This Holiday Season, You Are Allowed To Eat by Jen Jones

The Christmas season is as much about the food as it is about the presents, time off and celebrations. We all have our favourite meals that we associate with the holiday season and that we only get once a year. But this time of year can also be a time fraught with anxiety surrounding that very food and the permission we give ourselves to eat it, especially if we struggle with food and body image issues year round. Let’s be real, those don’t go away over the holidays but often intensify under the exposure, pressure and sometimes difficult family situations we might face.

Enter the mindset we need to take in these situations- permission to eat. As a chronic overexerciser and dieter, I had a difficult time with this concept for so long. Permission to enjoy, relax and eat could only be achieved in a few circumstances: 1) if I had worked off enough calories to “earn” my food, 2) if I made rules and restrictions around how much I “could” have without feeling guilty, 3) if I promised that I would be “better” the next day or Monday or January. Obviously, you can likely tell given these rules what kind of person I was to be around over the holidays. It was a time filled with obsession over food, weight and control that distracted me from fully enjoying moments of my life that I will never get back. With that being said, you do not need to give yourself a set of hoops to jump through to enjoy food this holiday season. In fact, you don’t even need to think about it, but stay in the moment and make choices on what you will enjoy and how you want to feel and savour every moment. These truly are special times in our lives.

One last note, if you have difficult family members or friends who are not used to having you not diet or restrict and make comments about your eating choices, it’s ok to tell them it’s none of their business. People’s observations are often reflections of their own feelings and giving permission to eat may be something they struggle with. Your eating choices are your choices and if you are okay with them, other people should be too. End of story!

So, have yourself the most magical and awe inspiring holiday season filled with memories that will last a lifetime. I know I will.

Xoxo Jen

* You can read more of Jen's posts on her blog: https://fitgirlselfloveadvocate.wordpress.com/