mindful eating on Thanksgiving, 2009

It's Thanksgiving, 2009. My clients tell me that "Thanksgiving is all about the FOOD"! I ask them, "Is that true? If so, is that what you would really like it to be all about?"
So here I am at 3:35pm on Thanksgiving & so far my day has been pretty much all about the food. But it's been about the preparation of the food. My husband, my Mom & I will be joining my son, daughter-in-law, my 5 grandchildren, my daughter, my son-in-law & other in-laws at my son's home for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner tonight. Actually it has new traditions for me. Before I learned to be a mindful eater, I would be eating my way through my baking & cooking all day long. I would show up as stuffed as any turkey! The worst part would be all of the hateful feelings that I would feel toward myself. Once again I would have let myself down food-wise & eaten everything in sight. At the official feast, I would continue to eat & eat, putting my attention onto the food & away from all the family members who had gathered together. I was too ashamed of myself & just wanted to have a relationship with my food.
Since developing a mindful relationship to food & to my life, in general, I have new traditions. I mindfully washed the cranberries & apples for the cranapple sauce I always make. I really soaked in the spectacularly brilliant red spheres of the cranberries. After the sauce was made, I couldn't keep my eyes off of it - again, it was the color that was drawing me. I couldn't help but think of all the healthy phytochemicals I was taking for my family to enjoy. I was totally present for the process of peeling & peeling & peeling all of the apples for my pies. I'm a pro at not breaking a "string" of apple skin once I start peeling an apple, so it was fun to see that I haven't lost my touch this year. (Shows how often I peel apples, huh?) It was challenging to shape the pie dough into a lattice-work crust, but I did it & I assume all of my "mistakes" will be eaten, anyway. As I prepare to leave, I am setting an intention to be present with all of the people that I will soon be joining that I love. I want to embody the love that I feel for them rather than be distracted by food or anything else. I want to express thankfulness. I want to really see the food, smell the food, & make wise choices so that I can really savor it & be a food gourmet rather than a glutton! In this way I am embodying what I teach my clients about mindful eating. I want my life to be delicious!