Day 7: Centering the Holidays on something other than food

     Well color me impressed! I am on a seven day streak of daily blogging! It has been so much more fun and enjoyable than I ever thought. Writing is great way to let off steam, to distract ourselves and a much more economic alternative to therapy.But that's enough about that, Lets get to day 7 : Centering Holidays around something other than food.

      When I was a little girl holidays for me used to revolve around no school, yummy foods and possible gifts. I know that some would say that we  must always remember the reason for the season but as a child, that was the reason for my season. I was excited about having a break from school, buying fireworks all through December and opening gifts on Christmas Eve.
   
     As I got older, this changed a little. For me, the prospect of no school was always great even though I loved school and have always been a bit of a nerd. Of course, the food was something I always front and center and something I looked forward to. But once you hit the teenage years, getting into a little bit of trouble and a lot of adventure with you friends seemed to also be the highlight of the Holiday.
   
     During College and beyond, because of my training, the Holidays, if it was my lucky year it meant a chance for regular sleeping hours, a few days off and hot home cooked meals. Notice the pattern? the only thing that was always a thing for me, regardless of my age, was the food. I know that sounds like I didn't care about spending time with friends and family. I did and do. But somehow, one of the things that I have always centered my Holidays is around the food we eat. Am I alone here?
   
     Whether it is Ham and Deviled eggs for Easter, Thick juicy Steaks for Independence Day, A Boston Butt for Labor Day, Turkey and Dressing on Thanksgiving, Ham on Christmas and Hopping Johns on New Year, I need to break away from centering every Holiday around food. You give me a holiday, I name you a food. I need to not do this anymore. I need to take away some of the power that food has always had over me.

     So how does one go about this? I am not entirely sure.One of the things I know I HAVE to do, is avoid those trigger foods that send me on a downward spiral. But instead of focusing of what I will or can;t do, I will share what I am going to try in order to make a change.

      I will plan out more outings and/or activities that relate to being active or doing something other than eating. Going for walks or even a drive to admire Christmas Lights rather than hitting an eating place should be something I look forward to.Catching more movies for the movie itself not the popcorn and drinks. Putting up Christmas without needing to bake a million cookies shouldn't be that big of a deal. I just have to adjust my way of thinking. Even this blog and writing will help in focusing on all the great things that are around us and should have a higher rank when it comes not only to the Holidays but to every day life! We will see, I am going to give it my best shot.

I had to add this to the bottom of my post. Gwen, over at the Sunny Coconut shared this great post yesterday. If you haven't yet please take a moment and read it here. In her post, she shares a very good article on food addiction and defense mechanisms. Her explanation of it is something that brought me back to this post I had written earlier in the week. Food addiction, is probably part of what has made ( for me) the Holidays always have to be centered around food. Something I have to learn and discover about. I know it might not be the case for everyone but I encourage you to read her very good post. Until next time!