Walter Bortz, MD Holidays mean festivities, old rituals, and new experiences. Restraints are slackened and indulgences indulged. Rules are not meant to be broken, but they are meant to be stretched.
Holidays mean rule stretching.
Just as holidays strain budgets, they strain other self-disciplines such as diets. At any one time tens of millions of us are on diets. Every dieter has a pang of guilt on Thanksgiving and Christmas when Grandpa or a grandchild urges another serving. Our caloric intake is under a stern regulation in the brain, complete with all sorts of checks and balances. Overeating once or twice does not disturb the set point.