Tips for Stress-Free Eating During the Holidays

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 With the holidays right around the corner, I wanted to take some time to talk about how to navigate Thanksgiving and Christmas, or any other holiday that you're celebrating, and all of the food and goodies and everything else that comes with that.

And it's for sure a great time of year, but I know that in my past the holidays were really stressful for me because of the food. And I want to just take the time to acknowledge that if you are worried about the holidays and all of the situations that you're going to have to navigate around food, you are not alone.

And there are definitely some ways to help you navigate those situations in a way that's not as stressful and is a little bit more enjoyable and relaxing.

So one of the first things I like to suggest is just to remember that this is a day like any other day. So for Thanksgiving, for example, I know that we look forward to, you know, the stuffing and the turkey and everything throughout the year. But two things: just a reminder, you can make stuffing and turkey literally any other day, if you wanted to. I know that we just don't and that we look forward to it on Thanksgiving, but just remember that.

Also, just try to treat the Thanksgiving dinner like you would any other dinner. The only reason we overindulge on Thanksgiving is because we feel like we have to. It's like tradition that we all just like gorge ourselves on this one meal on this one day, but you don't have to do that. You - there's a, there's a choice not to.

And I understand that we sometimes have those triggers and it's really hard to stop eating, but try to just go in with the mindset that this is just a meal like any other meal and enjoy it that way. So eat your breakfast like you would normally eat a breakfast. Don't save up for your Thanksgiving dinner, because if you restrict during the day, you're more likely to overeat at night.

Also, if you're restricting during the day, you're already telling yourself I'm going to overdo it at Thanksgiving. So it's a self-fulfilling prophecy at that point. Your mindset and the things you're telling yourself are really powerful.

So just start your day like you normally would - go for your nice walk, do a workout if you can, have a healthy breakfast, have a healthy lunch if your dinner is later in the day. And that way you're not going into Thanksgiving dinner with the mindset that you're going to overindulge or going into the dinner starving.

Another tip is to try a little bit of everything. If you're typically serving yourself like full servings of the foods that are on the table, try doing a half serving or even a quarter serving so you can taste everything. And then if you want more of something that you love, you can always go back for more.

On the same note, try to scan the table and see what's available before you start serving yourself. And pick the ones that you really, really want first. And then if you're still hungry, you can go back and try things that you might be interested in trying, but that way you've already had your favorites and you aren't saving those for the end.

Another tip I'll leave you with is: try to shift the focus away from the food. I know, it sounds like sacreligious to take the focus off of food on Thanksgiving, or even Christmas, or holidays in general, because that is so centric to the celebrations. But something my family did for a few years, which I thought was just such a good idea is they played, or we played, laser tag after Thanksgiving, which was so fun.

And it got you excited to do that instead of just focus on the food. It got your bodies moving, it was a great way to spend time with families, and we're competitive, so it was a great way to add like a little competition. But you could also play flag football, you could go for walks, you could sign up for a turkey trot in the morning. Just think of some ways to spend time with family and focus on things that are not food related.

Again, I know it's challenging. I know it can be hard, but hopefully these tips will help you navigate this holiday season a little bit more easily and enjoyably. You've got this.