The holidays can be an emotional time of year for many people. Such emotions can be good or bad, such as: sadness, anger, joy, boredom, or excitement. Combine these with the assortment of goodies that seem to be offered every time you turn around and it can be a “recipe” for disaster for someone trying to stay on course with their weight loss/maintenance plan!

If you find yourself turning to food when feeling emotional, stop! Eating will never fill an emotional need! Instead, try the following steps to help you manage your emotions in a productive, self-responsible way that won’t hinder your health goals:

1. Identify the emotion you are experiencing and why you are experiencing it (“back track”, if you must, in order to figure out what happened that brought these feelings you’re having on).
2. Allow yourself to experience your feelings without acting upon them.  
3. Consider the words/actions you could use to express your emotions, if need be. Also consider the effect of your emotional expression might have on others.
4. Choose the words/actions that will best reflect self-responsibility. 
5. Congratulate yourself on not using food as an outlet for your feelings! 

And, remember, if you need support in your weight-loss journey, just call! We are always here to help you reach your goals!