St. Louis Area Dietitian Tips to Help Your Child Keep Up Eating Disorder Treatment During the Holidays

Why are the Holidays Challenging in Eating Disorder Recovery?

The holidays can be a very stressful time for someone with disordered eating or body image issues. Food is a central part of most family events. It can be stressful to be surrounded by so much food, wanting to fully participate in the holidays and family time, but not being able to get away from food noise or body talk. There’s also always talk of a healthier and better you for the new year just around the corner. Family members can also make comments that, while often good-intentioned, can be triggering. It should be our goal to make the holidays as much of a fun, stress-free experience as we can, because the holidays are meant to be enjoyed!

How to Support Your Loved One Coping with an Eating Disorder During the Holidays:

Let them know that whenever things are getting hard for them, they can come talk to you about how they are feeling. Managing these difficult situations will be made easier for them with your support. Make sure to listen and make them feel heard, sometimes even the smallest thing can be a trigger. Being there for them and going through this together can be extremely helpful.

Avoid making triggering comments yourself

Avoid making any comments on body image or the health content of a food. Even if the comment is about your own body, it can still be triggering. Avoid saying things like, “This is so sugary,” “I’m going to have to work this off tomorrow,” “I’m going to be bad today lol,” or “Are you really going to eat all of that?”

Remove known triggers beforehand

Ask your loved one if there’s anything specific you can do to help make this time easier or minimize triggers. For someone with an eating disorder or recovering from an eating disorder, minimizing triggers can help them feel more confident. Here are a few ideas that could help:

Gently educate others

As long as your child or loved one is okay with it, it could be helpful to educate other family members about body positivity and disordered eating habits. This way you can minimize triggering situations when you’re around those family members during the holidays. As previously mentioned, family members can often make triggering comments with no ill intent, so putting the situation on their radar can help minimize the occurrence of those comments.

Finally, prioritize self-care!

Remember, your well-being is what’s most important! If your loved one needs to take a step back when things get too overwhelming, that is completely okay. That could be keeping some distance from a family member who is too triggering for the time being. That could also be engaging in non-food-centered holiday activities such as watching a movie, decorating, doing a craft, or going to see holiday lights. Remember to remind your loved one to give themselves some grace, because no matter what stage of recovery they are in, the holidays can provide some challenges, and they are doing their best to get through them.

Using some of these tips and having an understanding support system will help ensure that everyone can have a happy holiday!