A dietitian's top five tips for a guilt-free Christmas

Bench the diet for a few days

With the festive season in full swing, here's how you can overcome feelings of holiday diet guilt to maximise your enjoyment.

The festive season is a time when many of us come together with loved ones to celebrate and enjoy delicious food. However, the food we enjoy isn’t always the healthiest, and the aftermath of these celebrations can often bring about a sense of anxiety.

Post-holiday food guilt often arises from concerns about overindulgence, potential weight gain, or a perceived departure from your usual dietary habits, so it’s important to recognise these feelings and address them with a balanced perspective.

But what exactly can we do to ensure we navigate the holiday season with mindfulness to enjoy guilt-free celebrations?

Practise mindful eating

Whether you are grabbing cheese and crackers mid-conversation or free-pouring your gravy while reminding your kids not to load up on sugar during festive gatherings, it's easy to get caught up in the excitement and consume food without being fully present.

When trying to avoid post-holiday food guilt, it’s important to ensure you are eating mindfully and paying attention to the flavours, textures and satisfaction of each bite. By being mindful, you are more likely to recognise when you are satisfied, preventing overindulgence and promoting a healthier relationship with food.

Ensure you have balance and moderation

It’s easy to be tempted to indulge in sweet treats and carb-loaded goodies when filling your plates, however, for weight management, you must be maintaining balance and moderation.

I recommend ensuring you are balancing your plate with a carb-to-protein ratio of 1:1. This means that for every gram of carbohydrate you opt for at least one or more grams of protein. By doing so, you’ll have a fulfilling meal every time that keeps you full and satisfied.

It's important to let yourself enjoy your favourite foods around the holidays. Image: Unsplash

Set realistic goals

When preparing for a few days of indulgence while looking to maintain your health and wellness goals, I often hear people setting goals like ‘I will only have one plate at lunchtime and skip dinner,’ or ‘I’ll stick to finger foods.’

Instead of setting unrealistic expectations that amplify post-food anxiety, I recommend establishing clear goals that align with your overall wellbeing. This might include going for a long walk in the morning or drinking two litres of water. Not only will this reduce apprehension, but it will ensure you feel great and can tick off mini-goals along the way.

Be kind to yourself and eat intuitively

With festive celebrations often following rigid time frames - breakfast at nine, lunch at noon, dinner at six - it can be a difficult time for intuitive eating, especially when you don’t want to offend anyone. However, the key to healthy eating is listening to your body's cues and responding to hunger and fullness signals. After all, you know your body best.

To avoid feelings of guilt, trust your body to guide you in making food choices that align with your physical and emotional wellbeing. By focusing on intuitive eating, you will foster a positive relationship with food while promoting long-term health and happiness.

Remember that one day of indulgence won’t ruin your overall health. Image: iStock

Don’t pay penance for eating

After a few wholesome days spent enjoying the company of your loved ones and indulging in your favourite foods, it’s often easy to fall into the trap of excessive compensatory behaviours. This can lead to excessive feelings of guilt and like you owe it to yourself to make up for it. Listen to me, you don’t.

If there’s one thing you do keep front of mind when it comes to diet during this festive season, let it be this; don’t pay penance for eating. Pushing yourself to exercise excessively or severely restrict your diet will only lead to further feelings of anger and resentment. This creates a negative cycle which is counterproductive as when we feel like this, we are likely to self-sabotage rather than choose healthy behaviours because we love our bodies.

Remember, one day of indulgence won’t ruin your overall health. Instead, enjoy yourself and after the fact, return to your regular eating habits with a balanced and nourishing approach. Practise self-love, and you’ll find you enjoy investing in your health as it makes you feel good. This is a healthy long-term mindset for creating long-lasting healthy habits.

As we revel in the joy and togetherness of the festive season, it’s important to acknowledge that recognising the feelings of post-holiday food anxiety is the first step. Then, we can address them with a balanced perspective that will allow us to navigate the holiday season with mindfulness. By doing so, we can indulge in guilt-free celebrations and embrace the spirit of the season with both joy and a healthy mindset.

Kate Save is the CEO and co-founder of Be Fit Food. She is also an Accredited Practising Dietitian, diabetes educator and exercise physiologist.

Originally published as A dietitian's top five tips for a guilt-free Christmas