How To Splurge Safely This Thanksgiving

"The Bean Feast," Jan Steen

Question: Who enjoys and values their money more: those who won the lottery or those who earned it?

Sure, the person who won the lottery will enjoy their money, but I bet the person who earned their money appreciates and values it more.

When we earn something, it tastes and feels much sweeter.  There is no question.  We enjoy it more.  And this doesn't just apply to money.  It also applies to relationships, beauty, and food.

For most of us, Thanksgiving will be here soon.  Therefore, why don't we earn that meal so it feels and tastes even better?   But how?  Conditional rewards, meaning, if I do X, then I get to do Y.

If we do what we set out to do and accomplish our tasks for the day/week, it takes away the guilt we might feel from eating our favorite food or watching TV, or whatever it might be.  Why? Because there aren't all those things we know we should be doing hanging over our head.  

Some ideas of things to do before Thanksgiving:

• Finish that annoying work project
• Organize your office space
• Read and answer all emails before you leave work on Wednesday
• Have that conversation you've been putting off.
• Exercise everyday until Thursday
• No alcohol until Thursday

On Thanksgiving:

• Enjoy that meal guilt-free! You earned it!
• Don't let one day of indulgence turn into an attitude of "I might as well eat the whole pie." If you notice that...Stop. The. Eating.
• Don't beat yourself up.  It's just one day.

Day After Thanksgiving:

• Do what you need to do to get ready for the day, like putting on makeup, music, or meeting with a friend.  
• Plan on doing 45-60 minutes of moderate, steady state cardio (enough to get you to sweat) and 10 minutes (at least) of stretches that focus on twisting.  For a wonderful yoga video for digestion, click here.
• Drink lots of water, eat lots of dark leafy greens and high fiber foods (beans are an excellent choice).  Try to have little to no animal protein.
• Stop eating an hour earlier before you normally do and go to bed an hour earlier.

If we're going to eat our Thanksgiving meal anyway, why not use it as a motivator to help us do daily tasks rather than just eating the Thanksgiving meal without thought.  

Either way, give thanks and have a happy one!

Influences: My Body Tutor and Chalene Johnson.