 Help! The holidays are coming!! Here are some quick tips to deal with the holidays if you have an eating
disorder. Are you concerned that you might receive food/body comments from
others? It’s unavoidable sometimes. Practice role playing what you might say back
to someone. Also try and understand
where people are coming from, for instance“you look healthy” might be
translated to someone with an eating disorder as “you look fat”. Please keep in mind that the eating disorder
is known to distort this comment. The
person many times is saying it because
they do care about your health. For many-time offenders (i.e., the relative who keeps telling you to eat
more or eat less) see if you can speak to them before the event. Many times people don’t even realize their
comments are triggering. They are
helping out the only way they know how.
How about teaching them about how that comment makes you feel? Many times the individual does not even
realize that their comments are so upsetting.
You may want to try to to talk to
people before the event, in a calm fashion rather than at a holiday which might
be quite stressful. “Aren’t you going to take any more food- you know you need to eat?” can
be followed by an” I’m fine thank you”. “ I am following my meal plan, or I
know when I have had enough to eat, thank you”. The more you can put yourself in control of
the situation , the better. Make sure you have lots of support- if there is someone you can call
before or after the holidays and is a great support system for you- definitely
reach out to them. Also attend all
support groups an/or therapy /nutrition that you usually would attend. Even though you might be busier during the
holidays your support group or program
can help you with some of the stressors that can occur. Try and focus on the company and the conversation, not just the food. That is what the holidays are supposed to be about right? Being thankful for family and friends, and of
course for ourselves. |
