Tips to Eating Thanksgiving Dinner Not Your Feelings
Before I started to deal with my own food issues, I treated Thanksgiving
Day as an excuse to go ahead full force with my love of food and overeating.
After all, it seemed expected... everyone commented about loosening their
pants to give their tummy more room. As well, time with my family sent
me back to feeling 10 years old again; and 10 was not a happy time for
me.
What I always found is that I still felt uncomfortably full, bad about
myself, wishing I hadn't taken that last bite, and invisible around my
family. Thanksgiving really was no different than any other day, I discovered.
Keep in mind that it is not uncommon for some of us to overeat to manage
the stress of being around our families. Perhaps you love your family,
but they drive you crazy. Perhaps your family is too dysfunctional to
like much, but you spend time with them anyway. Perhaps you avoid them
altogether. Whichever fits for you, family can push all the right buttons
and create that desire to eat to push down how you feel. So, how do you
cope with this and actually enjoy your turkey without needing to loosen
your pants and feel shame about eating?
Tips to eating turkey, not your feelings:
• Depending on what time turkey dinner is served, eat a light breakfast
- enough that you will be hungry for dinner but not too hungry. Keep in
mind that if you are hungry for dinner, it will taste better. If, however,
you are too hungry when you eat, you will tend to overeat and eat too
fast to enjoy the food.
• If your family is like many, there will be lots of food lying
around before dinner starts. Do not snack on these before dinner; again,
you want to feel hungry (at about a 3 on a 10 point scale) before dinner.
However, if it looks good to you, consider saving some to eat during dinner.
Wrap it up in a napkin, if you want. Often times, just knowing you can
have the treat later, will diminish the need for it NOW.
• Only put on your plate the foods you love. Challenge yourself
to pass up the salad that your Aunt Suzy made just because you don't want
her to feel bad. This scenario is often an underlying issue for compulsive
eaters and will only hurt you in the end.
• Eat your favorite foods first, when they will taste the best.
As your stomach begins to fill up, foods will not taste as good. Enjoying
all the good stuff first may support you in stopping before your stuffed.
• Half way through your meal, stop eating and check in with your
body. Notice where you are on the hunger scale (see my article "Put
Your Hunger on the Scale" on my website). When you start to feel
full, slow down or stop eating. Make sure you can take home leftovers.
For example, ask your host for leftovers - "Mom, this turkey and
gravy is DELICIOUS! I really want to eat more now but I am too full. Would
you mind if I take some home to enjoy tomorrow?" Again, making this
happen and reminding yourself of it can help ease your desire to continue
eating the yummy food.
• If you begin to feel overwhelmed with family, consider taking
a walk, talking to someone you like, or even hiding out in the bathroom
for a bit. It's often hard to let yourself feel the pain or sadness of
a difficult interaction with family members. However if you do nothing
but just be aware of your feelings, you'll ultimately feel better than
if you lose control and have to cope with the added physical discomfort
and emotional guilt of eating to cope with those family feelings.
• Save room for pie! If your family is like mine, pie seems to come
way too soon after dinner. Remember that you can always say, "I'm
not hungry yet, I'll wait to eat my slice later" and be sure your
favorite is saved for you. Trust me, you will enjoy your pie more if you
are hungry when you eat it.
• Spend some time giving thanks and appreciation to yourself, your
growth, people in your life, pets that you love. Create a new family ritual
or just do this yourself or with friends.
Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner, yourself, and the
people you spend it with! Thank you for being a part of a community that
supports a healthy relationship with food and your body.
1235 SE Division St, Suite 104 Portland, OR 97202 (503) 766-3399
Email Anne