A couple holiday seasons ago I was with all my siblings at my parent's house...

This particular day was one of my favorite holidays - Thanksgiving. We were having a fun day together, with games and relaxation by the gas fire place.

However earlier that day, something terrible had happened, an accident like no other...

It was horrific, it was massive, it was a Eating Event. You may ask what is a holiday eating event or accident? It is one of those times where there are so many good foods to eat and so many tempting treats made by your family members.

And you gather up all of this good food, and place it in a buffet style manner like a true Event in .

The accidental part happens when you keep on eating because you want to fit in everything for this Event and you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings for not having 3 helpings of each person's food, so you just go through the stomach pain to chow down until your stomach turns against you.

How, do we deal with these inevitable parties, banquets, dinners, and the large and not-so-healthy Events. If we accidentally pig out or over-indulge are we doomed to be labeled as the vacuum cleaner or perhaps the garbage disposal.

First I'm going to remove the word "unintentional" from my vocabulary. Do we ever really "accidentally" eat anything at Events? I have a feeling that whenever I eat a piece of pie or perhaps pound of stuffing, it is not on accident.

I don't ever recall accidentally eating a head of broccoli. No folks that doesn't happen, we all know good and well that we are all responsible for every last morsel we put in our mouths is on purpose, what purpose that is, it's up to you.

So you just indulged in the giant one, the whammy, the greatest Event and celebration, what do you do next. First I don't recommend skipping your next meal or meals in the next day to try and make up for that episode of eating.

Let's take a quote from TV accident. What happens after you see that snow warning or perhaps the this is only a test or whatever, "we now return to our regular scheduled programming". I don't know if any of them actually say that but I believe I have seen it before. Let's apply that to food, after the binge, we not return to our regular scheduled eating.

Get right back to our positive habits. Don't beat yourself up just for that one Event. get right back in the groove, the past is over your shoulder you can't change it, just make the finest of right now.

How about the reverse approach. You know that you will be likely losing control or you know there's a family gathering tonight, what are you ever to do? Should you save up your calories and starve the whole day to make up for it? In one word, "No", in two words, "No, No".

If you eat less early in the day you will build anticipation for overeating later in the day and are likely to increase your appetite causing you to binge and eat more than you ever thought possible when the big meal finally does arrive.

Over indulging at any one Event can result in fat gain no matter what the daily calorie balance is, your body can only handle so many calories at one time, anything beyond that has to be stored for later, no mater what your daily total calorie intake is. Especially if you are just going to be laying on a couch for the rest of the day, your body can just accumulate all the energy after that gathering .

On the other hand if you eat fiber rich foods and drink plenty of water all day long you will be content and will be more likely to be able to control yourself during Events because you won't feel famished and your stomach won't be growling.

Let's review the 2nd corollary of the law of eating...

"Small amounts of anything ' even pure sugar ' will probably not be stored as fat as long as you are in a calorie deficit where you are eating fewer calories that you burn" That is the answer to all our problems, it is all about portion control. Like car accidents I'm sure you wouldn't mind tapping a grocery cart at 1 mile an hour on your soft rubber bumper. That's kind of like just eating one piece of way with some chicken for the main entree at your Event.

In essence the donut won't hurt you one bit, not a single bit, it will help you psychologically by rewarding your taste buds for a moment, then you can be diligent for another several days or even a week.

But let that pie get out of hand, and have seconds, along with 2 portions of grandma's pumpkin pie, and several of your sister's snicker doodles and your Event has turned sour.

Next time any of us are at that Event or holiday extravaganza which always is centered on food, it should be a big relief for to know you can eat whatever you want with little or no ill effect on your body composition, as long as you respect the law of calorie balance.