Did you really eat all of that?
Mornin' 
I woke up with about a billion things I wanted to share with you all today. Alas, I cannot write them all so let's start with my top favorite.
This past weekend was full of celebration. My birthday, my mom was here, the weekend before Christmas, the Nutcracker, baked sweets, time with family, a magazine appearance. All that jazz.
With celebration comes indulgent foods. Some heavy, some light, some chocolate, some full of cheese, some with bubbly and everything in between.
How does one enjoy, indulge, eat well and still finish the weekend not feeling overstuffed, bloated, groggy from sugar and guilty? I'll show ya how I do it.
I talked a bit about this back over HERE but let's take some of this a step further, shall we?
A few of my favorite foods that I had this week:
biscuit with honey butter, banana muffins, short ribs, gingerbread with cinnamon frosting, mashed potatoes, banana creme pie, prosecco, crustless egg quiche, chocolate zucchini bread, and more prosecco.
One thing to note: I like bananas and prosecco.
Here's how I enjoyed all of those foods, plus more without once feeling stuffed or over indulged…
I told myself that I COULD.
Yes Jenn, you can enjoy food. You can eat whatever floats your boat, no matter what that looks like. You can eat and you can taste it all. Yes you can.
Imagine that? So simple.
With that freedom comes one step: listening to my body. If I'm no longer hungry, I put my fork down. If I am feeling full, I walk away from the food and save it for later. If the food doesn't taste as good as I had hoped, I stop eating it. I am constantly aware of my body and how it feels.
The result?
I loved every bite. I stopped when I was content. I didn't go back for seconds, thirds or fourths unless I was hungry. When I finished eating I forgot about the food and was more focused on the incredible company around me.
I truly ate intuitively. Dare I say I ate mindfully.
No number calculations. No demands (you can only have one Jenn, don't touch those chocolate truffles, only eat half the potatoes to keep the carb count down, drink a gallon of water before the meal so you aren't terribly hungry).
I was a normal eater.
And yes, I consider that this style of eating is "healthy." But my definition of healthy is likely different from many. Healthy doesn't ONLY include fruits, veggies, lean protein, lowfat dairy and whole grains. Yes, I love those foods and eat them regularly but…
My definition of healthy is a variety of foods, foods that nourish my body and my mind, foods that give me energy to live my life and a lifestyle that gives me balance. All foods fit in when you strive for balance.
After this weekend I was sitting on the couch thinking about what I used to do during the holidays. A few years ago I would be calculating about how many calories I had eaten and planned out the number of miles I would run to burn them off. I would also be planning out the salad I would be having at every meal for the next five days.
Are those things necessarily wrong? Maybe not but he reason BEHIND them is what took me in the wrong direction. I would plan, plan, plan because of guilt. I would exercise because I couldn't fathom how eating a brownie wouldn't lead to weight gain. I would exercise because I couldn't resist the fear that my jeans would be tight this week or that my stomach wouldn't be as flat as it could be.
Never would I exercise because my body felt energized, sparked, and refreshed. Never would I eat salad because my body craved it.
Not now though. I was a healthy eater this weekend. I was a normal eater. I listened and respected my body.
And that is better than anything I could give to myself during the holidays.
Friends, are you able to enjoy your favorite food during the holidays? Have you found what normal eating means to you? SHARE!
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