For some people, thanksgiving is a holiday they love and look forward to every year. They’re thrilled to cook and bake and to be around the people they love. For others, Thanksgiving is something they feel anxious about. They don’t have a good relationship with food and worry about the consequences of what they eat on this day. They struggle to be around their family which makes them uncomfortable. Everyone has a mixed experience on this holiday, and that’s ok.
One way people cope with uncomfortable feelings is through binging or restricting food. Even the average person, struggles to not binge or overeat on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is known as the meal that everyone binges on but that doesn’t have to be the case. If being uncomfortably full or binging is not your goal, I would love to help.
How do I not binge on Thanksgiving?
The most important thing I need you to know is that we aren’t creating a rule that you can’t overeat on Thanksgiving. Honoring and listening to your body in the moment is what’s important. If you don’t want to binge eat on thanksgiving, I have some tips for you.
Don’t skip meals before
Whether you eat your Thanksgiving meal at lunch or dinner, you might feel tempted to skip the meals before. You can either be trying to compensate for the meal you’ll eat later or you want to save room for your thanksgiving feast but this ends up being counterintuitive. Restricting meals often leads to overeating when you do eat. This causes you to be overly hungry, and you are more likely to binge on Thanksgiving dinner. Eat normally leading up to your meal if you don’t want to be prone to binging.
Eat only the things you love
When it comes right down to it, you’re eating to fuel your body and not to please other people. If you don’t like Aunt Susan’s green bean casserole, you don’t have to eat it. You don’t need to fill your plate (or your life) with things that you don’t really love and enjoy. Sometimes it helps to think beforehand about the foods you really look forward to on Thanksgiving. Plan on eating those because those are the things you like. Skip out on the food you don’t want or enjoy. You’re not alive to people, please. Take care of yourself.
Be present while eating
Take some deep breaths before you start your meal. Put down your fork between bites. Again, this isn’t a rule, and you aren’t trying to restrict food. However, if you’re trying to listen to your hunger and fullness signals it can help to go slow. No thanks to diet culture eating slowly is another trick to restrict. That’s not what we are trying to do here. Eating slowly helps you stay present and in tune. Eating food fast will have a higher likelihood of resulting in a binge.
Don’t plan to diet after
If you’re going into thanksgiving dinner or any of the holidays with the mindset that the diet starts on Monday or in the New year, you’re going to not just binge for one meal. You’re going to binge all weekend long or for the rest of the year. Just the thought of restriction will lead to a higher likelihood of binging. You will get into “the last supper” mentality and won’t be listening to your body. Dieting leads to a rebound in weight gain plus some in 95 percent of people. Dieting is out and listening to your body is in.
Be compassionate, it’s just one meal
In the end, it’s just one meal. Whether you overeat or binge, it’s ok. It’s one meal. It’s not going to ruin you. You don’t have to beat yourself up or give it any more thought. Be kind to yourself. You did the best you can. Berating yourself isn’t going to lead to long-term positive results. Try self-compassion instead.
Binge eating disorder treatment can help
If you find yourself stuck in a cycle of restricting and binging, it can be difficult to stop on your own. I’m sure you’ve tried. There’s nothing wrong with you because this is where you struggle. Working with a professional that specializes in binge eating disorder can help you stop the cycle. It can erode your self-esteem to keep bouncing back and forth between binging and restricting. There is a way out and binge eating disorder treatment can help.
Ready to start working with a binge eating disorder therapist in Utah?
You don’t have to keep struggling with your relationship with food. You can stop feeling anxious and not keep perpetuating the cycle of binging and restricting. Binge eating disorder treatment can help. This Utah Counseling Practice has a binge eating disorder therapist specializing in binge eating disorder treatment in Utah. To start the therapy process, follow the steps below:
Meet with an eating disorder therapist
Begin finding food freedom
Online Eating Disorder Therapy in Utah
It’s important to be able to have access to a therapist that specializes in eating disorder treatment. There are many parts of Utah that don’t have an eating disorder therapist in their town. This is why I provide online therapy in Utah. It allows you to meet face-to-face with an eating disorder therapist over a video platform. It’s just as effective as in-person therapy.
Online counseling also means that wherever you are in Utah, we can work together. I work with clients in Salt Lake City, Provo, Logan, St. George, Cedar City, Heber City, and more.
Other mental health services at Maple Canyon Therapy
Binge eating disorder treatment isn’t the only counseling service provided at this Utah Counseling Clinic. Other mental health services provided by Maple Canyon Therapy include EMDR therapy, birth trauma therapy, eating disorder therapy, body image therapy, and anxiety therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation to see how I can help.
About the Author
Ashlee Hunt is a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Maple Canyon Therapy in Utah. She has two bachelor's degrees: a degree in psychology and a degree in family life and human development from Southern Utah University. Ashlee has a master's degree in social work from Utah State University. She has worked with eating disorders at all levels of care from inpatient, partial hospitalization, and outpatient. Ashlee loves helping women work through eating disorder recovery and find freedom from the anxiety they feel around food. When Ashlee isn’t doing therapy, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two Goldendoodles exploring Utah.