An Intuitive Eaters Guide to Christmas
If you are already squirming thinking of how stuffed to the brim with pav you’ll be come Christmas arvo, you are in the right place!
The festive season can bring about a spectrum of discomfort with eating, drinking and movement. A time that is meant to be relaxing and enjoyable, can create challenges in those with rigidity and control around food and exercise patterns.
The ‘Intuitive Eating Principles’ (there’s 10 of them) were pioneered by Dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch in the 90’s. We can use them to support us to ‘ditch the diet’ mentality and ‘make peace with food’.
I’ve picked out a few to have in our tool kit to tackle the challenges of festive eating.
‘Discover the Satisfaction Factor’
Food is to be enjoyed, it brings joy and pleasure. Allow yourself to find the satisification of enjoying good food and drinks with your friends and family.
‘Honour your Fullness’
Be intuitive with your body’s needs. Tune into your hunger and fullness cues to develop mindful eating habits. These steer us away from ‘restriction’ and ‘binge’ eating patterns. But, remember It’s ok to feel stuffed every now and again!
‘Challenge the Food Police’
Diet culture, society, friends and family spread ‘food rules’ which can wreak havoc on our festive eating. Tune into your ‘food police’ rules. What do you consider ‘good’ vs ‘bad’ foods to be? Challenge the food police chatter saying things like; “you’ve had a big lunch, you don’t need dinner”, or “I need to work out tomorrow I ate so much pudding!”. Remove the guilt and judgement from your inner critic!
‘Movement-Feel the Difference’
Move to make you feel good! Not to ‘earn’ or ‘burn off’ your festive eating. See movement as an opportunity to connect with your loved ones, have fun and spend time outside and in nature. It’s okay to take a break from your typical routine and be flexible with walks on the beach, swimming, backyard cricket…
‘Gentle Nutrition’
Be conscious of maintaining nourishment and balance by still including plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit, protein, whole carbs and healthy fats. Along with keeping well hydrated with plenty of water.
Happy Holidays,
M x
