Preventing Binge Eating During the Holidays

The holidays. Oh boy. A fun time, but usually a stressful one too. Especially if you struggle with binge eating or bulimia. This is my first holiday in the midst of recovery so I can inform you afterwards if it went well or poorly, and any tips and tricks I have for next time. 

Having been through MANY holidays with “food problems” I can however give you advice on what HASN’T worked for me. 

1. Bad strategy number 1: “Just wing it”. 

This has been my motto many times before, and let me tell you, without any sort of plan and just the hope that “it will be ok this time” has never worked. Usually this involves me refusing to even think of or picture what the holidays might look like and the different challenges I might face. For me, when all the cookies and brownies are out in the open, I’ll usually first try and not eat anything, then by day 2 or 3 I’ll think “screw it, I can have a couple”. This turns into shame and regret, leading to a few days of bingeing and purging. Instead, look below for the “cope ahead” worksheet for a plan of how to tackle the holidays.

2. Bad strategy number 2: Try and lose weight during the holidays

You are not in an environment for success here. You are most likely around lots of good food, alcohol, and tasty snacks. By attempting to lose weight in this scenario, you are likely only setting yourself up for a binge. It is possible to lose weight and recover (I go over my own strategies in my food guide coming April 2025). However, losing weight should happen in an environment that is more in your control. Over the holidays, you should simply be trying to maintain a regular eating schedule. Remember, bingeing food (even if you purge) is still worse than if you simply ate a couple meals that are different from what you might regularly eat. 

3. Bad strategy number 3: Try to intense fast before going home for the holidays 

Now this one I am unfortunately very familiar with, and I will explain what usually happens. It will be maybe 3 days before I leave and I think “I’m going to eat 1000 calories per day”. First of all, this is a terrible idea in general, it messes with metabolism and never turns out well. Usually, not even the first half of the day goes well. I end up eating 1000 calories in the morning thinking that I’ll just fast the rest of the day. But when I inevitably get hungry midday, I just binge, because in my head, eating any food at that point is “already a loss”. Then I try to do the same thing the next day, and the same pattern repeats. Until finally I get on the plane heading to see my family, defeated and overly anxious for the assortment of food that surrounds the holidays. Starting off on a bad foot usually causes me to continue that path. One Christmas I even gained 10 pounds in one week with this terrible strategy. Instead, try and eat 3 solid meals a day leading up to the holiday celebrations. 

Better Strategies to Cope with Holiday Bingeing

Above, you have read things that I have done that have NOT worked. I will now discuss my plan to prevent bingeing this year.

1. Make a  cope ahead plan. If you want to see an example of mine (Holiday edition) you can find it here. 

   
   

2. Ask your family (or wherever you are staying) what they plan on cooking. Visualizing what your day might look like is important. Also, if you feel too uncomfortable with the meal provided, try and prepare some of your own food. 

   
   

3. Identify a meal that you would like to keep constant. There is going to be a lot of change, and having the smallest bit of control over one meal of the day may help improve your mental state and give you a sense of control amongst the chaos. Personally, eating a good breakfast is so VITALLY important to whether or not I have a “good food day”. Because I know this, AND because I know exactly what breakfast makes me feel full enough physically and emotionally, I will go buy the necessary ingredients for my meal when I arrive. This way I always know what I will be having for breakfast, and I can start my day off on the right foot. 

   
   

4. Buy your own snacks. It is likely that you will be hungry in between meals. Surrounding the holidays are often tasty snacks that may leave you with feelings of shame and guilt. Instead, I want to encourage you to buy your own snacks that don’t make you feel bad about yourself (for me this is stuff like yogurt, rice cakes, fruits and vegetables, it may be different for you). This will help reduce random grazing which we also know, usually ends up in a binge. 

A Couple More Holiday Tips

The holidays are a time of discombobulated routine, impulse decisions, and lots of temptation. Below are a few tips I have (that I am going to use as well) to attempt to have a happy and healthy holiday, void of bingeing and purging. 

1. Continue to get some sort of exercise everyday

   1. I cannot stress this enough, but exercise is so incredibly important for mental health. I know that being home is exciting but also stressful. There will be a lot of food and activities that differ from your daily routine. With that said, one thing you can control is your own movement. At least get out and move each day. Walking, running, biking, all of these are free and don’t require a gym. Even if you only walk for 10 minutes, it’s been shown to improve mental health (1).  

2. REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE NOT COUNTING CALORIES. YOU ARE TRYING TO EAT THREE GENERALLY HEALTHY MEALS. 

   1. In my nutrition book coming in April 2025 I go over more about why you should stop counting calories as well as other things I had to do relating to food to begin my recovery journey just to get to this point in my life. A little heads up, you actually CAN lose weight and recover from your eating disorder at the same time, I lay out everything in the book. 

   2. Counting calories only leads you down a very bad path of black and white thinking. Keep in mind that the goal of this trip is not to lose weight, it’s simply to maintain where you are.

3. Freeze some of your routine meals for when you get back. 

   1. If you don’t have a daily meal routine yet, that’s OK. Make something that you would normally eat that doesn’t make you feel bad about yourself. This way, no matter what mental state you are in when you get back, you don’t have to worry about food because it will already be prepared. 

If you took nothing else from this, remember these things. Your goal is not to eat virtually nothing and try and lose the most amount of weight that you can. You’re also not trying to go overboard so much that you feel terrible and negate any recovery progress you’ve made. You’re trying to live in the middle, eat some solid meals, remember, you’re trying to maintain so that when you get back, you can jump right back into whatever food goals you have. 

Resources: 

1. How to look after your mental health using exercise. (n.d.). Mental Health Foundation. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/publications/how-look-after-your-mental-health-using-exercise#:~:text=What%20impact%20does%20physical%20activity,people%20experiencing%20mental%20health%20problems.