Ready or not…here come the holidays; celebrations with friends and loved ones. Managing one’s time, emotions and nutrition can be challenging through the holidays though not impossible. A moment spent reviewing these suggestions might bring some peace to your holiday season.
HEALTH IS NOT JUST ABOUT WHAT YOU EAT, IT IS ABOUT WHAT YOU DIGEST AND ABSORB.
Selecting balanced, nutritious foods is no guarantee for a healthy body and lifestyle with food. The following suggestions may be equally, possibly more important to your health as the foods you choose.
There’s not enough time. I have too many things to do already in the morning. It’s too early to eat, I’m not hungry. There is always an excuse why people skip breakfast, but maybe some of these reasons will help you see just how important breakfast is!
By: Kayla Sabatini
Think there are no consequences to your eating disorder, think "not yet..." It is important to think about consequences of eating disorders, with frequent intense behaviors it is just a matter of time. Not everything is reversible, like osteoporosis.
WHAT YOU REALLY GET FROM DIETING.
"This diet really worked!, but I couldn’t stick with it and I gained all the weight back". If a diet plan cannot be maintained then it cannot work. First, stop blaming yourself; "I have no self-control...I got too busy.
Challenging fear foods can be a very hard task. Moving foods into the free zone is not only important for variety in the diet, but it is also helpful as you move forward in recovery. Here are some tips for challenging fear foods:
MAKE A LIST. Make a list of fear foods, ranking them from least scary to most scary.
Teens are 35% less likely to develop and eating disorder if there is a shared family meal at least 5 times a week. Family meals have been shown to reduce stress, increase children's food choices, decrease use of drugs, alcohol and other substance use in adolescents and improve grades.
Part of moving forward in life is setting goals. Many people’s goals include nutrition goals. It could be to eat in a more “healthy” way, start exercising, or increasing variety in your diet. Goals are different and individualized from person to person, but how can you set goals, manage them, and succeed?
Eating disorders have deep roots within your thought process and will require significant effort to loosen and release. Repeating affirmations, especially specific to your need and situation, can replace old, sick thoughts, with new, positive ideas. Here is just a sampling of affirmations, I think they help.
Restricting, binge eating and purging name only a few of the many obvious eating disorder behaviors. Subtle ED comes in the form of rules and guidelines that may be innocently referred to as “diet mentality”. Diet mentality for those working in recovery may be overlooked, all the while, subtly fueling the eating disordered thoughts. The following examples have been shared with me through my clients who have been able to dig even deeper into honest and thorough recovery. Challenging subtle ED requires an increased awareness and conquering them can be very empowering. I hope it helps.