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Hello! I’m guest blogger, Lisa Robinson. With Thanksgiving almost here, consider what your perspective is about food and the holidays. If you find it easy to overindulge, and then beat yourself up about it, maybe it’s time to try a different approach.

In a thought-provoking Huffington blog post from a couple of years ago, Dr. Michelle May talks about a recipe for overeating vs. a recipe for mindful eating. Not surprisingly, overeating is connected with deprivation, guilt, shame, fatigue, stress, resentment, loneliness, perfection, and boredom. With all that negativity connected to it, it’s easy to see that overeating over the holidays can spin out of control.

Instead of feeling as if you’ve let yourself down again, and that you’ll never gain control of your holiday eating, consider the mindful approach. This is where you act with intention, and the recipe includes trust, pleasure, enjoyment, celebration, and tradition. What a difference it makes when guilt and shame are not present in any way.

See Dr. May’s complete post here: https://ow.ly/EPFfA

As you get ready for any holiday celebrations you will attend, mindfully pay attention to your thoughts and to your body. What do you want and need? If a craving doesn’t really have to do with food, what else could satisfy you? If you’re not sure, try taking a few minutes to reflect and write about what you’re experiencing.

Anything that you do to make mindful choices around holiday food is worth your effort. I wish you the best if your intention is to make changes this holiday season that keep you grounded in mindfulness.

If you have any comments, please post them below. I look forward to sharing more resources about mindfulness with you in future posts. Enjoy a mindful week!