I was talking to a friend of mine about how this time of year can be so difficult.
It’s difficult because it’s darker outside, it’s colder outside, and so naturally we start to spend more time indoors, we get less active, and a little less social. She was telling me how she’s starting to want more of the ‘bad’ foods – the heavy ones, the chilies and casseroles, and the rich cream soups – you know, the comfort foods! The trouble is, that she was talking like she was 5 and got caught in the cookie jar.
It’s just food. And it’s part of our natural rhythm. You wouldn’t reach for a salad after a day of skiing right? This IS the time of year where the more complex carbs are available – the squashes, potatoes, and stored grains – they are all easily consumable at this time of year. You can’t go out to your garden and grab lettuce right now. You can however grab a squash. Local farmers’ markets and grocery stores have a great selection of these wonderful fresh products too.
The other really important thing is mindset or attitude. Remember that how you show up to your food – guilty or calm, makes a big difference in what your body will do with it. There was a study done about this.1 They took a milkshake and gave it to two different groups. One group thought that it was a high calorie treat, the other group thought that it was a ‘sensible meal’. The researchers measured the hormones of both groups before and after, and the group that thought they were ‘indulging’ weren’t able to stay full as long as the group that viewed it as a sensible choice.
So there you have it! View your comfort foods as the sensible choices that they are. Enjoy them. You will eat less as a result and you will not have the guilt to carry around with you.
Live Life. Love Food. Be Free.
