Difficulty with over or under-consumption of food is an incredibly familiar situation for far too many people. This is often compounded by holidays that make food a focal point. Starting as early as Halloween, food is the star of so many social events, parties, and traditions. Couple that with stressors, travel, and forced interpersonal situations and many find that at the end of the year their healthy eating habits have drastically changed.

Many people struggle with the holidays when they are using restriction of calories to lose weight (restriction in both healthy and less healthy ways can cause distress). Staying conscious of food consumption over these months can be both stressful and anxiety-provoking. On the other side of the spectrum, there are many people who have difficulty with over-consumption particularly when surrounded by traditional holiday foods potentially leading to concerns with weight gain that impacts health and self-esteem.

Using a compassionate, mindful, and moderation-based approach can be helpful in striking a balance between over-restriction and overeating. Rather than flat out denying yourself any candy at Halloween, pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, or latkes during Hanukkah—you can try some of the strategies below to see if this helps you to keep feeling balanced emotionally and physically.

What is Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating is bringing purposeful attention to your meal/snacks as you eat. It is bringing awareness to each part of your meal starting with how it looks and smells. Describe these sensations to yourself as begin to take your first bite. Take small bites that allow you to really taste your food. Describe what you experience, the flavors you can pick up on, the spices or seasoning being used. Try to take as many bites of your food this way and notice how you feel. Start to describe how your body feels as you continue to eat as well as any thoughts or emotions that come up with this. This type of awareness can help you notice hunger or satiety cues, which can help you regulate consumption so you’re getting enough to eat without feeling overstuffed.

How Can I Practice a Moderation Approach?

Allow yourself a reasonable amount of your favorite holiday treat. A standard serving size is a good place to start.

Research shows that being very restrictive by cutting out a whole food group or denying yourself certain “bad” foods can result in an overconsumption of that off-limit food or binge eating of another food.

• Eat a serving size or small portion of what you are craving. Eat each bite mindfully (see more on this above).

• Pause between each bite to think about what you’ve just enjoyed and why. Take each bite with intention.

• Stop and take 10-15 minutes to let your food settle and allow your body to decide if it’s satisfied. You can eat other nutritious foods if you feel hungry during this time. If after 10-15 minutes you still want more of the treat you’ve just had, allow yourself another, smaller serving size about ½ the size of the standard serving and repeat the above steps.

• Treating yourself kindly and with compassion versus judging yourself for eating an off-limit food can decrease the suffering you may create for yourself.

• If you eat a “bad” food or eat more than you had intended, try gently reminding yourself that you’re only human and can make different choices in the future if that is what your values dictate.

• If you feel overfull, non-judgmentally remind yourself to enjoy your next meal/treat more slowly and use mindfulness as you eat.

• Keep in mind that you can both eat food for nutrition AND enjoyment. It’s important to eat healthy foods to nourish your body and support good mental health. It’s also just as important to remember that food can be eaten just for savoring the experience.

Things to avoid:

• Food denial

  • Denying yourself certain foods or found groups (e.g., not eating carbs or denying yourself sweets) tends to not work well. Not only does it tend to increase your craving for a food, but it also increases the likelihood you will overeat that food if/when you decide to consume it and has the potential to increase feelings of guilt and shame. Instead, try a moderation approach as discussed above.

• Waiting until you feel incredibly hungry to eat

  • This tactic sets you up for failure. When you override hunger pangs and other signals that your body needs nourishment, it sets off a cascade of events within your body. Your brain starts to release neurochemicals that activate your sympathetic nervous system (what many call our fight or flight system) which can result in feelings of anxiety, anger/irritability, or unrest. In fact research shows that those who have experienced panic attacks in the past are more likely to have a panic attack when having gone more than 3-4 hours without eating.

Go ahead and enjoy some of your holiday favorites, while recognizing that you do not have to restrict yourself everyday through the holidays to stay consistent with health goals nor do you need to overeat to feel satisfied.