Caution: Eating season is here

Written by Jeff Lund @alaskalund

Here we go. The triumvirate or trash food is upon us. 

Leftover candy takes us right to the glorious, albeit gluttonous, Thanksgiving holiday and finally, egg nog with cousin Eddie all the way through New Year’s Eve when we try to kick it all. 

That’s the problem with this time of year because we spend two months practicing some of the worst eating of the year, create new habits under the guise of “‘tis the season,” then try to stop it all suddenly, because the year changes. 

Now is the time to be strong especially if you are in the routine of making resolutions that don’t last past March Madness. 

According to a Factoid Nation Study funded by the Factless Foundation for what Could Be True, most New Year’s Resolutions are doomed to fail thanks to the catastrophic eating and workout tendencies which start with Halloween.

Even without actual facts to back it up, it makes sense. My journalism class had a Halloween Party. Outside of the rotisserie chicken that was flaked off with plastic forks into a pile that could be added to Hawaiian bread for sandwiches, the party contained what you’d expect – BBQ chips, Chipotle chips, tortilla chips, store-bought guac, homemade 5-cheese dip, cookies and of course, candied moose tongue (Just kidding).

I sampled it all and it was good until my internal apparatus cried “No more!” 

And thus, it begun. As a teacher, I will be tempted with students who offer me candy not because I am their favorite teacher, but because they want permission to eat themselves. It will be easy to say no since I have consistently not eaten candy for years and don’t drink soda so my sugar tolerance is thankfully pretty low. But after days and days of temptation leading up to the culturally accepted binge eating of Thanksgiving and more people training for the binge because that’s funny too, dark days could lie ahead. It’s just a snack size…

 

In all seriousness, I really wish an actual study would be done about these two months, because I totally believe that my theory is correct. There is no better time of the year to make excuses about falling out of touch with dietary discipline and hitting the gym. You’re just two months from the New Year so the temptation to, “Ok, self, all this stops January 1” which leads to a free-for-all, maybe slow at first, or an avalanche. 

For some it can be a dreadful time of year in which people ask themselves how to stop overeating because it’s a habit. Binge drinking is also predictably practiced during this stretch.

“The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States notes that a quarter of the $49-billion-a-year distilled spirits industry’s profits come from the month between Thanksgiving and the New Year.”

People feel more single than ever during this season which for some, it’s motivation to hit the gym and meet some new people. For others, it’s difficult to handle being single during the holidays.

Don’t let any of that keep you from your goals. Don’t be a victim. Go into peak eating season with a plan to avoid holiday overeating or at least the motivation to do something about it the next day. The better you go into the New Year, the more likely you’ll be to make changes because rather than an entire life restart, you’re focusing on certain areas.

It’s here folks, temptation. Both barrels.

While full-send is the rallying cry for an optimized lifestyle, there are certain instances when you might want to scale back. 

 

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