How Lori Made the Best Thanksgiving Eating Plan Of Her Life

People watch what I eat when I am out in public.  I have, for a multitude of reasons, made different food choices that people notice. 

I used to worry about what they are thinking about me… I don’t anymore. Turns out, they weren’t thinking about me at all, they were always thinking of themselves!

You have likely had this experience before.  You are trying to follow a diet or an eating protocol and you have a party coming up and you’re just not sure how you are going to navigate the party without either one: eating off your plan and gaining weight and feeling like a failure or two: sticking to your plan and risk being called out and questioned in front of your coworkers, friends, and family for your different food choices.

I’ve been cornered, called out, questioned, stared at, whispered about, and mocked enough to know that the anxiety of eating differently than others in a social situation can be so uncomfortable and stressful. 

But here is something to think about… if you can approach these events as we train as a Woman Who Eats Well in the Frese Method Program, you can show up at any event, with any type of food, and have a blast and not be full of self-pity or self-consciousness.

In this session, I want to coach you through how to handle social food situations where you are afraid of judgment and share how my client Lori handled the anxiety of comments from her sisters ahead of time so she could create the best Thanksgiving eating plan of her life. 

A while back, in the weekly group coaching call in the 12-week program, we were discussing a client’s issue with wanting to stay on her protocol to repair her metabolism but she was worried about what her sisters would say if she didn’t load up her plate with all the flour and sugar she was not eating anymore.  She felt like she was setting herself up for ridicule and questions that she didn’t want to have to deal with. We’ll call her Lori, but that’s not her real name.

Who has been in this situation? Or are you anticipating this situation in the future?

Luckily, because I’ve been cornered, questioned, watched, and critiqued out loud for years, I was able to coach her right through this with my Method.

Here is what we did.

We made a plan in advance from the brain of her future self. 

Now, that may seem complicated, but hang with me, it’s incredibly simple and very powerful.

First, we jumped into the brain of her future self the day after the Thanksgiving Meal, so for her, that is November 25th.  

This is a superpower only humans have because of the pre-frontal cortex of our brains.

So, I asked, “when you wake up on November 25th, how do you want to feel?”

She said, “I want to feel proud. I want to feel l proud of myself. And not hungover...”

“Ok, awesome,” I said, “stay in the brain of your future self on November 25th. Now, how did you eat the day before, on Thanksgiving Day, that is making you feel so proud?”

Now, remember, this day hasn’t happened yet.  She is projecting herself into the future and now looking back one day.

She paused and closed her eyes and said, “I had a clean breakfast: chia pudding, and a cup of coffee with heavy whipping cream so I was feeling good.  I sat and chatted with my sisters while I drank my coffee and helped them peel potatoes. 

Then I helped them cook and drank green tea all day without snacking on the marshmallows or the crackers.  

I took a short walk with my dad around the block and chatted with him.  When I came back in, I helped set the table and the kids all started to show up.  

Everyone was talking and I was drinking sparkling water with a slice of lime.  Then we sat down for dinner around 4 pm and I was ready to eat, but not ravenous. I made a plate of turkey with gravy, green beans with almonds, Brussels sprouts with bacon which I made, a half serving of bread stuffing, some green olives, brie cheese, and smoked salmon from the appetizer board and I had one glass of chardonnay. 

For dessert, I had the dark chocolate mousse that I brought and everyone loved it.  I switched to chai tea after dinner and didn’t eat past 7 pm.”

“That is amazing! What you’ve just described is your holiday eating plan. You’ve created a plan in your mind that you know you can stick to that will make you feel proud, not anxious, and certainly not gain weight. You know exactly what you will eat and when.

Now, what were you thinking to yourself that made you feel in control that day?”

She took a deep breath, thought about it for a minute, and said, “Well, I guess I was thinking that I am a Woman Who Eats Well and that’s it not that I can’t, it’s that I just don’t.  I kept it simple, I guess.”

Do you see what she did?  She went into the event with a shift in identity and a belief in herself.

She made her whole eating plan in advance from the brain of her future self.  Her future self is already a Woman Who Eats Well. That is her shift in identity.  

A Woman Who Eats Well doesn’t stress about food or what others may think of them or say.  

They are confident in their food choices, they do not need food to enjoy themselves. Most of all, they know they do not have to answer or explain themselves to anyone, but just be present and enjoy their people.

The secret to navigating parties as a Woman Who Eats Well is to embody the identity of a Woman Who Eats Well and thinks the thoughts of a successful woman now, before the success may even be there.

You can think like a Woman Who Eats Well in advance and make choices like a Woman Who Eats Well and draw from your knowledge as a Woman Who Eats Well, and your confidence as a Woman Who Eats Well.  

Before my client was thinking unhelpful thoughts from an identity of a woman who struggles to eat well.

Now, she is thinking helpful thoughts from an identity of a Woman Who Eats Well. She’s not worried about her sisters. She’s confident and in control. This is her belief in herself.

Nothing has changed but her thoughts about herself and her ability.

Nothing has changed about the meal or her sisters.

All she needed to do was stop spinning in her unhelpful thoughts and fears about judgment or failure and put herself in her future successful brain and backtrack a bit.

Now, she did have a huge advantage by having all the necessary information on what she needed to eat and when to eat it to maintain her healthy metabolism because she was learning that in the Freese Method program.

In the Freese Method program, you transform from an anxious eater who struggles with food and can’t lose weight into a confident, adaptable Woman Who Eats Well with a stable healthy weight that you love.

Yes, we fix your metabolism so you can burn fat.  But we also fix your relationship with food and how you feel and think about yourself. 

The weekly coaching calls help your best self come forward so you can stop repeating any sabotaging habits or beliefs. 

If you want to become a Woman Who Eats Well with the confidence to approach any holiday, vacation, or event with ease and certainty, then the Freese Method 12-week program is ready for you.  You can become a Women Who Eats Well with glowing health and stable, healthy body weight.  We just need to fix your metabolism first.