With the holidays swiftly approaching, feelings of joy, contentment and anticipation are on the rise. However, it can be hard to truly enjoy the holidays when preoccupied with anxiety and fear of the alleged weight-gain which accompanies the season.
“It’s kind of like an urban legend — like the freshman 15 — where people don’t really gain as much weight as they anticipate,” Elson Student Health nutritionist Melanie Brede said. “There’s a lot more anxiety involved with the holiday season than there should be. Thanksgiving is traditionally a feast day on which people tend to overeat and feel very full, but this should be kept in perspective — it’s one day out of 365 days.”
The anxiety behind the weight gain of the holidays is unwarranted if the rest of the year you take in a balanced diet with moderate levels of physical activity, University sports psychologist Dr. Jason Freeman said in an email.
“The balance is different for any given person,” he said. “If one has healthy lifestyles outside the holidays, the odds of disrupting that balance after a short-term change in caloric consumption are quite low.”
The key to avoiding feelings of anxiety which accompany the holidays is to have a healthy mindset and perspective about eating.
“Intuitive eating is the key,” University Heart Center nutritionist Mary Lou Perry said. “The thing you want to do is eat according to hunger and let that be your guide. It’s a lot about portion control — think of eating smaller portions, with almost a tapas approach, because many times it’s the first or second bite that’s most delicious, but the 25th bite is just not as great.”
The human body experiences sensory adaptation, a phenomenon that occurs on all levels of the biological system. The neurons communicating with the brain are constantly adapting and changing to maintain equilibrium of the senses — this explains why stimuli, including the taste of food, are more overwhelming and powerful upon first encounter.
“That first taste is the one that lights up the brain the most,” Perry said. “The more that you eat it, it does not have the same impact — the first few bites are the most pleasurable. After the first three or four bites, you get taste fatigue from having taste after taste after taste. It’s a lot about the presentation, so make sure the food actually stays on your tongue long enough to enjoy it and to savor and taste it.”
University Dining Executive Nutritionist Paula Caravati said the more one obsesses over weight loss and calorie restriction, the more likely one is to overeat and gain weight.
“If you are preoccupied with weight gain and think that you are not entitled to pleasurable meals, you are more likely to overeat — thus, my own personal and professional mantra: ‘All things in moderation,’” Caravati said. “Stop categorizing food dichotomously — it’s not about food being good or bad, but making choices that may be wiser and healthier.”
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