How to Enjoy the Holidays While Avoiding Emotional Eating
Can you believe the holidays are here?! And Christmas is just around the corner! During this time of year, I think it's so important to talk about how to enjoy the holidays while avoiding emotional eating.
We all know that for many of us the holidays can be hard. It might be family issues or tension with friends. Maybe you're grieving the loss of someone or maybe you're just going through something difficult at work or school. Since the holidays aren't always joyful, a lot of people tend to emotional-eat as a way to cope and get through.
Food is often used as a stress reliever - a coping mechanism. Did you know that, when you eat, endorphins are released in your brain, making you feel happy emotions? You eat more because you want to feel better.
If you can find a different way to feel better, you will be less likely to eat for emotional reasons.
Here are my three tips for how to do this.
Tip 1: Identify your triggers
This can be hard. Sometimes it’s really difficult to be honest with yourself about what is bothering you or to sit down and pay attention to negative emotions. But it’s so important to first understand what is going on so you can either stop the trigger before it happens or just be prepared when it happens.
I like to use the analogy of soldiers preparing for war. Soldiers do not just leave home and go straight to the battlefield without training. They will strategize and plan. They will do exercises to train and condition. They will practice communication and team building skills with their comrades. That way, when they face the pressures and dangers of war, they will be more equipped to handle what comes.
In the same way, if you first gain awareness of your triggers and prepare ahead of time, you will be so much more mentally prepared to handle the situations that arise during the holidays.
So what are some practical ways to prepare? How can you reduce stress in healthier ways during the holiday season?
That leads us to tip number two.
Tip 2: Find Something Other Than Food to Reduce Your Stress
Here are a few ideas to replace emotional eating and reduce stress in a healthy way.
Find a therapist or counselor
Personally, I love therapy. I think everyone needs therapy at some point in their life, even every year, even as a preventative measure. Life is always changing, you are always encountering new situations, and therapy is a beautiful way to continue to have a healthy mindset. In therapy, you have an objective professional who is looking into your life from the outside. I like to think of therapy like getting your oil changed in your car; you keep things up to date and maintained to avoid something going wrong in the future.
Talk to a friend
Talking to a friend is another great way to reduce stress and keep you from turning to unhealthy coping strategies. Find a friend who is able to be there and listen to you, rather than someone who is trying to fix the problem for you or save you. There is something so healing, relaxing, and comforting about having someone simply listen and be there for you, and this can be a huge support during the holiday season.
Go on a walk
Walking has been proven to help stabilize hormones and reduce cortisol levels, allowing you to destress. This is a great help if you’re having unnecessary cravings. It also helps you relax and just have space to release some of the tension you may have been storing.
Take a bath
This is a favorite tip of many of my clients, especially mothers who need some time away from the busyness of parenting. You can add epsom salts, burn candles, and really make this a special space, away from the noise of the world.
Find a hobby
I have some friends who like doing puzzles or even playing with legos. I have friends who like to draw, write poems, or play music. I have some friends who like to go dancing or take classes. Personally, I like to play some kind of sport. These are some great ways to get out, release tension, and do something for yourself that makes you happy.
Exercise
Getting in some sort of exercise can also be so helpful to relieve stress. Here I’m just talking about doing something that gets you moving and makes you feel good. It could be kickboxing, CrossFit, yoga, or dance. Different people enjoy different forms of exercise, but the idea is to get moving in a way that is enjoyable for you personally.
Watch a tv show
For me, this has been a fun one. From the time I was eighteen and moved out of my parents’ house, I was never really someone who watched tv. But just recently, I’ve started to appreciate and enjoy shows as an art form and found that it’s a nice way to quiet my mind for a time. I’m not talking about binge watching for hours on end, but just maybe an episode, something that simply allows you to enjoy a story and gives your mind a break from any daily stressors.
Meditate
Meditation allows you to clear your mind and to focus on your breath. Diaphragmatic breathing, which you can practice during meditation, is something I teach to all my clients. It has been proven to help trigger the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms you down.
Pray
If you are religious and prayer is something you practice, don’t forget that this can be a wonderful way to release stress as well.
Tip 3: Take time to restore, reset, and rest
This is something that many people don’t take the time to do these days. For me, living in LA, a fast pace is so normal. People sprinting through the day, eating while they work, always rushing to get from one thing to the next.
Here are a few ways you can really rest and restore yourself.
Self care
This could be things as simple as clipping your nails or getting a haircut. Taking the time to take care of yourself like this is not selfish. These are things we all need. We can schedule in this time, just like we schedule work events and appointments.
Eating healthy
Make the time to cook something delicious or take the time to go out to a restaurant, sit down for a while, and really enjoy your food. This is something that is foreign for a lot of people. I always tell my clients to really chew their food and enjoy it. Sometimes emotional eating can happen because we’re simply not taking the time to really be present and enjoy our meals, so we don’t feel satisfied.
Pause and rest
I used to feel that I always had to be productive. I never stopped to enjoy the moment. Sitting on a park bench to just look at animals or notice my surroundings seemed like a waste of time. I was always trying to grow and achieve and be productive.
Many people live this way all the time, and before they know it, they are so stressed out and don’t know how they got there. Their body is aching, they have neck or back pain, and they’re not sure why. Many times this can be a result of stress and not taking time to be still.
Take time to reflect
Similar to pausing to rest, but more focused, reflection is where we take a moment to intentionally think about our lives. So often our lives rush by and we don’t stop to think about where we are and what has happened. Suddenly, four years have passed and we’ve been doing the same thing for four years and we feel that time has gone so quickly.
But I think often it’s because we just don’t take the time to stop and reflect. Even reflecting on your day and what has been good and beautiful about that day can meet a need so you don’t need to emotionally eat.
Before my husband and I got married, we interviewed several couples to ask what they regretted about their wedding day. A common response was that it went so fast, like a blur.
So Kevin and I resolved to really enjoy our wedding day. We decided to stay at each other’s side and enjoy it together the whole time. And we decided to stop and take little mental pictures during each activity, checking in with each other. We did this when we ate the ice cream. We did this when we shot nerf guns into the air, instead of a bouquet toss (we are not very traditional).
To this day, I’m so glad we made this choice together. Our wedding felt long - in the best of ways. I remember those moments, I was present the whole time, and it felt really special.
I hope you’re encouraged that emotional eating can be avoided when you care for yourself and you give yourself the things that your body, mind, and soul need.
If you have questions, feel free to email me at cktan@verticalmovementwellness.com. You can also send me a message on my Instagram @verticalmovementwellness. I’d love to help you on your wellness journey!