“Diet starts January 1st…”
Shared by Breanne Smedley
“Diet starts January 1st…”
It’s the holiday season, and for the past few years, it’s been the same cycle.
Around Halloween time, sugar starts to enter my diet more than it normally does. Mini reeses, kit kats, skittles, you name it. If it’s around, I’m likely eating it.
Then we ramp up for Thanksgiving. All the yummy recipes and family favorites. I decide it’s going to be a “cheat day” to indulge in foods I don’t normally eat.
Which is fine.
But then this “cheat day” turns into a “cheat week.”
Because we have leftovers, and now we’re entering into the Christmas goodies season.
Egg nog. Peppermint mochas. Cookies. Yum.
Then the holiday season really ramps up. Party after party with pies, drinks, and “so and so’s famous recipe that you have to try!”
Now I can’t really remember where the cheat day started, and where it ended.
And now, it’s almost the end of December. I might as well go out with a bang, because the diet starts January 1st.
So, I give myself permission to have that extra slice, extra bite, another glass or two, or three.
Because starting January 1st, we are back on Whole 30.
I am living for January 1st.
Then January 1st hits. And I put myself on a really restrictive plan. No grains, no dairy, no alcohol, no sugar. No FUN (as Brett would say).
And to add to that, I’m going to workout 7 days a week. And drink lots of water. Go to bed on time. Limit my screen time. And maybe donate all my stuff to Goodwill. 
This works out okay for a few days.
Until I realize what I’ve committed myself to, and things start to look a little impractical.
Then, I start to feel bad about myself. Because I lived through the holiday season promising myself that I’d make it all better starting January 1st.
And I feel a bit like I’m breaking a promise to myself.
So, I compromise. I just go back to eating “healthy,” like I was before the holiday season. Mostly whole food meals, limited processed foods. Sweets and wine every once and a while, but never overboard. Moderation.
But I had to go through this really dramatic process to get there.
So, this season I’m not doing it. I’m not living for January 1st this year.
I had adopted a much different, healthier mindset.
I am accepting that my healthy eating looks different in the holidays. My workout schedule looks different during this season.
Because in March, April, and May, I’m not going to party after party with cookie after cookie.
I’m not thinking of this season as a time away from my healthy lifestyle. A time that I will make up in January.
“It’s okay if I eat all this stuff, I’ll just punish myself extra hard in January.”
No.
This season is not contrary to my healthy lifestyle. It’s part of it.
Just like it’s not wrong for it to be cold and rainy in September, because the season has changed to Fall.
It’s not wrong that this is a SEASON, where things look different than they do in other parts of the year.
So, this holiday season, I am going for it.
I am going to enjoy the heck out of the egg nog, Carol’s delicious cookies, and my mom’s french toast casserole.
But I’m not going to have the mindset of, “Well, I had one cookie. Might as well only eat sugar for the rest of December.”
Nope. I’m going to enjoy what I want, then eat my normal breakfast of a veggie-loaded omelette. And workout, drink water. And not beat myself up.
And come January 1st?
No crazy restrictive plans.
I’ll naturally eat less sugar. Because I’ll be going to less parties with cookies, pies, and drinks.
And I’ll have more time to workout. Because it’s a different season.
Accepting and embracing seasons and situations as they are.
It’s important to do in many areas of our life. Sometimes it’s tough to understand how to do this.
But, like everything, it starts in our mind.
#MindfullyEvolving
#DaringlyResilient
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