Christmas Day is supposed to be filled with joy, togetherness and celebration. A time to spend with friends and family, laugh and make beautiful memories together.
With much of this festive period bringing focus to food and holiday traditions, it can be an exceptionally challenging time for those suffering from an eating disorder. Instead of looking forward to these times, for those in recovery, Christmas can be filled with panic, worry and overwhelm.
Here are some of our top recovery tips for Christmas:
1) Think about where you are in your recovery journey
Recovery is not a race and wherever you are in your recovery journey is completely okay! Although it’s wonderful to push yourself, it’s important to find a balance between challenging yourself and keeping yourself safe.
The truth is that although Christmas is a special time, it is also just one day. It is about joining in the festivities in a way that’s supportive rather than overwhelming.
Regardless of how the day goes, the festivities can be a learning experience that forms part of your recovery journey. As you learn from this year and continue healing – you can look forward to the next holiday period where you can always do things differently.
2) Try to stick to your recovery schedule
Part of recovery includes renourishing the body, and Christmas is no exception.
It can be challenging to see others around you altering their eating schedules on Christmas Day. However, this is unlikely to be appropriate for someone in recovery. Instead, it’s about finding what’s right for your recovery journey and doing what’s best for you.
If you’ve been working on having regular meals and snacks, then this is likely what Christmas day will need to look like for you too. You might want to be more flexible with timings, but if you’ve been having three meals and some snacks for example, then that’s something to continue over Christmas.
Having a plan around eating specifically for Christmas Day is something that can be helpful to talk to your recovery coach or treatment team about.
3) Create a support system
Building a support system to turn to if needed is a great idea. This may include speaking to loved ones about your recovery goals for the day, or sharing any worries you have and letting them know how they can help. If you’re seeing a therapist or coach, this is something they will be able to help you with.
Note if your support system is unavailable and you are struggling there is always help available. Even through the holiday period, there are many phone lines that operate a 24/7 service and there are even some helplines specific for those struggling with eating disorders. We recommend storing these numbers on your phone, just in case you need someone to talk to.
4) Connect with your Christmas Day goal
Self-reflection is a helpful practice at times like this. Take some time to write your best possible outcome for Christmas day bearing in mind the above points. Ask yourself ‘what would you like your day to be like?’
Remember, you have the power to make this dream a reality. And you have everything you need within you to have a wonderful time.
Explore anything that might hold you back from the goal this Christmas and make sure you have considered where you are on your recovery journey. Consider the following questions:
- Is my goal for this day aligned with my recovery?
- What could get in my way of this Christmas vision?
- Do I have safe foods available if I’m struggling?
- Have I somewhere I can go to or someone I can turn to if I’m feeling overwhelmed?
- Do I need to include someone in my goal?
- What else do I need to make this a reality?
5) Set boundaries
Being able to set boundaries means giving yourself permission to say yes when you need to and also to say no when you need to. This is particularly important around social events and times when you may be in an environment that doesn’t feel particularly supportive of recovery.
If possible, setting boundaries with family members around diet talk or weight comments can be helpful. Sometimes if we know something will be triggering or unhelpful to our experience, it can be a good idea to set boundaries before the event.
It is still key to say yes to new experiences and let yourself enjoy this day and all it brings. Keeping yourself safe is important, however, do allow yourself to say yes and enjoy the festivities in any way you can. This is your Christmas too, and you deserve to enjoy this time!
Christmas Day and recovery
Christmas can be a challenging time for those in eating disorder recovery. However, keeping aligned with your recovery goals and a little planning ahead can support a positive outcome.
Remember, the holidays are not all about food. It’s truly important that you are nourished but let’s remember the most important goal is to enjoy your time and to make wonderful memories with loved ones.
Ready for support in the new year? We are now taking applications for our multidisciplinary recovery programme starting January 2023. Click here to learn more and get started.
