How to eat what you want this festive season and not feel guilty about it

Christmas is a time to be enjoyed with family, friends, and FOOD! We love Christmas and all the delicious food to be enjoyed. But for many of us Christmas can be an emotional and stressful time around food. A lot of us struggle with an internal battle of wanting to be ‘good’ this festive season. We might have a number of foods we aren’t allowed to eat because of the pressure to look good at RnV or in our swimming togs. But with the plethora of food available at celebrations during this time, it’s pretty darn impossible to stay so restrictive forever. We then get into this all or nothing mentality and say to ourselves: “F*ck it, I’ll be ‘good’ in the new year” and next thing you know it we’re diving head first into Aunty Jill’s Christmas pudding, and feeling guilty about it an hour later.

The good news? It doesn’t have to be that way. It is possible to eat what you want this Christmas without feeling guilty- as long as you work at changing your mindset to create a healthy relationship with food. Because life is too short to stress or feel guilty about food or your appearance. Period.

This festive season why not gift yourself unconditional permission to eat by getting rid of any food rules and having no off limit foods? Christmas time is special not only because of the reason for the season, but also because there are foods and traditions that you may experience only during this time of year. For me, it’s my Mum’s chocolate eclairs… I know going into Christmas I make sure to enjoy Mum’s chocolate eclairs with ZERO guilt! I like to remind myself that I am allowed all foods and shouldn’t feel guilty after eating any foods, at any time of the year. Because in reality food is just food that gives us fuel to survive, and we aren’t a better or worse person for eating certain foods.

We know from research and experience that those who allow themselves all foods have less binge and out of control eating episodes. If you start focusing on what you feel like eating, your diet will naturally balance it’s self out. If you crave chocolate, eat chocolate! If you crave veggies, eat veggies! And if you do still struggle with guilty feelings after eating certain foods, practice resetting: move on, don’t feel guilty, and reset at your next meal or snack rather than saying ‘F*ck it, its all ruined now I may as well eat ‘bad’ for the rest of the day or week, I’ll start being ‘good’ again tomorrow.’

Remember it’s what you eat 80% of the time that matters, so try not to sweat that remaining 20%. Because thats your LIFE and your freedom to enjoy all the delicious foods this festive seasons brings us. So go on.. eat those Christmas chocolates you’ve been eyeing up for weeks now…but most of all enjoy them.