#45: Holiday Q&A: Food Guilt, Over-Eating, and Mental Restriction

Time for some holiday Q&A! In this episode, Abbie answers two listener questions relating to food guilt, over-eating, and general anxiety about holiday food festivities. You'll hear about common causes of guilt with eating and how to rethink guilt in the context of diet culture. These questions also take us on a bit of a road trip through mental restriction and physical restriction and how those impact our experience of over-eating.

Question 1 -  Sarah asks: How do you learn to approach holiday meals with a no-guilt mindset?

Question 2 - Em asks: Hi Abbie! Thank you so much for this podcast. It’s been transformative for me and continues to challenge the way I think about food, bodies, and health. With the holidays coming up, I’m finding myself anxious about all the food-related activities. In particular, I am scared of falling into a pattern of over-eating. I’m about a year into this journey, and anticipating how tough it will be with all the special foods and treats around the holidays. What advice do you have in handling this from an intuitive eating lens?

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Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast 

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Abbie’s website: www.abbieattwoodwellness.com 

Studies / resources mentioned (TW for weight stigma):

• Restrained versus unrestrained eating and responses to food cues: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28205156/
• Children, food rules, and M&Ms: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17490786/ 
• Episode 24 about Food Rules
• Episode 25 about Emotional Eating

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