4 Tips to Cooking (and Eating) Intuitively During Passover and Easter

This weekend, people all over the world will be celebrating Passover and Easter. And as per usual, with the holidays comes an abundance of food. For some people, this is exciting and something they look forward to. After all, most holidays have traditional foods that only come around this time of year.

But for so many others, the holidays with all the food favorites cause quite a bit of worry, and maybe even fear. Why the fear, you might ask?

Unfortunately, the diet industry has taught you to not trust yourself with food. So you have so much doubt as to whether you will be able to enjoy eating without the guilt. This is magnified when there are so many options on the table, it gets downright overwhelming. Oftentimes, even one bite of a food you think is “forbidden” will lead to a “throwing in the towel” and “I’ll start again after the holiday” mentality.

Every year I tell myself that next year I will prepare less food, and yet that never seems to happen. As a hostess, I want to be sure everyone has the foods they love and look forward to. But as I begin cooking for this holiday, I am keeping 4 things in mind that I hope will be helpful for you as well.

1. Listen to My “Gut” Instinct

I’m pretty good at “going with my gut”. And my gut tells me that I absolutely do not need 3 mains, 4 salads, 5 sides, and 3 desserts. So, I have written my initial menu, reviewed it, and asked myself which dishes my guests, and myself, will really love this holiday. And then I cut down the menu.

Items that I can make all year round don’t need to be on this holiday menu! Take roasted red potatoes for example. We love them, but we eat them all year round. So instead of potatoes as a side dish, we will have Matzo Farfel Ring (recipe on page 69 of my book Passover the Healthy Way) which is a traditional Passover recipe for my family (reminds me of my grandma. I can still picture her standing at my stove making the farfel).

2. Trust My Family

I want my family and guests to enjoy the holiday food. But that doesn’t mean that they expect an entire smorgasbord. My son will often tell me “mom, there’s no room on the table anymore.” So, I am taking this to heart and will trust that whatever I make, will be enough.

3. Trust Myself

A challenge for many people is staying fully present when eating socially, especially when there’s a lot of people and the meals stretch on and on. I get this!

My best suggestion is to set an intention before going into the holiday meal. Reminding yourself that you will check in with yourself and your hunger/fullness signals, without judgement.

Listen, there are times that I walk away from a holiday meal feeling a bit overfull. Yes, this happens to seasoned Intuitive Eaters as well. Sometimes it’s a conscious decision to want to eat a bit more, and sometimes it’s not.

At the end of the day, remember, there’s no perfection in Intuitive Eating. Trust that you will do the best that you can in the moment. I do.

4. Make Intuitive Decisions Around Eating

While food is an important part of many celebrations, it’s not the reason for the celebration.

This year, the Passover Seder starts quite late (since we changed the clocks), which means by the time we get up to the “eating the meal” part of the Haggadah, it will be late. I have cut down my menu drastically because intuitively, I know that I (and the rest of my family) don’t prefer to eat heavy meals so late at night. It just doesn’t sit right in my/our gut.

This decision is allowing me to focus on the reason we are coming together for the Passover holiday. It’s not about the food at all.

Wishing you a wonderful Passover and Easter Holiday!

Please share with me your biggest takeaway in the comments below.