Christmas and eating disorders
Hello community <3 not sure if there is a similar thread here or not yet. Christmas is a really hard time for many people but having issues around eating can make it especially hard.So I was wondering if anyone would like to either
1.Share their concerns or worries about this time of year
2.Offer tips or support at getting though it (non-disordered only please)
3.Support others in the community with their concerns or post if they are listeners willing to help though this time.
So Ive had off and on struggles with eating for a couple years now but it was mainly in the summer and I was able to force it away by holiday time because I didn't have to show as much skin in the winter but recently my struggles had gotten bad enough to reach out for help from my friends and on here, anyways I was always for the most part okay on holidays and would just chose healthier choices the following week then go back to normal but now it's hard for me to eat more than one full meal a day and I often struggle with keeping that down so I'm worried about this thanksgiving especially since I didn't have a good experience with Halloween, and to make matters worse we've always had thanksgiving at my house so I was a little more comfortable but this year my grandparents are taking my family to Nashville so the trip in general is going to be stressful enough plus I'm vegetarian so making arrangements for my food as in asking for everything without meat and making sure they didn't accidentally put meat in it is hard enough during regular meals outside of the house
@mags7121 - Holidays are definitely hard to begin with, and layering on being out of your comfort zone and having to work harder to identify vegetarian options makes that really stressful. I wish I had an easy solution for you, but I think it's largely about taking it a day at a time, recognizing that no matter how hard it is, Thanksgiving is still just one day and doesn't have to be more significant than any other, and preparing yourself mentally for the challenge.
What can you start doing now to make Thanksgiving a little easier? Is it trying to eat just a tiny bit more each day to move slowly towards recovery? Is it figuring out where you might be eating and what some good vegetarian options that will be offered most places are? From my experience in the south, there is almost always macaroni and cheese, biscuits, coleslaw, some form of cobbler or pie, baked beans, and a couple vegetables. Of those, only the vegetables and beans really end up with meat in them, so while you'll have to check those to make sure they are vegetarian, the rest should be okay.
If you want to talk more about it, you can feel free to PM me or any other listener. You can get through this. You really can.
I just wanted to bump up this thread as Christmas is coming around again and, as @Miracle said, it can be a really difficult time for some people and it would be nice to have this forum space available for anyone who wants to share or get support!
Thank you for creating the thread Miracle :)
Thanks for bumping this up, @Georgie4 - definitely an important space right now, since the holidays can be so stressful.
Anyone have some tips for managing around the holidays?
I think planning ahead can be a really helpful way to deal with stressful times like the holidays. I tend to find that if I think ahead about what challenges I'll be facing, they become easier to deal with. Sometimes it helps to set little targets (though for me, with emphasis on the 'little', because I want something achievable that will boost my self-esteem). That's just my two cents!