Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
As we all gather around our dinner tables tonight and feast on some delicious foods, remember to take time to enjoy yourself and be happy. The holidays are often described as some of the most stressful times of the whole year – but why? They are meant to be joyful and relaxing, so let them be! According to this infographic from Happify, there are plenty of reasons so be joyous this Thanksgiving.
Family dinners are almost essential to having peace and order in our lives. 80% of people have positive memories associated with eating as a family when they were a child. Food is the glue that holds us all together! In addition, eating at home has been proven to be less stressful than eating at restaurants (isn’t that crazy?). Not only is it less stressful, but we tend to make healthier food choices when we put effort into preparing and cooking the food ourselves. We know exactly what is going in, and exactly how much we eat.
The infographic also encourages us to slow down and enjoy our food. While many people claim that they really enjoy their comfort foods – research shows that it’s more likely that we enjoy the time that we take to slow down when we eat them. In addition, those that take time to savor their food are happier and more optimistic than those that don’t.
Another helpful tip that I gained from this infographic was that we should wait 20 minutes before grabbing second helpings. It generally takes the body about 20 minutes from your first bite of food to get over cravings and start initiating the “full” feeling. If you race to gobble up all of that gravy and mashed potatoes, chances are you’re stuffing yourself more than you stuffed the turkey.
Check out the infographic and share some of the things that you learned:
