Gobble, gobble, can you believe it Thanksgiving is here! Speaking of “gobble”, this is not the time for so many of us to get gobbled up in the “curtain” of the “holidays”. I say the “curtain of the holidays”, because over the next seven weeks, those of us who really suffer from this disease can hide behind the “curtain of the holidays” and “eat” just like everyone else is doing! Oh sure, no one will notice us eating, because everyone is doing it, picking and chewing, and chewing, and chomping. All the food, spread out all over the place, plenty of opportunities for us to do all kinds of damage to ourselves.
This presents a couple of problems. First is that statistics say the average American will gain 14 to 20 pounds over the next 7 weeks…..Hello, Average!
When have most of us been average when it comes to eating? When they say 14 to 20 that means that some will gain 2 pounds and maybe some will even lose 3 pounds (Ha!). Then on the other hand, some of us could actually gain 40 or 60 pounds over the next seven weeks.
My problem is, especially if I do not keep myself in “check”, If I do not “Keep It Simple for Today”, my problem could and has been at times in the past that …
I begin eating the night before Thanksgiving (when we are doing the preparing) and do not finish until three days after the “Super Bowl” which is in late January early February. I can, and have eaten as if it is holiday every single one of those Seventy days.
This is why we all need to focus.
Thanksgiving is a day to surely be thankful and not for the poor Turkey that gave its life for us. We need to be “thankful for the chance to be able to be thankful”.
We need to look around and see the real things that we have to be thankful for.
Spend a moment (at least) during that day to reflect on the things you have to be thankful for. It is not about the food.
You have eaten it all before!
If you do right by yourself this year, you will live for another, to taste it all again.
Look, the reality is you are going to eat more than 1600 calories probably that day….okay!
That is one day! Not every day, not the next seven weeks! Besides it, does it really have to be 16,000 calories?
You can have a small piece of pie, a taste, if you need to have it…
Then that is it! The holiday does not continue until and through Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Years and Ground Hog Day.
No, there are breaks in between those days.
You do not have to celebrate every social event at office parties, house parties, family gatherings, and all of them with a mouthful of food.
Swallow a little and talk. Socialize, it is fun.
The Holidays can and should be a time to spend and enjoy with your friends, family and loved ones. Time spent, without food making you feel either sick, guilty or both!!
Whatever you do, do not say those horrible dreadful “Loser” words…..
”Ah, I’ll make a New Years Resolution and I will start my diet January 2nd”!!!!!!!
NO!!!!!!!!!!
It is only November, December, it is today!
Do it now! You are now!
You are alive …now!! You count…now!!
You can do it ….Now!
So gobble, gobble, let’s finish ’09 ….“In Line”!
“In Line for a great 2010”.
A 2010 where there will be no end of “You taking care of You”.
To all my friends and buddies and to all my “brothers and sisters” in battle ….
I wish to you a very happy, healthy, thankful holiday season and I am thankful we get this chance to share together…..
Eat smart, Think well, do not hate, be less angered, and smile when in neutral …..
All my love
Mike
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21 comments:
Thanks so much, Mike! What good timing...in this season of gluttony it's good to remember that you don't have to pig out to have a happy holiday season!! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and we all here really appreciate your wonderful, insightful words. We are thankful for you.
MaryLeigh in CT
Wow This is just in time and I thank you so much. I too am thankful for you in my life. I wish you and your family all the best for the holiday season.
Thank you for letting me see there are other possibilities.
Julie MA
Great holiday message, Mike. I am not embarassed to say that I am a thankful member of Al-Anon and the other day at a meeting, one woman proclaimed, "I am going to ENJOY my Thanksgiving Day!" regardless of the behavior of other people. I wish that for all my brothers and sisters in our own battle with our behavior. It's NOT about the food. It is one day a year when gluttony is the norm. But for us, that can turn the switch on that leads us further down the road to destruction. I have decided that the best Christmas present I can get this year is to wake up that morning having given myself all these days when I took care of myself. I wish you and your beautiful family a happy, healthy and enjoyable Thanksgiving, and God willing, I'll see you all here on Christmas.
I am new to this sight aa great nd what place to come to. MaryLeigh, Julie and Kathy you along with Mike have inspired me to really try this holiday not to make myself part of the meal. Rather to enjoy the holiday for what it really is, a time to share ourselves and our love.
God Bless you all and this blog.
Audrey Thomas
I read this blog a few times.. and wasnt sure how to respond to it.. but in reading it i decided ok is this what Thanksgiving is really about the food .. or is it family and friends and enjoying life..well its been a long time since i actually enjoyed life and i am so grateful to be here today...I am grateful for the family i have and my friends.. but most of all im grateful to be here another holiday to have made it through another year... and this was a tough year... but ya know what in the last few weeks i didnt use food as an excuse something i would normally do...but this year i find a peace n me a peace that takes over all the anger and all the hate and all the stress... look deep in you its there i promise... and this yea i have mom looking down on us going nooooo that is not the way i make the stuffing.. while she is having thanksgiving at one of the greatest tables of all....i know if i keep saying to myself you can make you are worth it and i go back to an old quote of mikes All things are possible as long as you believe.. a quote i live my life by
Happy Thanksgiving to all
Loves and hugggs
Carol
Great Message Mike one that we all needed at least I did.
Tim G
Mike you are so right, the holidays especially this year can not be about food for me. I am going to do it and enjoy the moment.
Sue
Dear Michael
You have a way of touching my heart and making me look at life. Thank you for you being who you are.
Geraldine G
Michael
I want to wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving. You have certainly helped make my holiday more livable.
Sandy Edwards VT
Mike
I tired my best and did not do as I planned. I now have to deal with the guilt. This will probably cause more problems for me. Any suggestions?
Charles Wright
I have to agree with Charles. I am having a rough time of getting over the left overs. I love to eat and it is killing me.
Help
Gloria T
Hey Gloria,
Had to respond to you-- what helps for me is I individually portion out my leftovers in tupperware, freezing most and keeping a couple in the fridge. That way, you have portion control and know when to stop. Plus, the leftovers last longer in the freezer!! Hope that might help ya!
MaryLeigh in Ct
Thank you MaryLeigh, took some of your advice. Froze some of them and gave the rest away. Thanks for caring, what a nice place this blog is. I wish we would all share more with each other.
Gloria
To all of us who have not done what we would have liked over Thanksgiving, check out Mike's blog entry called "Not Such Good Choices" from about a year ago. It's a great one. As for me, I'm going to try and have a good month so that I don't fall into that old pattern of waiting until New Year's to "start over".
"If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, the fulfillment of your fall."
Dear Kathy
I just read that past blog you suggested and thank you I needed it. Thank you to Mike also and I too am going to have a rest of this month a good one.
Lori W
Dear Michael
This blog site is a wonderful place for me to come. Not only do I enjoy and get so much fron the things you share but I also get inspired often from what I read that the visitors write.
I am going to do well this holiday season
Heddy P
I have to share something with MaryLeigh and the rest of the bloggers. The other day my in-box had a post on the prior "cheating" blog from ML. I thought it was a new post to the prior blog. When I looked at it closer, it was ML's entry from September 17. Now there is no rhyme or reason why that should have appeared in my in-box...but it did. I swear to you people, I'm not drinking, I'm not crazy, and I don't have the computer know-how to have ever pulled that thing back into my in box. Another time in my life when I've felt the hand of the universe. I'm going to do my best to honor that guidance by following it.
geez Kathy put down the bottle! :)
I'm kidding, that's so weird!
ML
To Mike, Kathy, ML, Carol, Gloria,Charles and all these people on this blog. You can not imagine how you have helped me over the past few months, you are like this family of others who know and understand. I learn, I get encouraged, and I pull myself up over and over. I feel I am not alone. Thank you all God bless you and have a happy holiday. A special thanks to you Mike, you will never get what you mean to so many.
My name is Paula and I am addicted to food.
To Mike, Kathy, ML, Carol, Gloria,Charles and all these people on this blog. You can not imagine how you have helped me over the past few months, you are like this family of others who know and understand. I learn, I get encouraged, and I pull myself up over and over. I feel I am not alone. Thank you all God bless you and have a happy holiday. A special thanks to you Mike, you will never get what you mean to so many.
My name is Paula and I am addicted to food.
Hi Paula, I love this blog too! Mike offers a really philosophical and optimistic view that really helps me think of things in new ways. And it helps me forgive myself when I backslide, because I read that other people have been there too.
My current problem these days is that I'll pick out things at the store sometimes knowing full well that they may be 'trigger foods' but I buy them anyway...I really need to work on stopping that. My husband is thin and has a hummingbird metabolism and I'll justify that that particular food is for him.
Anyways...happy holidays to everyone out there. Lets make this the best holiday season ever and positively affirm our own wellbeings and nourish our own souls.
MaryLeigh in CT
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