While Thanksgiving is an anticipated day filled with gratitude and family bonding, this holiday often poses a real challenge for many in recovery for an eating disorder. The focus on food and social gatherings may prove to be especially triggering and anxiety-provoking. With proper planning and support, it is possible to sustain recovery during the Thanksgiving season!
By: Rebekah Paster
Are you nervous about Thanksgiving? If so, you’re not alone. Thanksgiving can be a particularly challenging time for individuals who are struggling with eating disorders or disordered eating. Spending time with family during a holiday that is primarily centered around food can be particularly triggering. Below, you’ll find some skills that you can use to cope during the holidays.
Set Boundaries with Your Loved Ones
Asserting our needs around our loved ones can be difficult, but it’s one of the most beneficial things we can do to cope during the holidays. It may be helpful to practice these conversations with a friend, a therapist, or another supportive person in your life before Thanksgiving. This worksheet is a great resource for more information on healthy boundaries and how to set them.
Walk Away from Diet Talk
Because of how relevant diet culture unfortunately is, you may hear family, friends, or other loved ones engaging in diet talk — especially during meals. Unless someone at the Thanksgiving table works for the $70 billion diet industry, chances are that no one will benefit from diet talk. You can change the subject, or if you feel comfortable doing so, you can explain to your loved ones why diet talk is so harmful. NEDA is a great resource to direct your loved ones to for more information on the dangers of dieting.
Take a Break
Holidays can be exhausting. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you can always step away for a few minutes and use whatever coping skill will help you the most in that moment. Do a breathing exercise, listen to relaxing music, or anything else that helps you ground. You can do this as many times as you need to cope during the holiday. You can check out this resource for more examples of grounding techniques.
Listen to Your Body
Even if you anticipate eating more than usual on Thanksgiving, your body still needs fuel before and after the holiday. Make sure to nourish yourself in the days surrounding Thanksgiving — you don’t need to compensate for anything! For more information on nourishing yourself around Thanksgiving, you can reach out to a dietitian, recovery coach, or physician who is informed in eating disorders.
Reach Out for Support
You can reach out for support at any time if you are feeling in distress or in crisis. If you are in a situation where you can not safely call a crisis line, services like Crisis Text Line and the National Eating Disorders Association offer support via text or chat on Thanksgiving Day.
BALANCE eating disorder treatment center™’s clinical treatment team has extensive experience working with clients and their families. Our admissions team would be happy to answer any questions you may have about our programs, services, & resources. Read more about our philosophy here or book a free consultation call with our admissions team below to discuss the next steps!
This post was written by BALANCE intern, Rebekah Paster.
Rebekah is a second-year MSW student at the Columbia School of Social Work, where she specializes in Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice. She is passionate about eating disorder recovery and plans to pursue a career in eating disorder treatment after graduation. Outside of school, Rebekah enjoys cooking and mindful movement.
