"After the holidays....."

I hear it in my practice all day long, and I am secretly guilty of this myself. What is “it” you ask?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is the line, “after the holidays”!

Just fill in the blank…I’ll go on a diet after the holidays. I’ll start exercising after the holidays. I’ll cleanse after the holidays. I’ll get organized after the holidays. And on it goes.

Why do we do this to ourselves? It seems illogical that simply because the date on the calendar says it is time for festivities, we just let ourselves go. Welcome to the human brain! We are such clever creatures that we are capable of rationalizing anything and everything.

Studying the brain is one of my favorite occupations, in fact I consider myself an expert at understanding what drives our thoughts and behaviors. It’s what I do, I help people balance out their brain chemistry so that their behavior is exactly that…balanced. But try as I might, I can’t overcome the procrastination and total abandon that happens this time of year!

This year I have a new strategy, want to hear it? Whenever someone comes in and tells me about how terribly they’ve been eating, or how they have quit exercising because there just isn’t time – I say “perfect, why don’t you start up after the holidays”. I am giving everyone, including myself, permission to indulge in life!

In the past, I strongly recommended to everyone that they should eat well all week and allow the indulgences just on weekends. I also wanted them to exercise even more to compensate for the richer foods. I harped on drinking water, taking their supplements, getting enough rest and even taking breaks from the chaos.

What was I thinking? The more I think about it, the more I realize I was out of line! Who am I to be sensible when the rest of the world is just trying to find a little happiness? So please, enjoy your holidays…in fact, I plan to enjoy with you :)