I love Thanksgiving. I love the smells, the tastes, the friends, the family, and the coziness of it all. What I don’t like is the day after Thanksgiving—that moment when you’re lying in bed, and all of a sudden you remember what you ate the day before, and you think, Why did I eat so much?
This year I’m going to try a new tactic—I’m going to start preparing early for Thanksgiving dinner.
Sure, I’ll make the rolls and the pies and the stuffing, but that’s not all I’m going to do. This year, I’m also going to prepare my mind for Thanksgiving dinner.
I’ll take a look at the lies I believe that make me want to stuff myself with moist turkey, savory stuffing, creamy mashed potatoes and gravy, warm rolls with butter, pumpkin pies made from scratch, fluffy whipped cream . . . on second thought, I think I better start right now. It may take me awhile to get ready for Thanksgiving this year.
The Seven Lies of Thanksgiving
1. It’s Thanksgiving—I should eat.
Truth: It’s Thanksgiving – I should be extra careful with what I eat because it will be easy to eat too much.
2. I don’t know when I’ll get this again. I better eat as much as I can now.
Truth: Chances are I’ll get the same thing tomorrow for leftovers, but if everything is gone, I can always make it again.
3. This food is so good that I should have seconds.
Truth: This food is so good that I need to concentrate on thoroughly enjoying each and every bite. In all seriousness, I will enjoy myself more if I eat a healthy amount and savor it, than if I eat an unhealthy amount and not fully appreciate it. (It’s hard to truly appreciate large amounts of food.)
4. It’s Thanksgiving. I should celebrate (by eating whatever I want).
Truth: It’s Thanksgiving—I should celebrate God’s goodness by praising Him with every fiber of my being. Eating three pieces of pie is not an expression of praise.
5. I shouldn’t have to follow my boundaries on holidays.
Truth: Boundaries protect me. My life will actually be better if I don’t stuff myself on Thanksgiving. And it will definitely be better the next morning when I wake up and remember that I followed my boundaries.
6. It won’t be as much fun if I don’t eat whatever I want.
Truth: It will actually be more fun, because I’ll be able to totally enjoy what I eat without having to feel so uncomfortable and regretful afterwards.
7. I can’t help myself—it’s there, and I’m going to eat it.
Truth: If I fill my mind with truth before I sit down to dinner, there’s a good chance I won’t even want to stuff myself.
Podcasts to Help with Holiday Eating
2018 Update: If you’d like some podcast episodes to help you with holiday eating, check out the following:
Preparing our minds and hearts is so important. I love this part- “I should celebrate God’s goodness to me by praising Him with every fiber of my being. Eating three pieces of pie is not an expression of praise.”
Thanksgiving is about being thankful! So let’s do that instead of eating enormous amounts of food that leave us bloated, gassy and miserable fore a few hours!
Great thoughts Barb. We don’t have thanksgiving in our culture, but i relate when i apply this to Christmas! Love this “it will definitely be better the next morning when I wake up and remember that I followed my boundaries”.
I like the idea of preparing early – preparing for the war that will inevitable ensue.
One of the things that has been helpful for me is to eat slowly and really taste the food. It sounds really simple but it helps me enjoy the Thanksgiving emotional feel without just shoveling the food down.
Barb, You’ve helped me prepare ahead of time by exposing these lies! Thank you:)