Nina Kaufmann

The holiday season is a time of joy and connection. We get to spend wonderful time with our loved ones, reconnect with friends and family we may not see often during the year, and enjoy lots of gifts – and delicious foods we mostly don’t prepare throughout the year.

However, it can also bring stress, especially around food. Diet culture often makes it worse, encouraging restrictive behaviors that steal the joy from shared meals and seasonal treats.
This year, let’s approach the holidays with a mindset rooted in intuitive eating, embracing flexibility, self-compassion, and enjoyment. You deserve to truly have a holly jolly season!

Here’s how to navigate the holiday season with confidence and peace:

1. Focus on Food Flexibility

Holiday meals often come with dieting rules: “Don’t eat too much dessert,” or “Make sure you only have one serving,” or “You’re allowed to eat only 3 cookies.” With intuitive eating, we want to embrace food flexibility and reject these rules diet culture imposed on us.

Food flexibility means letting go of labels like “good” or “bad” and giving yourself unconditional permission to eat. When you allow all foods a place at the table, feelings of deprivation and guilt lose their power over you. Yes, I know this can be terrifying – which is why it helps to work through it with a professional, but by allowing yourself freedom, you open yourself to the full experience of eating; nourishing your body, mind, and soul. Which is what food should be doing!

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Remember, all foods have value. Whether it’s the fiber in a salad or the comfort found in a slice of pie, both can play a positive role in your overall well-being.

Not every meal needs to be nutritiously dense to be valuable!

Another important thing to remember is that one meal or day of eating won’t have any significant impact on your health. Some of my clients are afraid of: “If I allow myself to enjoy all the holiday treats, I will burst open,” and while this is a valid fear, it can be worked through. And I’m yet to see anyone burst open and I’ve been working with clients for 7 years now.
Same goes for another very common fear that unconditional permission to eat will inevitably mean binge eating until they “explode”. Never happened, not even once. The reason being – when you truly allow yourself to enjoy all the foods you like, you get to tune in with your body and stop eating whenever you like, trusting that next time you’re hungry, food will be there again. Therefore, eating large amounts of food loses its appeal (because ultimately, as you might know, it doesn’t feel good.)

2. Stay In Tune With Your Body

Holidays can be overwhelming, making it easy to lose touch with your body’s signals. Intuitive eating encourages you to practice interoceptive awareness; tuning into the subtle cues your body provides, like hunger, fullness, and satisfaction.

Pay attention to signs of hunger such as a growling stomach, low energy, irritability (the worst one to experience when you’re just trying to have a lovely time with your friends and family), headache or even just thinking about food. Honor these cues by eating regularly and prioritizing meals that are both physically and psychologically satisfying.

Make it a habit to check in with yourself throughout the day:

• Am I starting to feel hungry?
• Am I comfortably full?
• Is this food bringing me pleasure and satisfaction?

These mindful moments will help you stay connected to your body’s needs during the busy holiday days.

3. Give Yourself Unconditional Permission to Eat

One of the pillars of intuitive eating is giving yourself full permission to enjoy all foods. Avoid labeling certain holiday treats as “off-limits” or “special occasion only.” When you feel you’re allowed to eat a certain food only today, or only this week – guess what, you will inevitably overeat because of the impending scarcity! Allowing yourself to enjoy the foods you love regularly helps develop a healthier relationship with food and reduces feelings of deprivation, which can lead to overeating.

For example, if you love pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes, allow yourself to enjoy them freely. Practice making all foods, whether turkey or cookies, equal in moral value, understand that you’re not “bad” for enjoy a piece of pie (unless you’ve beaten someone up and stole it from them, I suppose.) Allowing all foods to be of equal moral value will decrease the shame and guilt often associated with eating and leave you free to experience true satisfaction.
Consequently, it makes all foods feel more ordinary, allowing you to stop eating when you’re satisfied, as opposed to the dieting mindset that would lead you to eat everything available since “you already screwed up.”

4. Enjoy All Your Favorite Holiday Foods

i’ve said it a million times, and I will say it a million times more: food is more than just fuel; it’s a source of joy, connection, tradition and celebration. Take time to notice and enjoy the unique flavors and textures of holiday meals. Engage all your senses:

• How does the food look and smell?
• What’s the texture and temperature?
• Are the flavors bringing you comfort or nostalgia? Like enjoying your grandmas famous pie.

Ask yourself, What do I really feel like eating? This mindful approach not only makes it easier to truly enjoy the foods but also helps you make choices that honor your physical and emotional hunger.
Also notice the other roles food plays in your life during holiday season – family gathering, enjoy grandma’s famous apple pie, just the smell being enough to bring cherished childhood memories. Or everyone bringing their own Christmas cookies, sharing their love and work with you as a little token of appreciation. What else?

5. Eat What You Like, Skip What You Don’t

Staying in tune with your body also means recognizing whether you enjoy the food you’re eating. You are allowed to have preferences. If you don’t like something, skip it. Also, if you try something and decide it’s not as good as it looked, feel free to leave it on your plate. As simple as that!
And I know, you might encounter comments from (probably well-meaning) members of the family, but stand up for yourself. You can practice even before you go to the gathering: “No thanks, I’m actually full,” or “No thank you, I actually really want to try this other food.”

Boundaries are an important part of honoring your health.

6. Practice Self-Care

Self-care is easy to overlook during the holiday season, as we tend to focus on preparations. Therefore, it helps to have a self-care plan to manage stress and help you stay present. This will make it easier for you to stay in touch with your hunger instead of stress-eating (but if you do end up stress-eating, be kind to yourself, it can happen to anyone).
Some self-care activities might include:

• Taking a walk after a meal
• Journaling about what you’re grateful for
• Listening to calming music
• Enjoying a cup of tea by the fireplace

Having a ready list of stress-relieving activities can help you stay grounded and connected to yourself, even during hectic moments.
For additional support, try Nurturing Female Hormones course or the free Intuitive Eating Through Holidays course.

7. Give Yourself A Break: Practice Self-Compassion

The holidays are the best time to practice gratitude and self-compassion. One of the important things we often forget when talking about gratitude are our bodies, so make sure to thank your body this holiday season, for carrying you through the year, allowing you to experience literally every single thing you’ve ever experienced.

And please, be kind to yourself if you feel challenged by old patterns or triggers.
It’s okay if you eat more than usual or if you find yourself struggling to tune into your body’s cues. This is part of the journey toward healing your relationship with food. Celebrate the small wins, like enjoying a meal without guilt or stopping when you feel satisfied, and remind yourself that a day or few of eating won’t have any significant impact on your health.
Helpful reminder is also that the famous “holiday weight gain” isn’t nearly as big as the diet culture makes it seem – it’s just a marketing scam to cash in on your insecurities and sell you diet and “detox” programs in January.

Embrace a Guilt-Free Holiday Season

The holidays are meant to be a time of joy, connection, and celebration. Unfortunately, for so many, this season comes with lots of food guilt and body anxiety. Let’s change that. This year, give yourself the gift of true food freedom. With intuitive eating, you can enjoy every bite of your holiday favorites while staying connected to your body’s natural wisdom.

Imagine This Holiday Season:

• Enjoying your favorite holiday treats without guilt or overthinking.
• Having festive meals with loved ones, feeling present and at peace.
• Letting go of the constant mental chatter around food and body image.
• Feeling confident in your ability to honor your hunger, fullness, and satisfaction, no matter what’s on the table.

In my Intuitive Eating Coaching, we’ll work together to make this your reality.

Let’s work together to help you:

• Break free from restrictive holiday eating habits and enjoy all foods without guilt, while also gently nourishing your body.
• Navigate social gatherings confidently, even when conversations turn to dieting or body talk.
• Focus on what truly matters; spending quality time with loved ones and creating wonderful memories.

Here’s What You’ll Gain from Intuitive Eating Coaching

My coaching is more than just learning how to eat intuitively, we want to work on healing your relationship with food, body, and self. Together, we’ll:

• Reframe Food Rules: Break free from the idea of “good” and “bad” foods, embracing a flexible and satisfying way of eating.
• Build Body Trust: Learn to listen to your body’s hunger, fullness, and satisfaction cues. Yes, even in the chaos of holiday meals.
• Practice Self-Compassion: Be gentle and kind to yourself while navigating triggers and challenges, especially during high-stress times.
• Enjoy the Moment: Fully enjoy the unique flavors, textures, and traditions that make the holidays special.

Ready to Make This Holiday Season Different?

If you’re ready to experience the holidays with more joy, peace, and confidence, let’s talk! Book a free discovery call today and explore how Intuitive Eating Coaching can support you in navigating the season with ease and self-compassion.

This is your chance to ditch the guilt, embrace food freedom, and truly enjoy the holidays, both in your meals and in your memories. Take the first step toward a more balanced and fulfilling relationship with food and your body.

Let’s make this your most joyful and nourishing holiday season yet!