Intuitive Eating During the Holidays
The holidays have officially arrived! And while holidays are about being thankful and spending time with our loved ones, it also revolves around FOOD. Lots and lots of food. This can be challenging for a lot of people. The pressure of being surrounded by food and diet talk at the family table or company party can bring on a lot of stress and anxiety. If you feel this way — please know you are not alone! As much as we may love our families and friends, it can be exhausting to navigate through everyone’s differing opinions on the latest diet trends. Hold in mind that it is not the food itself which is the issue, but rather our attitudes towards the food. Through the practice of Intuitive Eating, you can navigate your way throughout the holiday season, without all of the food-guilt that typically coincides.
Intuitive Eating is a mind-body health approach to food and eating; without any diets, meal plans, or strict rules. It’s about listening to and respecting your body’s cues in order to make food choices without guilt. There are 10 principles to Intuitive Eating. No matter where you are on your journey, it is possible to practice some of these principles. For more guidance and support, seek the help of an Intuitive Eating Counselor. In the meantime, if you’re curious about how to navigate diet culture this holiday season, read on to discover how each principle can begin a path towards making peace with food and your body.
1. Reject the Diet Mentality - Remove all thought of diets and trends before walking into that holiday dinner or party. It’s diets that cause big food-holidays, like Thanksgiving, to become a day full of anxiety. So instead, get excited to eat all your favorite foods that you’ve been looking forward to all year. Remember, the holidays are a great time to be thankful for your loved ones, so enjoy your time catching up with them on their lives. Not all conversation needs to be about food or diet. And if one does come up, kindly suggest that this is not something you are comfortable discussing and that you would much rather be interested in talking about their latest interests in tv, movies, music, books, etc.
2. Honor Your Hunger - It’s important to keep your body adequately fed not only to prevent over-eating due to extreme hunger, but also for basic nourishment! Take a moment to listen to your body. How hungry are you? If there is something you are specifically in the mood for, give yourself permission to eat it (you will always have ours!)
3. Make Peace with Food - Give yourself permission to eat all of the foods that you enjoy. Try not to label foods as “forbidden” or “off limits. Depriving yourself of foods you actually enjoy will only leave you with these intense cravings and eventually results in overeating. Welcome all foods with open arms and trust your body to tell you what not only what it wants, but also the amounts.
4. Challenge the Food Police - The food police are the negative thoughts you have developed in your mind regarding “good” and “bad” foods. These thoughts may have become deeply embedded in your mind, and just as you learned them, you can also practice unlearning them! Challenge any diet thoughts (AKA the self-critical voice) by neutralizing the thought.
For example, instead of, “This food is so bad,” reframe with “It’s OK to eat this food.” Make an effort to eat some of the foods you were once afraid of and experience the shift towards establishing peace with all foods.
5. Respect Your Fullness - Go ahead and enjoy all the foods you were excited for while also listening to your body’s signals of fullness. Try to eat mindfully and pay attention to when you feel satiated. Before someone urges you to take that second or third plate of food, figure out if you still feel hungry first. Practicing this mindful eating prevents overeating that may occur during big holidays.
6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor - You make keep eating until the feeling of fullness however you may not feel satisfied. This results in searching for hat one food that will bring satisfaction, and then we essentially end up overeating while trying to find it. That is why it’s important to determine what you really want to eat so you can feel both satiated and satisfied with your food choices.
7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food - As much as the holidays are for coming together, we understand that the pressure to come together can often bring up unresolved issues from the past, leading to a wide range of different emotions. It’s important to find healthy ways to cope with your feelings, so it doesn’t lead to emotional eating. (Please know emotional eating is OK but when it becomes the only tool in the toolbox, that is something worth exploring with a non-diet and Intuitive Eating Counselor). Food may help with your feelings in the short term but finding strategies to cope is essential in dealing with your emotions. Try to take a walk, talk it out with someone, or come back to the issue with a clearer mind. Do whatever it is that you need to cope, in order to prevent the discomfort that can often arise with overeating.
8. Respect Your Body - We can be extremely quick to judge and criticize our own bodies and in order to truly reject the diet mentality and challenge the food police, we need to accept and respect our bodies. Respecting your body is an important step in controlling your thoughts and choices.
9. Exercise—Feel the Difference - Exercise doesn’t have to be this intense hour-long boot-camp or spin class. It’s about being active in a way you enjoy. It’s important to focus on how you feel when moving your body rather than focusing on the goal of losing weight. In order to prevent overworking yourself after a big holiday dinner out of guilt, find some form of movement you and all your loved ones would enjoy. Whether it’s picking up a game of basketball or going on a family walk, finding something you all enjoy would allow for a healthier and happier holiday.
10. Honor Your Health - One day won’t change everything. Staying consistent over time is what makes the difference. Choosing foods that both honor your health and satisfy your tastebuds is the essential goal of intuitive eating