Navigating the holiday season in diet culture
/by Amanda Maiorano; Accredited Practising Dietitian
Despite the fast-approaching festive season being a time for joy and celebration, it can also be a difficult time for those struggling with their relationship to food. Food often plays a big part in cultural celebrations. It’s often what brings families and friends together. But unfortunately, diet culture has tried to boycott the holiday season by creating a sense of fear around eating, drinking and simply enjoying ourselves.
We’ve been wrongly conditioned to feel as though we’ve been ‘bad ’or ‘naughty ’after eating certain foods, which can lead to a dangerous cycle of restriction then bingeing.
Keep reading for my top 3 tips on navigating the holiday season without guilt or fear:
1. Say no to diets
Diet culture is extra prevalent around the holiday and new year period, which means it’s even more important to push back against the diet mentality. Commencing a diet prior to the holidays can often exacerbate unhealthy and restrictive behaviours towards food. These behaviours are likely to leave you feeling out of control around food and potentially end up in a binge and restrict cycle (AKA the human body’s natural response to starvation/restriction). In order to ignore the diet mentality, I’d recommend sticking to your normal routine (i.e. 3 meals +/- snacks per day) and being vigilant on not skipping meals or restricting certain foods. This is all about creating a nourishing and trusting relationship with your body.
2. Change the subject
If friends or family are talking about food in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable (e.g. “we’ve been so naughty eating all this food!”), then I encourage you to change the subject and talk about something more positive. Perhaps you might say “Yum! This cake was delicious, shall we go and open some presents?”. The language we use to talk about food plays an important in our relationship to food. Removing the morality from food is a great step in the right direction…especially if there are little ears listening!
3. Lastly, be kind to yourself and focus on making memories
Remember that the holidays are supposed to be different. They are often a time of joy and celebration, so it’s normal to eat and drink different types/amounts of food.
To learn more about how you could benefit from working with a HAES® and non-diet dietitian, book online here for a session with our dietitian Amanda.
Amanda Maiorano has a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics and her approach to dietetics is centred upon the Non-Diet Approach and applies the principles of HAES® to help her clients treat their bodies with respect and kindness. This approach to dietetics is also applicable to a range of health conditions, including diabetes and chronic disease management, IBS, coeliac disease, vegan or vegetarian diets and sports nutrition.
Amanda’s interests outside of work include cooking, photographing and developing recipes which she shares on her website www.madebymandy.me, and Instagram @madeby.mandy. She also loves going for walks, trying new restaurants and spending time with family and friends.
