5 Tips to Navigate Holiday Eating with Food Freedom
Does anyone else already feel like they’re ready for the holidays to be in full swing? Since moving from Texas to Colorado this past year and having the privilege of seeing snow-capped mountains every day, I feel more ready for the most wonderful time of the year than ever.
But I also know the holiday season often brings a wave of anxiety for many women, especially around eating, body image, and family gatherings.
Does this sound familiar?
You feel like you can't fully enjoy the spread of foods at Thanksgiving.
You end up feeling stuffed and guilty when you “break the rules.”
You start planning your post-holiday detox, diet, or “get back on track” plan by mid-December.
If you’re nodding your head, you're not alone. And it doesn’t have to be this way.
After recovering from an eating disorder and embracing intuitive eating through a faith-based lens, I've found real freedom, especially during the holidays. I can now enjoy this season without worrying about food, restricting myself, overeating, or playing the exhausting “on track” vs. “off track” game.
And you can experience this kind of peace and holiday eating with food freedom, too.
5 food freedom tips to enjoy holiday eating without guilt
Whether you're already an intuitive eater or have no idea what that is, I'm sharing five tips to navigate holiday eating with food freedom.
1. Respect your hunger and fullness cues
Your body was created with built-in signals that tell you when to eat and when to stop and honoring those God-given cues is an act of respect.
Start your meals when you’re moderately hungry, not starving. Food actually tastes better and is more satisfying when you’re not ravenous. And when you stop eating at a point of comfortable fullness, you’ll feel content instead of overstuffed or regretful.
This only works, though, if you’re not stuck in food rules. That’s why the next tip is so important.
2. Give yourself permission to eat all foods
I know this one might sound scary.
But giving yourself unconditional permission to eat all foods is one of the most powerful tools for holiday eating with food freedom. It means you stop labeling cookies as “bad” and salads as “good.” It means you stop saying, “I’ll eat this now, but I’ll work out extra tomorrow.”
You don’t have to earn your food.
You deserve to eat and enjoy food regardless of what you ate earlier, how much you exercised, or how you feel about your body today. Let go of guilt. That’s not from God. That’s from diet culture.
3. Redefine health to include satisfaction
Food is not just fuel, it’s a gift.
The holidays center around meals for a reason. Food is tied to tradition, celebration, and connection. When you allow yourself to eat satisfying foods, you reduce the chances of feeling out of control around them.
Satisfaction is part of health—mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical.
When you allow space for enjoyment at the table, you’re actually more likely to make balanced, nourishing choices over time without stress or restriction. You’re also more likely to stop eating when you’re satisfied, not when you’ve hit a rule-based limit.
This is a key part of experiencing holiday eating with food freedom—not treating food as the enemy, but as something to be received with joy and balance.
4. Move for the joy out of eating, not as punishment
Exercise isn’t just about burning calories; it’s about caring for your body and mental health.
But during the holidays, the temptation to “make up for” what you ate can sneak in fast. Here's the truth: using movement as punishment or a way to “earn” food can damage your relationship with both exercise and your body.
This season, try to move in ways that feel joyful or restful, not compulsory.
Maybe it’s walking with your family, doing gentle yoga, or just stretching in the living room. Movement that supports your well-being, rather than shames you into change, is part of holiday eating with food freedom.
5. Say no to post-holiday diets
Let’s talk about January.
You do not need to detox, restrict, or go on another diet in the New Year. In fact, jumping on the weight-loss resolution train often backfires. Most fad diets lead to weight cycling, yo-yoing up and down, which can be more harmful than staying the same weight.
Plus, anticipating restrictions often leads to the “Last Supper Mentality,” the urge to overeat now because you know you’re going to be “good” later.
Instead, consider this: what if January wasn’t about changing your body, but about caring for it?
Holiday eating with food freedom means releasing the guilt and pressure to “start over” in the New Year. You can approach the season—and the year ahead—with grace, not guilt.
Gentle January goals you can actually keep
The pressure to set big, diet-focused resolutions is high in January. But those types of goals rarely last and they often make you feel like a failure by February.
Let’s flip the script.
Try setting gentle, sustainable goals rooted in your values and well-being instead of guilt and shame.
Here are a few real-life food freedom resolutions you can try:
Move your body regularly in ways that you enjoy
Buy clothes that fit your current body and feel good
Take steps toward intuitive eating with the support you need
Skip the detox and instead nourish your body consistently
These are goals that honor your health without hating your body
What food freedom looks like in real life
Holiday eating with food freedom can look like:
Eating pie with your family, not guilt
Skipping a workout to sleep in, without shame
Saying “no” to food guilt talk at the dinner table
Letting yourself enjoy food without a mental checklist
This is what real peace looks like and it’s available to you
And that is why your holiday can be joyful, nourishing, and guilt-free.
This season, you don’t have to choose between enjoying food and caring for your health.
You can eat with joy and without guilt.
You can listen to your body and honor your values.
You can celebrate this season without the weight of shame or restriction.
Let this be the year you experience holiday eating with food freedom, not food fear.
Support is available when you’re ready
If you already know that 2025 is your year to pursue food and body freedom, don’t wait to invest in your healing.
I offer 1:1 and group nutrition coaching for Christian women who want to ditch diet culture and disordered eating through a faith-based intuitive eating approach. You’ll get education, support, and accountability every step of the way.
Start your food freedom journey!
Let’s make this your most peaceful and empowered season yet.