Those who struggle with overeating feel more vulnerable than usual during the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years festivities all center around friends, family, and food.
Eating Disorder Guilt During the Holidays by Camille Packer McConnell
The below is a guest entry from an Camille Packer McConnell. Camille is an expert on recovering from eating disorders. Those who struggle with overeating feel more vulnerable than usual during the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years festivities all center around friends, family, and food. With so many opportunities to overdo it, guilt is a common reaction. Anyone in recovery knows that guilt can be incredibly damaging, acting like a magnifying glass that exaggerates the negatives. Here is a strategy from my book, Stop Overeating Today! (available on Amazon), that teaches how to break free from the guilt cycle.
Take a Vacation from Your Guilt Trip
This tip applies best to all of you who battle regularly with overeating. You may feel that it is a battle you will never win and that you lack the willpower to change.
When I was recovering from my eating disorder, I found that beating myself up and feeling
guilty was not an effective way to make a positive change.
Framing Setbacks in the Recovery Process
I remember one particular Thanksgiving. I was determined to stop eating before I felt full. I
wanted to treat Thanksgiving like it was any other meal and not an excuse for overindulgence. As careful as I tried to be, I slipped and ended up eating too much.
At first, I felt very disappointed in myself. I had made so much progress in the former two months, only to “relapse” again. It felt like a defeat. As I sat there marinating in self-loathing, a light bulb went on over my head. I needed to stop feeling terrible and put things into perspective. Had I made a mistake? Yes. Did I regret it? Yes. Did I want to put myself through more self-loathing? No. Did my mistake determine my future? No. Could I move on? Yes. You get the idea.
It’s like I had taken the magnifying glass off of my mistake and was able to see it as a one-time event, not as a pattern of never-ending mistakes. I was able to look back at all of the progress I had made, the hard work I had done, and how far I had come. So what if I messed up once? I could call it a learning experience and move on. No need to hit myself over the head again and again. Chronic guilt is not an effective way to grow and change. It keeps you focused on the problem. When the focus is on your weaknesses and mistakes, it keeps you from visualizing how you can change and what you can do to solve your problem. Guilt is consuming and saps your energy. Moreover, it keeps you from remembering what strengths you do have and what progress you have made. Guilt keeps you stuck in a cycle of helplessness. Even if you have taken one step back, take two steps forward and acknowledge you are moving in the right direction.
– Camille Packer
McConnell