A Great Christmas In Recovery

(Christmas Brunch: grits with tomato gravy, quiche, monkey bread, sausage egg casserole and fruit salad)

("Sandy Claws")

But the best thing about this Christmas was that I was not depressed or anxious about the food.  So what if we were cooking and eating some fattening foods?  One way of looking at Christmas is like a Jesus' birthday party and I thought to myself, "If someone was at my birthday party, I would want them to have a good time and to enjoy the yummy, tasty food that I had prepared for the celebration-I wouldn't want them to worry about anything so silly as weight during my party!"  Neither do I think God wants us to worry about anything so superficial as weight during the celebration of Jesus birthday either!  And if you are not Christian, then I still pardon you from worrying about your weight during any time of great celebration.  (And really, you don't need to worry about it at any time at all.)

(Yum!)

I follow mindfulness, which is basically trying to be mindful of my body's hunger signals-eating when I'm hungry and stopping when I'm not.  I don't diet and yet, because of being in the diet mindset for so many years, I still have to give myself pep talks, positive affirmations, and rationals for not letting myself getting sucked back in sometimes.  Fortunately, once I focus in on whatever pep talk, affirmation, rational, etc. that I have chosen to keep me grounded, I am able to carry on my day living in recovery from my eating disorder, which is absolutely wonderful.

Sausage Egg Casserole - Sausage used to be one of my main fear foods and I'm so glad it's not anymore, because the casserole is really good!

Monkey  Bread - Absolutely delicious and very easy to make

Asparagus Quiche - I halved the recipe and used soy eggnog instead of cream, which was fabulous!

I'll post the tomato gravy recipe when I get it-my mom is the one who found it, so I don't know what website it came from yet.

I am having a wonderful holiday season and I hope you are too, but of course, I am aware that the holidays are often difficult for many people-if they are for you, practice being kind to yourself and others, being mindful of the moment and your body, and be grateful for at least one thing, even if it is just for the fact that you are alive or that you know the moment will eventually pass.  Shalom!

(I want these shoes!)