Hi Friends!
We are approaching the last holiday in the trifecta of holidays: New Year! I am sure majority of us can say “we are ready for 2020 to be DONE!” I hope this year gave us all some perspective on life and to see the silver linings on things we should be grateful for, which includes your body and mind.
Approaching the new year, majority of individuals will be renewing their gym memberships, swearing off “bad foods”, and getting ready for the “new you”. Is this you? Are you eating everything in the house to rid all the “bad” foods to have a fresh start on Jan. 1, 2021. You’re thinking “eat it ALLLLLLL now because one Jan. 1 hits, you’re not allowed to have it again.”
Let's pause on this thought.
Have you heard of the “last supper syndrome”? Basically, it’s exactly the thought above: eat it all now, I am not allowed to have it on my new diet for the new me. This act of eating all the things or binging, which can actually cause weight gain (before your diet even starts)! WHAT?! Let’s unpack this– you might think the last supper is the last time you can eat all the “bad” foods, this is going to jumpstart your new diet. On your new diet, you’re only going to eat foods that are “good for you” depriving yourself of other foods.
Side thought: define good and bad foods? Everyone’s definitions are different.
This, my friends, is also termed a binge-restrict plan and can turn into a vicious mind game with yourself. If you are an avid dieter, the thought of starting a diet might make you start feeling deprivation kicking in, am I right? Then you start craving what you can’t have or what you deem is not allowed on your new diet. Damn those cravings, always start when you cross them off your list. Now that the mind games have started, restriction also signals your body to believe it’s starting a famine, which naturally leads you to have the desire to feast. *cough* last supper *cough*.
Say you started your diet strong and then your cravings are growing stronger and stronger. Then you decide to “treat yo self” with a bad food. You eat more than you expected and immediately feel guilty and say “you will start the diet again on Monday”. So the cycle continues.
New year, new thought: don’t go on a diet. Pause for dramatic effect.
Allow yourself to have a variety of foods. Afterall, you are in control of you. You don’t need perfectionistic willpower to enjoy all foods. Make 2021 the year that all foods fit.
Side side thought: we are in a pandemic where financial stability is hitting groups harder than others especially to keep food on the table. An individual in this situation may feel as if they need to eat all the food all at once because they don’t know when they will eat again. The above information may not apply.