It’s Christmas Day. The table is set, the lights are twinkling, and the rich smell of roasted turkey and cinnamon fills the air. But instead of soaking in the festive joy, you’re stuck in a mental tug-of-war with yourself, eyeing the table spread with equal parts longing and dread. Sound familiar?

This year, let’s ditch the diet culture noise and embrace the joy of indulging without overthinking every bite. You deserve to eat the gingerbread, load up on roasties, and actually enjoy it. It’s time to put the merry back in Christmas—unapologetically. Let’s talk about why it’s not just okay to eat the Christmas pudding—it’s a celebration of self-love and freedom.

Why some of us find it hard to give into the fesitivities

In Western culture, food has become the focus of the holiday season – and I used to despise this idea. Now? I’m (slowly) learning to love it, through self-compassion, kindness and patience. And I’m going to (try to) teach you how.

Whether you have disordered eating, a diagnosed eating disorder, or just struggle with diet culture especially around the holidays, a good chunk of us dread Christmas – from all ages and generations too. There’s the younger generation of 18-24 year olds (or us Gen-Zers) who have grown up with the rise of influencers and celebrities, who are at the epitome of diet culture, constantly encouraging their audiences to start intermittent fasting, excessively exercising, missing out entire food groups, or worse, encourage us to (basically) starve ourselves, especially before or during the festive season. Then there’s the 30-50 year olds who favour yo-yo diets, low-carb meals, and berating the younger ones at the dinner table for finishing their plate of roasties and Yorkshire puddings. Each age group exhibits endless signs of diet culture, so it can be even more challenging for us who are highly susceptible and influenced by comments that could be said around the dinner table on Christmas day.

These kind of comments from the “almond mom” of our family, such as “you’re not going to eat all of that, are you?” or “I have to skip breakfast and work out twice tomorrow if I’m going to eat Christmas dinner”, are in the least bit helpful, and can be damaging to the growing kids around the table, and can influence them when it comes to them caring about body/food as they enter their teenage years.

Point is, with food at the forefront of any conversation or party this season, it can be painful for a lot of us in recovery, or even just trying to work on self-compassion and fight diet culture altogether. Even me, who is over two-and-a-half years into my recovery journey, finds it hard. And no one else seems to get it, do they? We go all year battling those voices in our head, pushing away ideas of diet culture that we hear and see on a daily basis, then when it comes to Christmas, and we’re surrounded by a lot of our family or old friends who just don’t, and will never, understand what to say and what not to say, it can be all too easy to get up from the table and refuse that delicious Christmas dinner.

This year, don’t. Stay strong, and we’ll get through it.

Stepping away from food guilt

It can be all well and good on Christmas day, and even the few days after, until we see those adverts posted around everywhere telling us to get the gym, start our “clean diet” again, and lose the Christmas pounds. That is usually when I start to crumble and start the new year in a full-blown relapse.

This year, we’re committing to change. We’re stepping away from food guilt, right? Change your thinking to a more open mindset. If you’re like me (and I hope a few of you are) and hate talking about food, especially while you’re eating – because why is this such a common thing?! – let’s start to change the way we see it. 99% of the people in your life will not understand what it is you mean when you say “can we not talk about food?”, nor will they understand any inch of what you’ve been through, and what you’re still going through. It’s not their fault, although I am here to try and educate the world on this. There will be comments that you don’t like, and that could trigger you, so let’s work on that one thing that we can control: how we react.

Change your thinking into “I get to have this food”. You deserve it, after all. You get to have a big Christmas meal with your loved ones. You get to celebrate. You get to have rest. Life can be busy, and it can go quick, so allow yourself to admit that, yes, Christmas is about food! And nothing bad it going to happen!

It can help to have reminders, either in your head, written down on your notes app on your phone, posted on stickers around your bedroom, or even set up as hourly reminders. Tell yourself that you are good enough, you are worthy, and above all, you are deserving of this food. That, my friends, is the role of self-compassion, and it’s one of the most important things on this journey.

Have the strength to challenge those comments you hear, and the thoughts in your head. Allow yourself to enjoy all the treats around this time of year. It is not going to hurt you! And if you don’t quite have that strength yet to block out the noise of your eating disorder and/or diet culture in your head, you will get there. I promise!

Christmas is about celebrations

Christmas is not just about food, it’s about family, friends, giving, and celebrating such a cosy and wonderful time of the year! Food is a love language—it’s how we celebrate, bond, and create traditions. Saying no to those moments doesn’t make you more disciplined or “better”; it just means you’re missing out on the things that make life special.

The truth? One day of eating mince pies, stuffing, and chocolate coins won’t undo your progress or define your self-worth. Your body is way smarter than you think—it knows how to balance itself out over time. And honestly, who cares if you eat a bit more this season? You’re not here to be a calorie calculator; you’re here to live your life. And this is how we do it: by celebrating!

Final Thoughts

This year, I’m saying yes to the roasties. Yes to the extra slice of tiramisu, the drinks, and the cheesy Christmas crackers. Because life’s too short to let food guilt and those pesky voices in our head steal the spotlight during the best time of the year. Let’s all give ourselves permission to enjoy every bite, unapologetically. 🎄

Think about, what if this year you actually eat the dessert that you made for your family, instead of sitting there wishing you could?