I spent my downtime the day before Thanksgiving reading Shonda Rhimes “Year of Yes”. Her story reinforces that health and wellness is holistic and includes the mind, body and spirit.   Shonda’s journey to higher levels of wellness all starts with her sister Delorse’s six words “You never say yes to anything” plus turkey, on Thanksgiving two years ago.

After she begins her journey, Shonda admits that “I am fat, I am obese and I am the biggest I have ever been in my life”. She describes food as magic and how food works to cover up all of those all things you do not know how to deal with. She decides to say, “yes to losing weight” on March 8, 2014 and in a little less that one year later she had lost almost one hundred pounds!

She did not use any specific diet. Here is what she did do:

1. Consulted with a licensed physician
2. Thought about exercise first, and then with assistance from a personal trainer, realized she loved Pilates.
3. Drank sixty-four ounces of water every day
4. And the most important rule was that no food was off-limits. She could eat anything she wanted as long as it was a reasonable portion. Also, she only ate exactly what she was craving.

There are so many eating opportunities and challenges as we enter the holiday season. Follow one of Shonda’s most import rules. Eat only a reasonable portion of the food you crave. For me it is chocolate, so most days I will have small piece of good dark chocolate.

I highly recommend Shonda’s book about transforming her lifestyle. Her book is inspirational and filled with so many powerful positive messages about how we can connect with ourselves, respond to challenges and find motivation.