Let go of food rules and restriction this holiday season and feel healthier and happier.
The holidays are here, and food is often a big part of our seasonal celebrations.
It can be really meaningful to celebrate a holiday with a special meal surrounded by people we care about. But in our culture, we’re told that we need to focus on keeping our bodies small by restricting what we eat. Which can make those celebrations feel more stressful than joyful.
There are so many tips out there on how to avoid certain holiday foods, slim down traditional recipes or make up for what you ate or are going to eat at a holiday meal through exercise. But letting go of that pressure to control the size of our bodies and the idea that we need to eat perfectly is so freeing…especially during the holidays.
Which is why I’m sharing four non-traditional ways to be healthy this holiday season. By healthy, I mean having a healthier relationship with food and yourself.
Savor Your Food
You have the right to enjoy every single bite that you eat during the holidays (and any time of year).
When we’re dieting, we’re told that we can’t experience pleasure from food because food is bad. But food is meant to be enjoyed. Have you ever watched one of Nigella Lawson’s cooking shows? She makes the most decadent and delicious foods, talks about food in the most sensual way and experiences such pleasure from eating. It’s such a good reminder that we should be having positive experiences when we eat.
Let Go of Food Guilt
We’ve been bombarded with this message that food is fuel and nothing else. Well, that’s not true. Food is deeply connected to our memories and traditions, and it can bring us comfort and joy. This is especially true during the holiday season. Allow yourself to experience pleasure from the food you eat during the holidays.
Food isn’t good or bad, and you’re not a good or bad person based on what you eat. Diets have put food into categories, and it’s time to throw those categories out the window. Eat what you love and enjoy it.
Don’t Freak Out if You Overeat
It’s normal to overeat. It’s normal to overeat on a holiday or for days in a row. It’s unrealistic to believe that you can follow your hunger cues perfectly, and that you will always eat until you’re just satisfied enough.
Your body has the magical ability to digest food. You don’t need to make up for overeating by starting a diet in January.
Practice Self-Care
The holidays can bring up a lot of stress or anxiousness around food, especially if you’ve been restricting food by dieting. We can even experience stress about food when we’re on a journey to let go of dieting because diet talk is often a topic of conversation during the holidays.
Do things that make you feel peaceful, full of joy, relaxed, grounded or comforted this holiday season. Take care of you in ways that make you feel the way you want to feel.
Happy Holidays!
To discover how you can ditch dieting, heal your relationship with food, find more balance, and nourish you body from the inside out, take my quiz here.
To find out more about my health coaching programs, click here.
