This is a hard mindset to break, and one that I struggled with for a long time, and honestly, still can struggle with on occasion. Especially as the holidays are approaching and we will most likely enjoy a few more 'indulgences' than usual - please repeat after me:
I do not need to earn my food with exercise. And I do not need to exercise to 'make up for' what I ate.
Say it 3 more times. Heck, say it 1000 more times until you believe it!
Regardless of what the unqualified Instagram Influencer says about how many burpees you need to do in order to 'earn' the stuffing at Thanksgiving, you do not need to do burpees to eat stuffing and enjoy it. Or any food on, any day for that matter.
Seriously - IG Influencers are ruining nutrition with their diet scams and false statements.
Our body has basic daily caloric needs, and lots of them! Your brain needs to function, your heart needs to pump blood, your nervous system needs to help repair your body from the day to day stressors! If we talked about all of the functions that burn calories on a daily basis that our body does without us even moving a muscle, this email would be about 30 pages long. So PLEASE know that exercise is not the only thing our body does to burn calories.
And also, on that note, you know what else needs feeding from time to time??
Our SOUL. That is right, food not only nourishes our body, but food also nourishes our soul, and believe it or not - when your soul is happy, when you have healthy relationships in your life, and when you are walking around with a smile on your face - I promise you THAT will be more effective for weight loss and overall health than any exercise plan is. There has actually been Harvard research studies that have shown having healthy relationships (aka low stress and high happiness) has a stronger influence on weight loss compared to both exercise and diet combined!
So when you go to Thanksgiving this year or Christmas, exercise if you enjoy it and it makes you feel great, but do it for those reasons - NOT because you feel you need it to be able to eat and enjoy the food you love. And just do your best to eat sensibly, ENJOY the food by eating slowly and chewing a lot, and listen to your body's fullness levels. And maybe try not to be like this guy...