The holiday season can bring all kinds of emotions and excitement, and for some, a lot of feelings around food. It can be a season of FUN, CHAOS, STRESS, EXCITEMENT, FAMILY, FOOD, and much more.
Eating behaviors often stem from how we feel so, all of the above adjectives can affect our decisions about food. The goal should be to ENJOY eating but ALSO to be MINDFUL in an effort to take care of your health, your family and to feel your best. Below are some tips for navigating social outings alone or with kids.
1) ENJOY IT and LET GO of GUILT: The holiday grub should be enjoyed and part of what makes this season fun. Let go of guilt this holiday season. Family traditions often involve food and this should be a time to indulge, celebrate, and enjoy eating. Yes, you should fully ENJOY and appreciate a full fat/full sugar dessert if you want it! This can be VERY hard, especially for those with a history of dieting and feelings of guilt around eating. A few weeks of indulging is not going negatively affect your health, I promise.
But, also, remember, if you are practicing intuitive eating and focusing on not having rules around food and eating, dessert is available YEAR ROUND, not just during the holidays. A change in mindset goes a long way in helping to change behavior. When we have the all or nothing mindset in terms of food, we tend to over consume, preparing ourselves to ‘never’ eat dessert again.
One of the exercises I do with my clients when we work on intuitive eating is to have them put their ‘trigger’ foods (i.e. foods they ‘cannot’ have around or else they’ll eat a whole container/box, etc.) in their homes. This exercise is hard and feels scary for many but, if they stick to it, the outcome is always rewarding. Yes, initially, they might binge, but eventually, knowing they can eat those foods whenever they want, makes them desire their ‘trigger’ foods less. Try it! Eventually you won’t have ANY trigger foods, at least that’s the goal.
2) EAT WHAT YOU LOVE: Rather than opting for a ‘healthier’ dessert, go for what you love. Often when we try to replace the real deal with a ‘healthier’ version, we tend to eat the ‘healthy’ option in addition to what we are truly wanting or craving. Or, people tend to overeat the ‘healthy’ desserts defeating the purpose in the first place and leaving them less satisfied than if they would have just consumed what they really wanted.
3) PLAN AHEAD: Unfortunately, for many, this is a season of chaos and stress, even if there’s fun and enjoyment mixed in.
As a mom of 3, hostess of several family holiday meals, helper with school parties, mother with a kid who has a December birthday (of course we always host that party at our house because that makes sense…), the primary gift buyer for all the relatives, etc., it is a time of complete chaos and stress for us. I’m NOT complaining—we are incredibly blessed by all the things causing us ‘stress’. I know others may not be as fortunate and stress around the holidays can stem from many other, not so great situations. Regardless, planning ahead with meals and snacks can help with mindful eating throughout the holidays.
In the midst of a stressful day without meal planning, grabbing last minute meals, skipping meals only to overeat later, or pulling into the closest drive through seems to make sense. None of those things are ‘bad’ but, day in and day out, we may not feel our best by feeding ourselves the foods we typically want when we put off eating, feel stressed, or get overly hungry. People often choose foods higher in calories, fat, and/or sugar when in ‘stress’ mode. It can be difficult to listen to internal hunger and fullness cues when stressed so, in situations like this, intuitive eating might mean planning ahead to prepare for hunger later.
4) EAT BEFORE GOING [to a holiday party]: Yep, you read that right. This can be a balanced snack (i.e. contains healthy carbs and protein and/or fat) or a full on meal if you're hungry. Generally it's best not to walk into a room full of goodies when you're super hungry and you'll be distracted socializing and, therefore, less likely as in tune with hunger and fullness/satisfaction cues than if you were sitting down to a meal undistracted.
Intuitive eating CAN mean eating when you don't feel hungry as in this instance...preparing yourself to not be over hungry at holiday events.
Try to get in some PROTEIN and healthy FATS— protein helps stabilize blood sugar and often the foods we eat at holiday events contain a lot of sugar. When looking at the big picture and planning to get sugar/carbs when out, we get more balanced nutrition by filling up on protein and fat outside the holiday scene. This is also intuitive eating—preparing yourself in advance for what’s to come so you can feel your best.
This goes for kids too. I try to feed my kids before birthday parties and other outings year round so they fill up on a healthy snack or a meal before digging into dessert. Also, I then feel completely fine with them eating (mostly) whatever they want when we are out, knowing their bodies have been nourished and they'll likely stop eating dessert when they're satisfied. They do tend to KEEP eating it when they're entering into the scene hungry. This is because they're looking for satisfaction from hunger which dessert typically doesn't provide.
5) BE MINDFUL: Ask yourself if you're still enjoying the food as you eat it. It’s easy to stand around a table eating and socializing without even considering whether or not you’re actually enjoying the food.
6) SLEEP AND REST: Being overtired or unrested can affect metabolism, decisions about food, and make you feel bad overall. Although a good night’s sleep is never guaranteed for parents of littles and many others, try to plan to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night in an effort to best serve yourself and your family throughout the holidays.
7) BE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE: Last but definitely NOT least, exercising is a great way to relieve stress and will give you more energy during the holidays. Also, endorphins! If you keep moving during the holiday season, you will feel mentally, emotionally, and physically better!
I hope this list helps you relax, have fun, and enjoy yourself during this season. Happy holidays!
