With Christmas approaching quickly, we know you’ll be attending a lot of parties, get-togethers, dinners, and more. Coach Manders has put together her best tips and advice for navigating the holiday parties. Because the last thing we want is for you to be nervous or anxious at this time of year. Hopefully, these tips will help you relax so you can truly enjoy yourself.

Even if we want to change, we may feel stuck, or we’re attached to something that keeps us from changing. We may get pulled between different things, like taking care of others versus taking care of ourselves; or, wanting to lose weight, but not wanting to give up comfort eating and drinking.

I’ve cycled through lots of extremes regarding my nutrition. I’ve gone years never thinking twice about what I consumed. I’ve gone through periods of intense bingeing, only to restrict for days on end. I have also lived on the other side of the extreme…

I felt it was time that I wrote something more personal. I think I have avoided delving too deep because of the shame that is attached to food addiction, emotional eating, binging, etc. It wasn’t until fairly recently that I was able to pinpoint exactly how I defined my own emotional eating behavior. I once sought the help of a therapist for this very issue. Why do I eat when I’m not hungry? I was met with amateur-hour suggestions. Eat off a red plate, drink water before meals, “I’ll fill a prescription for an appetite suppressant.”