Mindful Eating Tips for a Balanced Holiday Season
The holiday season is upon us, bringing with it a time of joy and celebration. However, for some, it also triggers anxious thoughts about navigating the seasonal holiday food.
The last two months of the year often turn into a free-for-all with food for most, because come January, the promise to be better and get back to our normal routine is always there.
While I'm all about enjoying your favorite foods and believe all foods can fit into a healthy eating routine, I also believe it's possible to do so mindfully and in a way that truly feels good not only during the holiday season, but year-round!
With this post, I'll help you learn how to get started making more mindful eating decisions all holiday season long.
What exactly is Mindful Eating?
Mindful eating is a practice of being more aware during eating experiences. It allows you to pay more attention to what you're eating and how it makes you feel. It also helps you connect with your body so you can become more in tune with your hunger and fullness cues as well as your emotions and thoughts around food!
Mindful Eating Tips for Your Holiday Meals
The festive season introduces a variety of delicious foods that we likely aren't enjoying at other times of the year, making it challenging to maintain mindfulness when all you want to do is indulge and not think about what you're eating until January 1st!
However, approaching your holiday meals with mindfulness can significantly enhance your enjoyment of the meal and the foods themselves, leaving you more satisfied overall. This may also lead to less overindulgence and less of that uncomfortably full feeling that we've all experienced before.
1. Mindful Eating Tip #1: Slow Down
Take your time and give yourself about 20 minutes to practice awareness and mindful eating during your meal when you can. When you rush through a meal, you won't be able to appreciate all the delicious flavors in your food or connect with your body's hunger and fullness cues as well.
Instead, take your time, slow down, and use the other mindful eating tips below.
Pro tip: Consistency is key, don't skip meals! By maintaining a steady eating routine each day, you'll arrive at the holiday meal satisfied instead of overly hungry, meaning you are more likely to savor each bite mindfully. Consider having small, balanced snacks every 3-4 hours leading up to the larger meal to help you take a more mindful approach during the meal
Mindful Eating Tip #2Get Curious
Get curious and ask yourself questions while you're eating. You can do this in your head in between conversations at holiday parties, but if you're alone you can try to ask these questions out loud or even journal the answers to your questions if you'd like.
Asking questions will not only help you to slow down but will help you get to know yourself with food more.
Ask questions such as: "How does this taste?", "What flavors/textures do I like about what I'm eating", "Where are my hunger levels at", or "How could this be more enjoyable" as you continue to take each bite.
When asking these questions, do so in a curious instead of a non-judgmental way. The goal is to get to know yourself more and become mindful, not judge yourself!
You may learn a lot about yourself with food using this mindful eating tip. Plus, the more you do it, the more in tune with your food likes/dislikes and hunger signals you can be!
Mindful Eating Tip #3Savor the flavor
Savor the flavor of your meals. Engage all your senses--sight, smell, touch, taste, and even sound! The more you can experience your meal, especially by engaging different senses, the more you will feel satisfied by the meal.
When you feel satisfied with what you ate the first time around, you're less likely to go looking for more later on.
Mindful Eating Tip #4 Limit Distractions
Distractions such as work, your phone, and your TV can take away from your ability to be mindful during your meal.
I know you may want to finish up that work project, scroll through TikTok, or watch the latest episode of your favorite show--but these things can take away from the satisfaction of your meal and your ability to be mindful!
If you're at a holiday party, distractions such as a funny story a family member is telling or trying to feed your kid first will be there. And that's okay!
Limiting distractions isn't always possible so if you're not able to be mindful while at a party, do your best at other meals during the day and see if there are any other mindful eating tips you can focus on while at the party instead!
To Summarize
The holidays are already a stressful time of the year for most. While you may want to use this time of year as an excuse to go all in with food, in the long run, this will add extra unnecessary stress to your plate.
Instead of using the last two months of the year as a free-for-all and promising yourself you will start over in January again, use the tips above to enjoy your favorite holiday foods without overdoing it.
ARE YOU READY TO STOP USING THE HOLIDAYS AS AN EXCUSE TO HAVE A FREE FOR ALL WITH FOOD?
Check out my free guide to learn to implement strategies that allow you to enjoy all the holiday food you love while still being consistent and mindful with food all season long.