A little PSA as we approach Thanksgiving and all the holiday things. This morning I heard my first calorie shaming comment of the season – you know, the whole “REMEMBER! The average American eats X calories at Thanksgiving dinner. That DOESN’T EVEN INCLUDE dessert.” Followed by the requisite “better make time for the gym on Friday!” To do what? Pay penance on the treadmill? Burn off X calories in one session? (It doesn’t work that way, in case you were considering it.)

Please do yourself a favor – don’t. We’ve normalized it because our country has a totally skewed perception of what’s healthy. Don’t perpetuate it. There’s no need to “make up for” one day of food. There’s no need to feel SHAME for enjoying food. There’s no need to make comments about food being good or bad. (It isn’t either one – it’s food.) And remember, there’s no need to listen to anyone else do it, either. Making comments about gluttony isn’t what bonds and connects us at the holidays. It’s probably not politics or religion either, but please, please – leave food/body shaming out of your festivities. You’re better off taking in the food than the toxicity, I promise.

Check out these fantastic goals from Jennifer Rollin, a therapist who specializes in eating disorders: