Rules for the Holidays

Who wants to avoid the “Holiday” bloat and weight gain?? It happens especially since this is the time of year when gluttony rears its ugly head. Two rules to implement during this time of year when it comes to eating. Rule number one, only eat when your stomach wants to eat. And rule number two is, intermittent fasting. These are the only two rules I follow day in and day out. As they are so easy and do not require any guessing game. Depending on your health or lifestyle please be sure to consult with your doctor or at least research the practices before you begin to ensure they will not come with any increased health risks. As usual, I am only planting a seed by informing and sharing my experiences.

Only eating when you are hungry keeps you mindfully aware of your body’s needs and helps curve the number one weight gain contributor, emotional eating. Binging when your body is not ready to accept food does horrors to one’s metabolism. Yes, we all experience emotional spikes and want to pig out in the hopes it makes us feel better when it never does. Well except for if its something sugary and sweet then when we get a temporary high that falsely makes us feel good. Invest in a journal to curse in it, yell at someone in it, for anything you need to let out. It is very important to get that emotional energy out. When we are happy we let the whole world know it. And yet when we are sad, we keep it to ourselves, that comes with the burden of shame. Don’t feel shamed or bad when feeling sad find positive outlets to sufficate it like going to the Zoo, watching an uplifting movie or book, or just letting someone know you’re are 😔 and hopefully he/she will do something stupid to cheer you up.

So when your mental awareness is challenged a few rules to live by only drink or consume recreational drugs when you are already naturally high as in joyful, happy, and well spirited. If you’re already down, once their effects wear off, it will only bring you lower. How low can you go isn’t just a song and like the song some get too low and can’t bounce back up quickly.

Gratitude will get you through the pain of the Holidays. Good memories of the past, missing love ones, and yearning for something that you do not have creates difficult times. Forgive others and forgive yourself equates to moving on, which leads to appreciating what you have or your current state of mind. The end result in locating the beauty within yourself is that you will recognize it in others and all things, the best gratitude.

The most important rule is that only you know what makes you happy. You know what you like and how to do things that bring about favorable results for you. So hold onto those patterns of goodness and when you’re low, they will bring you back up. A quick turnaround for me is Elf with Will Ferrell, that ish has me laughing so hard that I forget any troubles for myself or within the world. And then I am back to my happy place!

Here is my point of view on Intermittent Fasting…two seasons ago I stumbled upon this simple lifestyle by accident. I wanted so bad to live in Takoma Park, MD that I took the first opportunity that came my way. I rented a one bedroom with a private bath. I visited the house several times prior to moving in and it always appeared neat and clean. A few days after I had moved in I started to notice things changing. The daughter and grandchild I was informed was visiting was their every day and all day. Then one day the owner comes to me and questions if I am squeamish. I quickly replied, YES! And why are you asking me this? She replies with she thinks there is a 🐭. Readily, I am like ole Shit as I can’t locate the value in appreciating those types of creatures. Quickly I head to Ace and purchase mice and 🐀 traps. A friend gave me these plugins that keep pests away. So needless to say, I never ate there. I was there for some months and I could not bring myself to enter the kitchen. At the time I traveled with work so I was only there two-three days a week which were my days off.

I have always been an early riser. I would get up journal, fiddle around in my room, and when I couldn’t bare the hunger pains anymore I would walk a mile or if it was too 🥶, catch the bus to downtown Takoma. Eat until I could not eat anymore and then return to my room. I did not have a body mirror. My clothes began to fit loose and people were complimenting me on losing weight. Before I had knew it, I had lost twenty pounds without any effort. And I did not fast everyday just on the days I was off.

Later as I was baffled I read about intermittent fasting and it fit my description to a “T”. I would go twelve hours or more without eating. Those hours do include the eight to ten hours I would sleep at night. Due to the fact I am an early riser, I go to bed early as well. My eating window was probably from noon to five in the afternoon. In those five hours I ate whatever I wanted. I have eaten at almost every restaurant in Takoma Park more than twice. I have continued with it ever since. Now I have an eight hour eating window which is typically from nine to five. I do make adjustments when I do not eat breakfast in the morning. Break-the-fast is the most important meal of the day. My preparation before any meal is drinking 💦 thirty minutes prior. Eating and drinking water is not good for digesting as the water puts the 🔥 out.

One great thing about intermittent fasting is that it allows one the opportunity to learn his/her body. In the since that I know it is okay for me to go five hours until my next meal. My first meal consists of 🥓, two 🥚 and half of a waffle with pecan maple syrup. It’s is a balance of protein, fat, and carbs that keep me satisfied, Especially since I sit for pretty much most of the day. And then for lunch I have whatever I want. Most of the time it is something with at least a cup of beans and maybe some black rice. This usually keeps me full for the rest of the day. I eat this way the three days I go into the office.

On the days that I do not go into the office, like now it is past noon and I have not eaten. My stomach has growled a few times but I ate late last night like three this morning, so I will not eat until after three today. When I am ready to eat I will then drink some water to remind my belly that I have not eaten and to wake up and prepare for a meal.

Other than a few steps here and there, I have not exercised in a long while and I still maintain the initial twenty pounds lost. My eating habits are through the roof and without limitations. Now, I am some what active like this morning I cleaned and completed two loads of laundry. So my body is burning calories and most importantly it is burning the already existing calories (stored fat). When I do exercise I have trained my body to complete an hour of barre prior to eating. I am a forty-one year old person of Color and I do not have high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease or any other genetic turmoil that stampedes my family 🌳. It is worth the try!

I am getting ready to sauté some collard greens for tonight’s potluck Turkey Day Celebration and my stomach will growl and I will feed it 💦. Hope your Holiday is safe and filled with plenty of admiration. As always thank you for taking the to read and I welcome any comments.