Thanksgiving Deception

Thanksgiving is over. You have successfully awakened from your food coma. The guests have gone by now, hopefully. Unless they are still in their food coma as well.

“Ahh”, you say, “Good ‘ole tryptophan. It’s enough to make anyone sleepy!”

Really? That’s what it is?

Or maybe it’s the overindulgence of Thanksgiving? And Christmas, Easter, July 4th, Birthday Parties, New Years, Valentines Day….shall I go on?

But at Thanksgiving in particular, we like to deceive ourselves and talk about the tryptophan content in turkey. What if I told you there were plenty of other foods with similar levels of tryptophan? What if I told you that eating protein helps regulate your bodies blood sugar response to a meal? Meaning you are less likely to feel sleepy after consuming protein than you are when you eat carbs.

Maybe, just maybe, you got sleepy because you overate like our friend Dory below. Stop pretending it’s the tryptophan.

There are other ways we deceive ourselves and excuse our behavior. Little messages we say in our heads.

“It’s just one bite.”

“I’ll just try it.”

“[INSERT HOLIDAY] only comes once a year.”

“I’ll start eating well after [INSERT HOLIDAY]”

“I had vegetables” - Yes, loaded with dip

“All I had for dinner was salad” - And three glasses of wine and dessert.

Please understand, I am not against having fun. I am not against having some pie, or wine or even a bigger portion than usual.

What I am against is rationalizing the behavior and not acknowledging it for what it is. You can indulge from time to time. And when you do, you may experience some weight gain, you may feel like crap the next day. Be honest with yourself about what you are doing. Plan for the indulgence if you can to minimize the damage, but please do not lie to yourself.

I am a fan of truth. Deception is bad, self deception is worse.