How to Navigate Eating at Special Occasions

Overindulging during holidays or celebrations is common, in part because celebratory eating is accompanied by a sense of rarity. We may arrive with the mindset that the celebration only comes once a year, so we’d better enjoy it while we can! But the reality is that most of the items on the party table are readily available to us no matter the season. Reminding ourselves that we can always have more tomorrow can be a useful way to stay on track with our health goals. 

This same mindset can be carried into everyday life as well.

For example, perhaps you have certain foods in your home that are difficult to stop eating once you’ve started. For those foods, measure out a portion-controlled serving and remind yourself that this is not the last time you’ll have this food—you can have another serving tomorrow. Actually, there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy a small amount of this food every single day if you want to. You don’t need to feel deprived just because you’re sticking to your portion-controlled serving.

Recall a holiday or celebration when you overindulged. Were there foods or drinks that you could easily enjoy at any time? Are there ways you could approach this event differently in the future? For example, could you mindfully enjoy small portions of your favorite items while filling the remainder of your plate with non-starchy vegetables?

At times, an experience truly might be rare. For example, maybe you/someone in your family only makes a certain recipe once a year because it’s so labor-intensive. Or maybe you’re vacationing in an exotic locale and you want to sample the local cuisine. During such times, focus on the experience and enjoy the food! Take each bite mindfully and fully experience all of its flavors in addition to the sights, sounds, and atmosphere around you.