Food Anxiety During The Holidays
The holiday season is approaching. Family and friends will gather for celebratory events, including planned dinners, themed parties, and other joyful activities. Exchanging gifts and preparing special meals embody the traditions scattered throughout these holidays. However, individuals who are in eating disorder recovery can experience intense feelings of food anxiety and guilt.
What Is Food Anxiety & Guilt?
For starters, what is food anxiety and guilt? While the terms are interchangeable, they both invoke similar emotions. Joelle Jean, FNP-C, BSN, RN, describes food guilt as the dreaded feeling that causes you to feel like you have done something wrong, leading you to wish you could go back in time and not eat what you’ve just eaten. Family members may pressure individuals to try various foods. Combined with holiday talk on social media, this can cause anxiety and depression.
Diet Culture and the Holidays
There is also the myth of overindulging that diet culture emphasizes throughout the holidays, causing individuals to feel anxious, experience food anxiety, or guilty around specific foods. Joelle Jean, FNP-C, BSN, RN, recommends in her article in Nurse Journal that individuals focus on developing an intuitive mindset and focus on one’s health rather than one’s body image. This will alleviate the preoccupation or anxiety around eating, especially during holidays. As such, individuals can still utilize various coping mechanisms and strategies to enjoy the holidays without food anxiety or food pressure.
How To Navigate Food Anxiety During The Holidays
Various coping strategies help individuals manage food anxiety and guilt while still enjoying the holiday season with family and friends. The first strategy is to develop coping mechanisms and destress activities before the holiday season. These include enjoyable activities, self-care, and mindfulness.
Mapping out strategies for holiday events helps individuals in eating disorder recovery manage anxiety and still celebrate traditions with loved ones. Another strategy would be to have a support system consisting of family members, close friends, or one’s recovery team available throughout the holidays so that individuals can connect if they feel stressed, anxious, or guilty about food.
If you or someone you love is struggling with food anxiety or other eating disorder behaviors during the holidays, BALANCE eating disorder treatment center™ may be the right treatment for you.
BALANCE eating disorder treatment center™, located in New York City, offers free consultation calls to help you explore next steps. We provide in-person programming seven days a week and are in-network with UnitedHealthcare (UHC), Cigna, Emblem, and Oscar, with Aetna coverage coming soon. Support is available, and recovery is possible. Schedule a free consultation call with our admissions team here and stay connected with BALANCE on Instagram here.
References
Jean, J. (2022, August 29). How to avoid food guilt in the holiday season | NurseJournal.org. NurseJournal.org. Retrieved October 27, 2024, from https://nursejournal.org/articles/how-to-avoid-food-guilt-in-the-holiday-season/
Mona, B. (2022, November 4). How to celebrate Holidays through Disordered Eating Recovery. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/gift-guide-holiday-celebrations-through-disordered-eating-recovery#How-to-cope-with-an-ED-during-the-holidays
This post was written by BALANCE Blog Contributor, Regina Colie (she/her).
Regina Colie is a blog contributor for BALANCE, whose previous work has been featured in Project HEAL and Nourishing NY. She is an alumnus of The New School of Social Research, where she received her Masters in Psychology. After attending Marymount Manhattan College, she had the opportunity to be published in Dr. Nava Silton’s book, The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Child, Adolescent, and Adult Development.
