Hey everyone! It’s Dr. Angela here.
I’m getting frantic emails and posts on FB from people who are really worried about their holiday baking traditions.
What do you do about holiday baking if you’re trying to avoid sugar and flour?
I mean let’s face it, if you’re baking, you’re elbow deep in the stuff, and if you’re anything like me, it’s probably splattered all over the kitchen! You’re in luck, because that’s what we’re going to talk about today.
If you don’t already know me, I’m a medical weight loss doctor and the creator of JBWL, an online program designed to help people lose weight and keep it off.
The holidays are approaching quickly! And so many of us are bakers – we bake pies, cookies, and other handcrafted treats for our friends. We even go to holiday baking parties and cookie exchanges.
This can be a really, really, REALLY, tough time of the year for people trying to eliminate sugar and flour from their diets.
My sister has a tradition of making gingerbread. She makes cookies for everyone she loves based on their individual interests. For my dad, who was an aeronautical engineer, she’d make airplane cookies. These little treats we make for people, can mean a lot, and I don’t want to negate their value, because there is an emotional connection to these long-standing traditions. Gingerbread making started when we were just children, and you may have similar family traditions.
On a deeper level, especially if you’re a “people pleaser”, this makes you feel valued, appreciated and needed.
But you, like so many others, are panicking right about now. Now that you realize just how addictive these holiday treats are, do you really want to be making them, and giving them to others?
Just the other day, one of my new patients had a big “aha” moment, right there in the classroom. Every year she makes mountains of fudge, and even sells it for charity. What was she going to do now??
I totally get it. There’s this conflict that goes on between wanting to live a healthy, vibrant life, free of addictive sugar and flour, and wanting to have that connection and joy that comes with these holiday treats. I so totally get that.
You could make the decision that you’ll go right ahead with the usual holiday traditions and deal with the consequences later. You could do that. That’s a valid choice. However, I’d like to give you another choice.
Perhaps there is a way to change the tradition, starting this year.
For example, one of my friends used to give away hand-dipped chocolate covered pretzels. She spent hundreds of dollars and DAYS making these pretzels every December. People would be anticipating them every year, asking about them. Until finally one year, she realized, she was actually consuming a lot of the broken pretzels herself – and that her weight kept going up and up.
She realized that this was the trigger point when her holiday eating would start to get way out of control. It was like a switch had been flipped in her brain, and she would just give up trying to manage her cravings until after the holidays. She also realized that this wasn’t a very good example for her young daughter.
So a few years ago, she started a new tradition, with her daughter. She learned how to make herbal sachets to give away as gifts instead. Her daughter could actually participate more in this tradition and they had wonderful mommy-daughter time together.
Now, instead of anticipating pretzels, people are anticipating sachets. Initially, some people were disappointed, but my friend explained that this was a decision that she made primarily for her daughter’s benefit. And who could argue with that?
She also noticed that some people felt relief! Apparently, the pretzels were a trigger for their out-of-control holiday eating as well!
What if the idea of making “herbal sachets” just doesn’t appeal to you? Well, I went to Google and to Pinterest and found tons of great ideas! How about ….
And that’s just a few of the ideas I found! It just takes a willingness to be open to thinking more creatively about your holiday traditions.
So, this is my challenge for you, I want you to really “think” about all of those holiday baking traditions, and ask yourself, ‘what’s actually more important to you’?
And, if people are expecting your treats, then ask yourself, ‘is it more important to please them, or is it more important to take ownership of your own health’? This is a decision only you can make.
And guess what? I have some great news for you! Because I really want to help you get through this holiday season without any weight gain, I’m going to be doing a 3 Day Sugar Busters Kickoff Challenge!
Starting – Tuesday November 12th – Thursday Nov 14th — BEFORE the holidays, and just in time to help you soar through this holiday season without the standard 10-15# weight gain.
Keep an eye on your inbox for more details.
If you’re not on my email list, click the link below and sign up!
You’ll get my free expose, “5 Dirty Little Secrets the Food Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know“. The wiser you are to their little tricks, the easier it is to not get sucked in, right?
In the meantime, have fun getting healthy!
To Your Health!
Dr. Angela Zechmann
Link to Sugar Buster’s Kickoff Challenge: https://3daychallenge.journeybeyondweightloss.com/optin
Link to 5 Dirty Little Secrets of the Food Industry: http://foodindustrysecrets.journeybeyondweightloss.com/home-page
50% Complete
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.