I spend a lot of time with my clients this time of year talking about holiday eating.

For many, special occasion eating and holiday treats bring a sense of worry instead of joy. After working hard to eat healthfully for their sports performance to perhaps improve their blood pressure, my clients aren’t sure how to navigate all of the office goodies, holiday parties, gifts of cookies, and seasonal delights. 

Good news: it is possible to stay on track with your health goals and enjoy holiday treats. I’ll show you how.

I’m Angie, Registered Dietitian, sports nutrition expert, and certified Intuitive Eating counselor. What may surprise you is that I have my own history with dieting and restriction. But, with Intuitive Eating and practice, I’ve been able to learn how to navigate the holidays and beyond with a nice balance of health and joy. 

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through a little background about what Intuitive Eating is and how you can use these strategies to navigate this holiday season with less food worry, stress, or guilt. I’ll leave you with my top 8 tips for stress-free holiday eating and how to start practicing them today to make your holidays as manageable and enjoyable as they can be.

Note: this blog post contains affiliate links. This means that I may earn a commission at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Let’s dig in!

Intuitive Eating: a quick review

What is Intuitive Eating? It is an approach to eating that includes nutrition but also learning to tune into what your body wants and needs and honoring that. It is about knowing what the right portion is for any given meal by listening to your hunger and fullness cues instead of following a calorie or point allotment that an app told you. 

Intuitive Eating is completely different from traditional “diets.” In fact, it isn’t a diet at all. And while it can seem completely foreign to anyone who has been immersed in diet culture, it is a science-backed approach to wellness that has been around since the 90s. 

The two dietitians who created the Intuitive Eating Framework have written a book, which I highly recommend!

Now available in its updated fourth edition, The Intuitive Eating book (1) is built on the following 10 principles: 

• Reject the Diet Mentality
• Honor Your Hunger
• Make Peace With Food
• Challenge the Food Police
• Discover the Satisfaction Factor
• Feel Your Fullness
• Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness
• Respect Your Body
• Movement-Feel the Difference
• Honor Your Health-Gentle Nutrition

To learn more, treat yourself to a copy of the newest Intuitive Eating Fully Revised and Updated 4th edition book on Amazon. 

Ready to learn some practical ways to start incorporating some of the intuitive eating principles right now? The following are my top 8 Intuitive Eating tips to try this holiday season.

Tip #1: Keep Your Focus on Good Day-to-Day Nutrition

Have you been enjoying nutritious breakfasts and packing your lunch for work? Having snacks throughout the day and prepping easy dinners? Excellent! Keep up the good work! 

If this hasn’t been your practice, now is a great time to start a few routines. Good daily nutrition is more important than what you eat at a single holiday party, and keeping yourself well-nourished will help to tame holiday cravings or feeling like you don’t have a brake pedal around the treats. 

Need some ideas for yummy seasonal breakfasts? Check out my post on Pumpkin Breakfasts with a free recipe book to download.

Tip #2: S-L-O-W Down

No doubt this time of year is extremely busy, but taking time away from distractions to enjoy your meals is a wonderful intuitive eating technique. 

See what happens if you put away your cell phone, shut down your computer, turn off the TV, and really connect with the food in front of you. 

Notice the colors, the textures, the scents, and the tastes of your meal. Allow yourself to experience all of the sensations of eating by fully connecting without distractions. 

Even if you can only do this at one meal per day, you may find you are more satisfied, you are able to better enjoy your food, and you can connect to future hunger and fullness cues better than before.  

Tip #3: Be the Boss

It’s easy to feel pressured to try Aunt Bessie’s fruitcake or the beautifully decorated gingerbread man that your co-worker gifts you. If those are not appealing or you aren’t hungry for them, remember that there is no obligation to eat them.

If it is hard to say no in the moment, feel free to say thank you and say that you’ll take them home for later. Then, you’re welcome to pass the treat along to someone else or simply toss ‘em. It’s OK, I promise!

Tip #4: Pick Your Favorites

Most of us have a few things that really make the holidays the holidays. For me, it is most definitely a cup of eggnog once our Christmas tree decorations are complete. This isn’t a food I’d enjoy on a Tuesday in June, but it is so nostalgic and wonderfully Christmas-y to me. 

Is eggnog packed with phytonutrients and protein? Nope. But it doesn’t have to be! I am going to drink it and enjoy it without shame, apologies, or guilt. 

And you don’t have to try to “healthify” your holiday favorites. Baking cookies with less fat or sugar will probably make them less enjoyable and satisfying and make you more likely to seek out a better treat later. I recommend that you find the special treats that are the most meaningful to your holiday celebrations and truly enjoy them as they are meant to be. 

Tip #5: Budgeting Not Needed

Skimping on main meals or snacks throughout the day to “earn” special foods at parties is a strategy that almost always backfires. Going into a festive gathering extremely hungry will make it much more likely that you’ll overeat. 

Instead of “saving your calories for later,” head into holiday gatherings after a day of nourishing meals and snacks. This means that you’ll be ready to eat and enjoy seasonal food, but not with a ravenous hunger monkey on your back.

If you need some quick and non-perishable snacks to keep in your car or desk, check out my post on pre-workout snack bars for some tasty options.

Tip #6: Keep On Moving

With hectic schedules at this time of year, it’s very easy to think that you don’t have time for meaningful movement or exercise. Make time for this important piece of self-care even when you are busy. If you do, you may find a more natural inclination to stick to health goals and nourish yourself well. 

This doesn’t have to be a sweaty gym session, and the purpose is not to burn calories. 

Why not use this as an opportunity to connect with friends and family while honoring your health? Bundle up for a crisp hike outdoors, go ice skating as a family, or even consider a turkey trot (or stroll). My family started an annual Thanksgiving turkey trot about 10 years ago, and it’s become one of the best parts of our celebration.

See if your holidays feel more joyful when you take time for movement you love.

Tip #7: Think of what you can include

Sometimes, we put all of our collective holiday food energy into focusing on what we should avoid. How about shifting the narrative to focus on foods that you would like to include? 

Maybe you would like to eat more fruits and vegetables, increase your fiber, or cook more meals at home, but it never feels like the right time. November and December are great months to start making a concerted effort to introduce and incorporate new nourishing foods into your daily routine. 

Tip #8: Take it Easy on Yourself

This holiday schedule won’t last forever. We don’t always get to gather with family and friends and celebrate with each other. Remember that holiday eating is temporary, and it is just one part of our celebrations together. Try to stay present in these special moments and enjoy them. 

That’s a wrap!

Do you struggle with how to include holiday foods or find that you experience a lot of food worry? Please know that you’re not alone: I’m here to help. I work one-on-one with clients, both in person and via telehealth, to overcome their food fears and break up with dieting for good. 

Just like it takes months to train for a triathlon, or years to nail a hard yoga pose, Intuitive Eating is not something easily mastered overnight.

See what it’s like to free up the mental energy you spend on food worry and channel it into something more productive for your health and well-being. Contact me to set up an appointment so you’ll have a plan to feel nourished and joyful through the holidays and beyond. 

If you have insurance, this appointment might be 100% covered!

This article has been updated from its original publication on October 30, 2018, titled Mindful Holiday Eating.