In theory, the holidays are supposed to be a time to relax and recharge, filled with family time, breaks from school/work, and of course, food. For some, this may be the most stressful time of the year, for all of these same reasons.
Intuitive eating can be a helpful framework to center yourself around going into this holiday season. This may feel daunting if you are new to intuitive eating or mindfulness, but the goal is to help reconnect and grow your relationship with your body and unique internal cues.
Intuitive eating is broken down into 10 principles that encompass the practice. Here are some techniques you can use to apply intuitive eating around the holidays this year:
Reject Diet Culture
Diet culture thrives on teaching us that we cannot trust ourselves – our bodies, our fullness, our hunger cues. Around the holidays, you may be faced with comments and conversations around compensating for meals with exercise, saving up calories, and the classic phrase “diet starts tomorrow.” Setting boundaries with your loved ones around what kind of conversations may feel triggering and uncomfortable to you may work, but there is no guarantee that these boundaries will be respected and upheld. Start by reconnecting with your own goals and values and get yourself aligned with what works best for you, regardless of what others around you might think/say/do.
Honor Your Hunger
Hunger and fullness cues can feel blurred around the holidays or special occasions. You may feel dampened hunger cues due to stress and anxiety, or an uptick in hunger cues from irregular meal times. Our biggest tip here is to eat “normally” and adequately in the day/days leading up to the holidays. By maintaining regular, adequate and consistent intake, hunger is less likely to get to an extreme, and the likelihood of overeating decreases.
Make Peace with Food
Making peace with food is all about giving yourself “unconditional permission to eat.” This is a big theme during the holidays, as we are surrounded by our favorite seasonal foods that we may not typically include in our day to day year round. When we give ourselves unconditional permission to eat (i.e., without the need to compensate before/after, without rules or restrictions, allowing all foods to fit), we are decreasing feelings of deprivation, cravings and overeating.
Discover the Satisfaction Factor
Satisfaction and enjoyment of a meal tends to get overshadowed by the emphasis diet and wellness culture puts on the nutrient content of foods, deeming some foods “good” and some foods “bad.” Rather than focusing on what you should/shouldn’t eat, this year try reconnecting with the pleasure and satisfaction that food can bring us. Food is not just our fuel, but an important factor in the human experiences of bonding and enjoyment.
Feel Your Fullness
Overeating is very common around the holidays, as well as other big celebrations and events where the emphasis is put on a meal. This is a universal human experience, so try to be gentle with yourself if this comes up for you. Practice eating slowly and mindfully, while checking in along the way with your body’s cues as you near fullness. It is always ok to say no when you are full, and challenging the mindset that you have to clear your plate can be difficult to unlearn.
Challenge the Food Police
The “food police” are any sources of reinforcement of diet culture concepts and beliefs. This may be personified by family members or loved ones around the dinner table this season, sharing experiences or stories about the new diet they are trying, the prevalence of GLP-1 use, and so on. It can feel very isolating and difficult to go against the grain with your food and body beliefs, but challenging these feelings of guilt, comparison, and shame is a crucial step in being an intuitive eater.
Cope with Emotions with Kindness
It may be helpful to acknowledge and accept that the holidays are usually a difficult time of year for you. Prepare yourself with adequate self-care and time to recharge both before and after large gatherings or family events. Be patient with yourself and your own unique process that you are navigating. Difficult and big emotions are allowed to come up, but be sure to take care of yourself when they do.
Respect Your Body
Body image concerns and thoughts may also become more prevalent around the holidays, as we see family members for the first time in a year or try on our new Black Friday purchases. Body acceptance can be a long and difficult process, but this year try starting with challenging these critical thoughts as they start to come up. Exploring and challenging the unrealistic expectations you put on yourself can be a great place to start in your body image journey.
Movement – Feel the Difference
In intuitive eating, we view movement as a way to enhance our lives, rather than a punishment, obligation or way to compensate for the meal we just ate. Gentle movement that feels good for you and your body can help you reconnect and feel more at home within your body.
Honor Your Health – Gentle Nutrition
Similar to describing movement as gentle, intuitive eating focuses on gentle nutrition. Nutrition can be a great way for us to honor our health and well-being, rather than restrictive and highly controlled. Health is not made up of one day, week, or month of eating. By focusing on consistency and taking things one day at a time, we can make choices that feel supportive of our goals and nourishing in our bodies.
The bottom line is, this is just one day, week, or month. By setting realistic expectations, reconnecting with our bodies and exploring our personal goals and values, you can set yourself up for a holiday season that is nourishing and supportive. Practice kindness and patience with yourself, and as always our team of Intuitive Eating Nutritionist NYC is here to help.
Happy Holidays from Nourishing NY!
If you are ready to begin your holiday healing journey with one of our Intuitive Eating Nutritionist NYC, click here.
Reference:
“Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach.” Tribole, Evelyn & Resch, Elyse.