10 tips for nurturing a positive relationship with food during the silly season

The silly season can be a lot if you struggle with your relationship with food.

You may be feeling a sense of dread or lack of control when it comes to social gatherings or even during down time.

You may be overwhelmed with guilt and shame if you ‘overindulge’ and experience anxiety with the anticipation of having to get back on track when the new year comes around.

What we want to do is nurture a positive relationship with food all year round so that during the holiday season you are able to connect, experience joy and feel present.

Here are 10 tips to help to do this. It is not intended that all of the steps will be followed or even be relevant to you as an individual. I share in hopes that one or two may apply and help you to navigate what can often be a tricky time of year for those dealing with disordered eating habits and eating disorders.

1. Avoid labelling foods as good and bad

food is food. By removing judgement from the foods that we are consuming we begin to reduce the shame and guilt associated with eating something 'bad' or the fear that comes with eating the wrong thing. Exclusively eating only the 'good' food can take joy away from meal times, create anxiety when you are not in control of the food you're consuming and restriction of foods that you may have otherwise enjoyed due to the label that you put them under. While at first practicing food neutrality may seem daunting, through this practice we find freedom in our food choices and notice less anxiety around meal times.

2. You are worthy of balanced meals

you don't have to restrict specific food groups to be considered healthy. There is a reason a balanced diet is composed of carbohydrates, fats, protein and fibre. That’s because our body needs all of them to function well. When we restrict certain foods we are effectively on the path to becoming deficient in that food group, we will over time start to notice specific signs and symptoms that indicate this (often just brushed off as side effects of a diet). A balanced diet is the key to supporting appetite, blood sugar regulation, nervous system function, immune system function and gut health.

3. Practice mindfulness around meal times

the practice of slowing down and paying attention to the food that we are eating during meal times; allows our brain to register the signals produced by receptors in the gut telling the brain that we have eaten enough and should stop eating. Additionally, when we pay attention to hunger signals that tell us when we are hungry rather than ignoring them and replacing with work, exercise, or coffee, we become more in tune with our hunger signals. Through practicing this we begin to trust ourselves, that when we feel hungry, we will provide our body with the energy that it needs.

4. Listen to your food cravings

if you feel like eating something specific go for it (regardless of whether you deem it a good or bad food) trusting ourselves to eat the thing we want to eat rather than replacing with a less satisfying option won't lead us to feeling satisfied at all. This will only lead to you going on to consume random foods and never get to a point of satisfaction, the only feeling you’re likely to feel is overfull. By eating the thing you feel like eating in the first place, you're saying to your body, I'm listening and I value the opportunity to allow myself to enjoy food on my own terms.

5. Avoid letting yourself get too hungry before eating

this all or nothing approach to eating is exactly the reason we overeat or binge when we have ignored our hunger signals all day. Your body is letting you know through hunger signals that your energy is running low and that more is required for vital bodily functions to occur. Once we have passed that stage of hunger your body is going to try and make up for it by ensuring that you eat enough to not allow you to get to a point of depletion again hence why overeating is so common of an evening after skipping breakfast, having 3 coffees and a couple of sushi rolls for lunch, it's not enough food girl friend! Packing snacks, preparing food for the week and making meal times a priority are the best ways to avoid this.

6. You are allowed to create boundaries

other peoples comments on your food choices are completely unnecessary and non of their business. In fact their comments say more about their relationship with food than yours. Keep your head up high and know that you are making the best decision for your body with the food that you have chosen to eat at that point in time, no comments necessary.

7. Be kind to yourself

this time of year can be stressful, make sure you are regularly checking in with yourself. Are you feeling tired, overwhelmed, unmotivated, low energy? Can you slow down? Make your days a little more mindful? Write it out in your journal, walk it out in nature, take 5 with a meditation? Regular check-in's with yourself will keep you accountable for your own wellbeing so that when times get stressful, you can make the best decisions for your wellbeing.

8. Cleanse your social media feed

if you have a few too many what I eat in a day video's, diet junkies, scaremongers and influencers selling the latest diet trend filling up your feed, it's time to unfollow. If you're serious about feeling more content with your relationship with food, this step is key.

9. Comfort food has a place in your diet

say that again! If eating was only about nutrients we'd get pretty bored pretty soon, eat the things you enjoy eating while you're home for the holidays, get baking, try a new recipe that makes you excited about eating. Make food fun again.

10. Life is toooooooo short for restrictive diets

think of the big picture instead of being consumed by the meal in front of you. These couple of months are such a small amount of your entire lifetime to make any difference to your health in the long run, please enjoy yourself!

E.A.N.

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I help my clients to nurture a positive relationship with food and body image in my clinic, if you would like to discuss how I can help you please book in for a complementary consultation in the link below.