Holidays can be tough if you struggle with your relationship with food. I get it. There can be a lot of pressure surrounding what's on your plate during the holidays.
Here's the thing though, it doesn't have to be like that.
Seriously! It doesn't.
Finding that sweet spot surrounding food is key to having a stress free and feel good holiday season.
Allow yourself to eat whatever the heck you want without feeling the pressure to eat all of the foods and as much of them as possible just because of the holidays. I found that was always a struggle for me because I felt like I had to "take advantage" of the special day. It's not everyday that it's socially acceptable to stuff yourself full of hearty foods. As a society we typically are dieting and thinking that cheat meals and "guilt free" foods are the norm. And while they are normal, that doesn't mean that they're okay. Things like that play with our heads.
But it doesn't have to be that way. If you live a life of freedom surrounding food everyday then you'll start to feel a release of the pressure to look at food in a negative light. And I'll let you in on a little secret, those foods will most likely be there tomorrow for you to snack on, too. There are always lots of leftovers at my holiday meals because so much food ends up arriving to dinner and it's not realistic to be able to eat it all. So it'll be there. And if it's not, it can always be made again.
Eat what you want and when you want. But don't feel like it's your last meal and you need to consume as much as you can. Eat your food, really focus on tasting and enjoying it, and listen to your body.
I find that to be the best thing that I've done for myself around holiday meals but another thing that also helped me is remembering the reason for the celebration. We gather together around the holidays to spend time with the ones that we love. We don't do it to eat all of the pumpkin pie or stuff ourselves full of mashed potatoes. The core meaning is always about connection and community. The food is just an added bonus. But when you start to realize that you're there for reasons other than food then you start to feel more relaxed with the situation. Food is great but loved ones and our memories created with them are greater.
Be kind to yourself. Focus on your own wants and needs this holiday season. You know what is best for you and your situation and following that intuition is super important.
I hope that you all have a great holiday weekend filled with lots of love, laughter, and good food. xo