Coming Back From the Holiday Season
The 2022 holiday season has finally come to an end and many of us are back in the office this week attempting to get back into our normal routines. This also means getting back into a regular routine with eating.
It’s so normal for our eating patterns to be thrown off during the holiday season. Travel, family gatherings, parties, larger or more frequent meals, and altered sleep schedules (staying up late and sleeping in) can all contribute to feeling a bit discombobulated with meals and snacks. You may have found yourself wondering is it even mealtime? What day is it??
All these changes in our schedule and changes to our normal eating habits can really throw off hunger cues, especially if you’re someone in eating disorder recovery and still working on reconnecting with those cues. The way you experience hunger will be unique to you, though there are a few characteristics of hunger that most people experience. These may include:
Rumbling, gurgling, gnawing, or empty feeling in the stomach.
Dull ache or gnawing feeling in the esophagus.
Feeling light-headed, experiencing headaches, trouble focusing or concentrating.
Feeling irritable, cranky, or “hangry”.
Low energy or fatigue.
Increased thoughts about food and eating.
You may experience all of these, or just one or two. Getting to know what hunger feels like in your body is an important step in being able to feed yourself adequately.
If you’re still getting to know your hunger and things have felt “off” the past couple of weeks, a meal and snack schedule can come in handy. Especially when coming off the holiday season! Eating every few hours helps keep your blood sugar stable and prevents extreme hunger. The more consistent eating, the more consistent hunger cues will be. Your meal schedule will be unique to you, but here is an example. Notice how there is a meal or snack every 2-3 hours!
8am: Breakfast
10am: Morning snack
12pm: Lunch
3pm: Afternoon snack
6pm: Dinner
8pm: Bedtime snack
Remember, your body deserves nourishment every day even if you ate more, or more fun foods, than usual over the holiday season. Trusting our bodies to tell us what they need (hunger cues!) is an important step towards Intuitive Eating. It’s not about “being good” with food after the holidays, but rather reconnecting to a pattern of eating that helps us nourish ourselves regularly every day. Happy New Year!