I can’t believe we are already well into December! As the end of the year draws near, I am looking forward to more time to rest, lots of walks outside, and getting to all the books I want to read that are piling up!

Since the holidays tend to be more challenging for most people when it comes to food and body image, I wanted to do a brief post on some tips and strategies for navigating food and body image this time of year.

First, I will provide some examples of what disordered eating could look like at the holidays. Then we will get to 5 strategies for experiencing a life-giving and truly healthy approach to food and your body during the holiday season.

Before we dive into some examples of disordered eating at the holidays –> a lot of these examples may apply to any time of year, but are likely to be more prevalent at the holidays. You could consider reflecting on the following examples to think about your own relationship with food, or to keep in mind as you internally notice the ways others are engaging with or talking about food.

Examples of disordered eating behaviors/thoughts at the holidays:

• Eating less at breakfast/earlier in the day in order to “save up calories” for dinner/dessert/later on
• Feeling the need to workout more the next day and/or eat less in order to compensate for what you ate (regardless of actual hunger level or desire to exercise the next day)
• Labeling foods as good/bad (“I shouldn’t eat all those Christmas cookies…” // “I feel so guilty for having an extra piece of pie…”)
• Overly “monitoring” your food behavior in advance (“I can only have one piece of chocolate later…” // “I can only have one serving or round of food at dinner…”)
• Depriving yourself of foods you would like to be eating out of fear/anxiety (“I shouldn’t eat dessert because I’m afraid of what it will do to my body…” // “I shouldn’t have any chocolates because I could be eating something else…”)
• Feeling hungry but not honoring your hunger by nourishing your body (may be due to an effort to “save calories” for later –> a method that is bound to backfire)

I can understand where these thoughts come from, and why it may feel compelling to try to restrict food intake and/or overly try to have a “perfect diet.” I would encourage you to read more about some reasons why these methods of eating ultimately “backfire” in: Trade-Offs in the Pursuit of Perfect Food Choices and Moving from Restriction and Obsession to Freedom with Food.

5 brief thoughts on navigating food and body image at the holidays:

1. Stay in your own lane when it comes to food and exercise.

I think, especially at the holidays, it can be easy to compare what we are eating and how we are exercising to others. She only had one piece of cake, so I need to only have one, too! She went to the gym this morning… should I have gone to the gym?? 

Instead, I would encourage you to “stay in your own lane” when it comes to your exercise and eating behaviors.

How can you grow in confidence in your own food or exercise choices? How can you grow in tuning into your own body, preferences, and needs, versus what someone else is doing or saying?

2. Remember that the holidays are a short period of time. 

For many people, the holidays are a time of enjoying more delectable food options compared to other times of year. Instead of stressing and panicking about this, I would encourage you to allow yourself to truly ENJOY these foods.

Is there one food, in particular, that causes you some stress that you want to allow yourself the permission to enjoy this year?

3. Focus on actions to care for your body –> not seeking to manipulate your body size.

We can’t go out and force our bodies to be a certain size, as much as we may prefer the world operated this way. We don’t get to directly control or choose our largely genetically-determined healthy body size range.

Instead, what we can largely control, are our health behaviors. It is pursuing health behaviors that will generally lead us to actual health and to our own healthy weight range.

What are some ways you want to care for your body and health during the holiday season? I know for me, I’ll be focusing on sleep, enjoying extra downtime, and spending time running/walking outside.

4. Notice any disordered eating thought patterns that come up. 

How we think about food is intimately related to how we engage with food. I would encourage you to get curious about any disordered eating thought patterns that you might notice in yourself over the holiday season. This could look like unnecessary food rules, feeling anxiety over eating a certain food or quantity of food, catastrophizing over what or how much you ate, or feeling the need to “make up” for what you ate.

What beliefs about food/your body might be driving these thought patterns? What fears about food/your body?

5. Focus on ENJOYING food and the company of others. 

One key purpose of food is that it is meant to be enjoyed…

How can you truly ENJOY the food you have the opportunity to eat over Christmas/New Years’?

At the same time, what might it look like to shift more focus onto being present with friends/family?

When we are obsessing over food, our relationships with ourselves and with others suffer. Not to mention, our overall health and nutrition also suffer!

Seeking ENJOYMENT with how we engage with food is KEY to nutrition and overall health! 

Have a fabulous rest of the day!