your 5yr old brain wants that wine and wants it now!
So I'd like us all to treat our toddler brains like we would treat our own children.
What would you say to your kids if they wanted 3 pieces of cake?
Or 5 glasses of wine?
Here are some simple steps that you can use to help curb your desire to overindulge when you're having a good time.
Plan Ahead of time; 24hrs before you go to the event write down how much you want to eat and drink.
Being intentional with your decision making is good training for your adult brain to take back control.
Make a list of all the things that you are looking forward to that are not food/drink related.
Once again, you are training your brain to associate events with things other than consumption.
At the event - before you dive into making a decision, wait 90 seconds.
Taking time before saying YES to anything will help take the urgency out of the decision and will give you time to assess if that is what you want.
Using these 3 techniques will help you to be better prepared and aware of when and if you choose to overindulge.
If you want to dive deeper on overindulging and learning all the tools to be able to control it reach out to me to set up a one-on-one consult call.
Stay tuned for Part 2