Have you ever noticed, that no matter what holiday it is, there’s food associated with the celebration?  Even religious holidays where you “fast” there’s an ending of the fast meal that become part of the celebration. If you have fallen for the belief that limiting your food intake and increasing your exercise is going to make you lose weight permanently, holidays are a challenge. But eating during holidays never has to be a time for you to be depriving yourself and dieting. I can remember all the events when I was “on a diet” and refused to even taste any of the delicious foods that people had made. I felt awful, like I needed to punish myself for being overweight. And all the people without weight problems sat there are ate that food. Why is it that some people can eat anything, on any occasion, and maintain their weight? Why is life unfair? Because that’s the answer I got from my health practitioners. There is so much misunderstanding about how and why people gain weight. Unfortunately, despite the facts, there is very little disagreement among health care practitioners, and it has become “common wisdom” in the general population. It is the belief, that in order to lose weight you have to eat less and exercise more. But if you read the actual research, you learn that is not the case.  Worst of all, people who don’t have weight problems will fight vehemently for their position even quoting the law of thermodynamics (which doesn’t apply in this situation). First they ignore you,  then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. Mahatma Gandhi The sad thing is, people who are overweight, have taken on the belief that they are responsible for being overweight; that they over-ate, under-exercised, have no discipline, cheated at their diet, or did something else to “deserve” their over weight condition. They are first to blame themselves. There are extenuating circumstances that create conditions that make people overweight. Yes, over-eating can be one of the causes, but people don’t typically over-eat unless there is something wrong with their body’s feedback loop that tells them that they’ve eaten enough food! You only need to try to stuff more food in your mouth when you’ve had enough. You feel miserable. It’s painful! Some of the reasons that lead to overweight are: Genetic inheritance Epigenetic inheritance- (this is the newest research- the stress your parents were dealing with in THEIR lives..) Exposure to toxins while in utero, or during your lifetime Chronic or serial Stress Stress not only changes your and slows your metabolism, but it can cause you to eat as a response to stress. Multi-tasking and being overly busy makes you eat mindlessly, unaware of your body’s signals of satiation. Under-eating or Dieting Chronic dieting puts the body automatically into fat storage mode to prevent death from starvation. Your body is designed by nature to keep you at a weight set point. Over-exercising This increases your appetite automatically to prevent the body from losing too many calories, thus preventing weight loss. Your body is designed by nature to keep you at a weight set point. So, don’t diet or over-exercise to control your weight. Enjoy yourself, during holidays. This is the time to de-stress, and relax. Eat the food you love, stop taking blame for something that is not “your fault”.  Self deprivation is stressful and can wreak havoc with your metabolism. When you pay attention to your body’s signals of hunger and satiation, your body will keep you at your proper weight set point.