Now that Halloween is behind us, Thanksgiving isn’t far behind.

How do you prepare for this celebration of abundance and bounty?

For me, the holiday has deep meaning. When I reflect on my Eating Disorder Self, I’m able to find compassion for past behaviors and honor my journey from that dark place into the light that reflects the brilliance of the Healthy Self I embody today. This is not so much about my relationship with food as it is about my relationship to Life. This is about bringing my best self to the table.

I share this with you as I know the holidays aren’t always happy for all. Perhaps you, or a loved one, are not in a place emotionally, physically or spiritually that you’d hoped you’d be at this time. Additionally, the expectations related to family time and socializing can be quite much. And if those triggers aren’t enough, all that food can throw the best plans for self care into dis-array.

To that point, our relationship with food mirrors our relationship with life – how we treat ourselves and who shows up to the table. In other words, what we eat is vitally important to our health, our mood, and our waistlines; but our intention, the experience we bring with us to the table, allows for awareness. Such awareness is needed to facilitate the changes that empower us to make better choices and value judgements. With that, and a loyalty to all we desire, comes a life centered in love, joy and freedom.

The Freedom Promise – a system of strategies I’ve developed and shared with hundreds of clients who’ve transformed their relationship with food, starts with practicing gratitude. Living in gratitude allows for the acknowledgement of all we have, all we are; not what we’re lacking or what we’re not.

You may feel you don’t have everything you want, but I promise you have enough to move forward.

Can you find gratitude for all you have today?

Can you embrace positivity and allow enthusiasm to rise up by seizing the opportunity you have right now to be appreciative?

Can you appreciate the fact that you have this opportunity to re-frame and do your best to take the next small step forward to the table of life?

Stepping into the space of gratitude allows us to find our way back to a time when we were comfortable – before life cycle stressors took over and our story became one of relying on self-soothing behaviors in order to find that place again. For many, that time is a lost memory, erased from our consciousness, but I assure you it’s there, waiting to be embraced for the body remembers what the mind can’t. The freshly baked brownie, bag of chips, glass of wine, or new pair of shoes will never satisfy if we don’t find compassion and consciousness for the abundance we are already surrounded with. Gratitude allows us to see that abundance for what it is – whether it be spiritual, social or materialistic. Compassion and consciousness allow for acceptance of who we are now and we can begin to feel truly nourished.

We’re nourished by so much more than the food on our plates. We receive essential nourishment from our relationships, spirituality, physical activity and purpose. We are nourished by the experience that surrounds us, the lifestyle choices we make, and when it comes to food, the heartiness and sentiment of that meal is nourishing as well. There is a difference between participating with joy and acceptance or with confusion and uncertainty. There’s even a difference between eating with pleasure or eating for pleasure.

In our busy ness – with an emphasis on responsibility, work, care-giving, and staying connected, to be fully nourished, we must focus on more than our bodies – we must feed our hearts, minds and spirit.

So, in closing…Explore and honor what you’re hungry for…. let go of what you can that’s no longer serving you…sharpen your sense of awareness for what’s true and what’s not, and practice loving gratitude as you re-frame your story to read happily ever after.

Mindy Gorman-Plutzer is a Certified Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Practitioner, Board Certified Health Coach and a Certified Eating Psychology Coach. 

She offers practical nutrition and lifestyle coaching which is aligned with the practices of Functional Medicine and the proven strategies of The Freedom Promise. She will guide you to your best nutrition and lifestyle choices, while you uncover the root cause and triggers that are creating challenging symptoms. Mindy can meet with you in her Manhattan office, or virtually, from wherever you are.