holiday meals Archives - Diet Free Radiant Me | Intuitive Eating | Emotional Eating

Dreading the Diet Talk at Your Holiday Meal? Here’s 3 Survival Tips!

It’s only 5 days until Christmas, which means you’ll likely be surrounded by family, friends, food and wine! The holiday season brings with it all types of emotions, some happy and some sad.

Add to these emotions the fact that you are surrounded by dieting messages at every turn. “New Year, New You” is a common theme as we end one year and begin planning for the next. This message is enmeshed in diet culture, sucking you into thinking there’s something wrong with the “current you”!

I’m here to tell you there is nothing wrong with you, just as you are now!

If you have achieved a peaceful relationship with food and your body, then you are in a place where these media messages are benign to you. They don’t affect you, except make you mad as hell that the diet industry is praying on those desperate to lose weight.

But thankfully, that is not you anymore. You appreciate your body, you are at peace with food, and you are enjoying the holiday meals without guilt. And I am so happy for you.

If you aren’t yet there yet, just know that I realize this next week may be challenging for you. If you will be surrounded by family members who are dieting, you will hear comments at your holiday meal such as:

“I shouldn’t be eating this, but…”

“I’m starting Diet X on January 1^st…”

“I can’t eat that dessert, you are?”

How you handle these comments will determine whether you slip back into diet mentality or not.

Here are 3 Tips to Help You Navigate the Diet Talk at Your Holiday Meal:

Maintain awareness: That word right there, awareness, will be the difference between you throwing in the towel or standing your ground. Stay present within your body and make purposeful food choices that honor you! If at any point you find yourself losing that awareness, that’s okay. Bring yourself back to the present moment with a pause and a few deep breaths.

Tune out the diet talk: When the family starts getting into all the diet talk, just tune them out. Start to sing your favorite song in your head, think about the good time you had on your last vacation, or excuse yourself from the table for a stretch and walk around the house. You will be so thankful that you are no longer going down the rabbit hole of the ‘New Year Diet’!

Change the topic: When the conversation goes to the food and should/shouldn’ts, change the topic! Be the leader in moving the conversation to where you want it to go. A good idea is to have some conversation starters ready to go such as:

“What’s the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in the last 6 months?”
“If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?”
“If you could have any superpower, what would it be?”
“What’s your biggest pet peeve?”

You have the power within you to resist falling back into diet mentality. Keep reminding yourself of this, especially as December is coming to a close and a New Year is beginning!

And, give thought to how you want your intuitive eating journey to look in 2018.

If you are content in continuing to go it alone and are happy with your progress, then I am happy for you too!

But if any part of you would like a smoother transition into the world of intuitive eating, then reach out to me and let’s see how I can support you in the New Year. Just answer a few questions at www.TalkWithBonnie.com and we will set up a time to speak.

Best wishes for a Happy Holiday!

Is the Holiday Stress Already Getting To You?

Does the approaching holiday season stress you out? I have had a few clients come in to my office recently who are already beginning to feel the stress of the holiday season now that it’s November! One conversation really stuck with me.

Sara walked into my office this week all stressed out. I asked her what was wrong, and she started to tell me about how overwhelmed she’s feeling about Thanksgiving, Christmas, all the parties and family visiting. There’s still 3 weeks until Thanksgiving, yet she’s already anticipating and feeling the stress.

These are some of her stressors that she started listing:

Gift shopping. Sara is a mom of four children and in charge of gifts for them for the holidays as well as the rest of her large extended family. This causes her a lot of anxiety about finding the right gift and making sure she’s getting what everyone wants, while still staying on budget.

Hostess. Her parents come in from out of town during the holidays and tend to stay with her and her family. She said this becomes very stressful because she has to make sure her house is spotless the whole time, cooking meals every night and she feels pressure to constantly entertain them. This becomes overwhelming and takes away from her own self-care.

Cooking. Finding a balance between cooking what her family wants and finding meals that nourish her own body has become very stressful. Normally, she likes to choose meals based on whole foods. During the holiday season, her family requests lots of holiday favorites, which she enjoys as well, yet she has trouble balancing the holiday favorites with foods that feel best in her body.

Cleaning. As the holidays approach and her extended family visits, Sara finds that she is cleaning nonstop. This chore becomes daunting and stressful, as it’s hard to keep a full house clean all the time. However, she feels she needs to do it to keep everyone happy and not let anyone know she is overwhelmed.

Parties. This is where Sara said she has the most stress. Sara is usually the hostess at the family holiday parties and dinners. She feels extra pressure to entertain everyone while still ensuring they are well fed and happy. She really doesn’t have any help, and finds it difficult to ask for assistance from her husband and kids. She feels she ‘should’ be able to do it all.

And then of course there is the obligation of attending her workplace holiday party where there’s lots of food and drink available. By this time, she’s physically and emotionally drained and just says “What the heck. I’ll deal with my eating in the New Year!”

Woah! No wonder she is already worrying about the holidays. This is a lot to handle and can be hard for anyone to keep from getting stressed.

In working with Sara, I’ve identified that she has the all-or-nothing mindset when it comes to the holidays. She needs to do everything herself at 100%, or it doesn’t count. She needs to eat perfectly, or she eats “terribly” (her words!).

Does any of this resonate with you?

Can you relate to Sara?

Well, Sara asked me to help her handle the stress better this year and lucky for her, and you, I have exactly what she needs.

I invite you to join my 3-week free challenge “Enjoy Your Holiday Festivities (and Sweets) without Guilt” where I’ll give you tips on self-care during the holiday, navigating holiday parties and eating your sweets without guilt.

Yes, you CAN eat your holiday sweets and not have any guilt.

You CAN rid yourself of the all-or-nothing thinking when it comes to your food and the holidays.

Allow me to show you how.

In this challenge, you’ll get step-by-step training and support every step of the way.

We start Monday, November 6^th!

Learn more and join us HERE!

I look forward to supporting you through the holidays, so you can enjoy your holiday festivities and sweets, without the guilt!

Simple Solutions to Stop Stress Eating in its Tracks!

Thanksgiving is only one week away. Yikes!

Cleaning, shopping, cooking, preparing the house….there is so much to do!

Does all the stress and overwhelm of the holidays cause you to go into a tailspin? How will you accomplish all that you need to do? And, of course, you still need to go to work, tend to your usual house chores, take care of the kids etc.

What happens when you get stressed and overwhelmed?

For many, they cope by turning to food to “ease the stress”. Ahh, that piece of chocolate melting in your mouth is melting away all the stress too. That is, until you try on your favorite holiday pants and they don’t button.

Sound familiar?

Listen, I know you want to overcome stress eating. The holidays that are upon us are just one time when you might find yourself coping with food. But what about all year round? Is life hectic with little time for yourself?

Deep down in your heart and soul, you wish there was a way for you to learn how to manage the stress and overwhelm without eating. Actually, you wish you could better handle all that life throws your way so you aren’t overwhelmed.

There is a way!

I am excited to bring to you a brand new program called Stress Less EAT LESS™.

Read all the way to the end to learn about the Holiday Special I am offering you.

In this program you will discover:

How to develop a calm mindset by better managing your time and priorities so you can be more mindful in how you handle kid stress, job stress, life’s stresses.
What changes you need to make in your daily health and nutrition habits so you feel physically and mentally ready to deal with a stressful situation without caving to the ice cream and cake.
The two most important steps that you need to take when you are in the midst of overwhelm and it seems easier to turn to food to numb.
The ONE practice you MUST learn to stop stress eating in its tracks and turn you away from the cookie jar and drive-through.

I originally created this program as a “Do it Yourself” program. But I realize that you could probably use some extra support during the holidays, so for this time only, I am offering this program with LIVE group calls a private Facebook group and more!

Click here for all the details and to sign up.

There are lots of bonuses for you once you sign up. The sooner you sign up, the more bonuses you get.

Oh, and share it with your friends and loved ones who could use Simple Strategies to Stop Stress Eating in its Tracks.

Here’s to a STRESS FREE Holiday!

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