As we near the holiday season—and its inevitable challenges to sane eating and weight control—I’m highlighting the importance of speaking up. For stating your needs and preferences becomes especially important in the holiday push to join in, avoid making waves, and keep others happy. It’s not that joining in and making others happy is bad. It can lead to the abandonment of self-care, though, and of course to regained weight. And for this we often end up feeling pretty unhappy ourselves.
Speaking up can prove hard at times, perhaps especially in this season. I offer here some quick reading resources to help you get through these weeks feeling good about how you’ve cared for yourself, with some emphasis on the “speaking up” part.
Eat Sanely blogposts:
11/23/09 (“The Best Holiday Gift: No Weight Gain”)
12/22/09 (“The Joys of ‘Just Maintaining’”)
Click on “Older Entries”, below
Thin From Within blogpost:
11/4/10 (“Assertiveness and Eating Better: Speaking Up to Manage Your Weight”)
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thin-within
Other articles:
“Avoiding the Holiday Spread,” Suzette Glasner-Edwards, O the Oprah Magazine, 12/08
www.oprah.com/health/How-to-Avoid-Holiday-Weight-Gain
“4 Ways to Put Your Diet First,” Suzette Glasner-Edwards, oprah.com., 11/08
www.oprah.com/health/4-Ways-to-Put-Your-Diet-First
“Caring for Yourself at Thanksgiving,” A.F. Hutchinson, mybiglife.com, 11/08
http://mybiglife.com/emotional-weight/288-caring-for-yourself-at-thanksgiving.html
