At this time of the year, there are so many celebrations related to whichever holiday you might be honoring. When a person has an eating disorder or a complicated relationship with food and body, this time of the year can feel painful.
For sufferers, here is an additional perspective. This season can offer you many opportunities for collecting information (“data”) about yourself and your relationship with food, self, and others. Even if you end up in a battle with food or your behaviors, you can still do work towards increasing understanding of your eating issues and thus, potential healing. Maybe you’re willing to journal. Write on stickies. Leave yourself voicemails. Any thoughts, feelings, settings, triggers, etc.—any information (“data”) you can notice about your experience may help you to better understand how your relationship with food and/or your behaviors may be both helping you and harming you at the same time. If you are not seeing a professional with whom you can discuss your eating-related issues, you may greatly benefit by doing so. [br] [br]
Loved ones, please know that your person with an eating disorder or eating issues usually doesn’t mean to (or want to) struggle like this. They/he/she probably would prefer a different experience of the holidays, too–one that is filled with real memories, not memories of warring with meals, food at parties, calories, trying to stay present in the moment, etc. If you notice yourself feeling frustration, see if you can shift into genuine curiosity and care about their/his/her experience. Remember, your person would probably prefer to genuinely enjoy the season, too–the eating issues may not be allowing for much enjoyment. [br] [br]
Yes, eating issues can be hard on the whole family system and season… The holidays seem to intensify what may already be a daily struggle for both sufferers and their loved ones. [br] [br]
Instead of “Happy Holidays to you,” I’d like to instead say, “Data-gathering Holidays to you!” [br] [br]
**If you are experiencing anything that resembles an eating disorder, there are often medical consequences. Eating disorders are serious illnesses that can be life-threatening. Seeking professional help is recommended. For your assistance, various resources are listed on this website’s “Links/Resources” page.
