As I started Season 1 Episode 1 of Grey’s Anatomy for the 6th time, I thought about why I gravitate toward my comfort shows in the fall. With cooler weather comes comfier clothes, candles, cozy nights in with family and friends, and the warmth of the holidays- but it would be naive to say that food centered holiday gatherings are completely unproblematic for everyone. Intuitive eating during the holidays can be challenging.
For some, the holidays come with discomfort and fear. For someone with a healthy relationship with food, a whole table of hot, steamy, savory food surrounded by family and friends sounds like a dream! But if you have a tough relationship with food, this might sound like an anxiety ridden nightmare.
In this post, I share some tips to eat intuitively to feel your best for your holiday meal.
Tips for Intuitive Eating During the Holidays
Eat regularly throughout the day.
Instead of the traditional American practice of skipping breakfast and having a late lunch, eat a balanced breakfast before your holiday meal. If you eat regularly throughout the day leading up to your holiday meal, every 3-4 hours, you’re much more likely to be able to stop eating when you’re comfortably full. Waiting until you’re ravenous to eat will make it harder to recognize and respect your fullness cues.
Make a Balanced Plate
When making your plate at the holiday meal, try to balance your plate with 1/3 protein, 1/3 carb, and 1/3 veggie. A balance of nutrients will lead to a more satisfying eating experience! If you’re not sure there will be a veggie side, I recommend bringing one as your contribution to the meal. Even if it’s just a veggie tray as an appetizer!
Eat Mindfully
Be present in the eating experience by grounding down in the moment. When you sit at the table, notice your feet firmly planted, sit with your back straight, and take 3 deep breaths. Maybe even close your eyes!
Then, engage all your senses. Before you even take a bite, notice the colors of your food, how it looks on the plate, the smell, and how it feels on your utensil. Then take a bite and notice flavor, mouthfeel, temperature, and overall satisfaction. Then keep reading for the next tip!
Respond to Hunger and Fullness Cues
Eating regularly throughout the day and being present in the eating experience sets you up perfectly to listen and respond to fullness cues at your holiday dinner.
You may be tempted to ignore your fullness cue when you notice it, because traditional holiday food only comes around once per year! But keep the following in mind:
- You can take leftovers to go and enjoy it when you’re actually hungry later! Even later that DAY if you like.
- It isn’t illegal to cook turkey or sweet potato casserole at other times of the year! If you really want to eat these things outside of the holiday season, you can. At ANY time.
- The food that you love so much becomes less satisfying when you’re eating past comfortable fullness… so, how is it really serving you to ignore your body’s cues?
Prioritize Satisfaction
Overall, what we’re going for at any mealtime is to feel satisfied by the end of it! So for your holiday meal, know that nothing is off limits. Eat whatever you want in a way that feels good for your body. Start with what you want and add what you need- add mac and cheese to your plate and building in balance from there.
Set Boundaries (and Stick to Them)
Please remember that you don’t have to eat anything you don’t want to! Don’t let family or friends pressure you into eating past comfortable fullness or eating things that you don’t actually want. You have full body autonomy! If this situation arises, you can use these helpful phrases:
“I’m already full and I’ve been focusing on listening to my body, but I’ll take it to go!”
“I’m not in the mood for that right now and I’m really working on listening to my intuition. Thank you for respecting that!”
“I would never try to force you to eat anything, so please don’t do that to me.”
“No thank you.”
Another situation that may require boundaries is unwanted comments about food and body. In these moments, you can always respond with:
- an abrupt change of subject
- “It’s interesting that you feel comfortable enough saying that to me”
- a sassy rebuttle
- See examples here.
Comments about body size never warranted and I believe that if someone is making you uncomfortable with their comments, they deserve to feel uncomfortable with your response. You don’t have to appease anyone to avoid making them feel an uncomfortable emotion if they won’t give you the same courtesy!
Have Grace
Even after these tips and practice, it’s possible that you’ll eat past comfortable fullness at your holiday meal. If this does happen, don’t worry and don’t revert to a hateful self directed commentary. No matter what or how much you eat, you never deserve to feel guilt or shame for eating. For more on this, check out my post on food neutrality.
Remind yourself that this uncomfortable physical feeling won’t last forever and take this as a learning experience. Be a neutral observer of the scenario, not a judge.
Eat With Attunement and Enjoy
It’s critical to remember that you have unconditional permission to eat anything, at any time, in whatever quantity you desire. This principal of intuitive eating is applied with “introspective awareness” which is a fancy way to describe attunement to your body. Unconditional permission to eat and introspective awareness come together in the eating experience in a way that allows you to eat whatever you want in a way that makes you feel really good.
Keeping these tips in mind, I hope you’re able to enjoy your holiday meal and also physically feel really good.
If you need extra support for the holidays, consider working with a registered dietitian! We can help you heal your relationship with food and improve your health promoting behaviors. Get started here, we’ll check your insurance benefits for nutrition coverage.
About The Author
Chelsea Shafer, RD, LD, RYT graduated from Purdue University in 2020 and completed the Wellness Workdays Dietetic Internship in 2022 where she specialized in sports nutrition and entrepreneurship. Chelsea is a proud Registered Dietitian who has helped over 300 clients live healthier, happier lives and accept their bodies. Currently, Chelsea is pursuing blogging, working as a registered dietitian at Happy Strong Healthy and teaching yoga at a local studio in Atlantic Beach, Florida.
