The holidays can be a tricky time navigating intuitive eating.
There can be more food choices and unwanted comments from friends or family.
Here are a few tips to help you enjoy your holidays.
- Focus on food flexibility. This is a good time to practice boundaries. Aim to not let external factors drive your food decisions. Practice rejecting the diet mentality. Have foods you enjoy and ones that nourish your body.
- Pay closer attention to internal cues. Stress can lessen hunger cues, making it harder to notice signals from your body. Take a little more time to check in with your body. Some signs of hunger include growling stomach, headache, frustration, or low energy.
- Enjoy the holiday flavors. We not only eat out of body hunger, we also eat for heart hunger. Give yourself permission to eat food for pleasure. Connect with family over a favorite dish.
- Set boundaries and take space if needed. If diet and weight talk are common among your family, talk to those you trust the most ahead of time. Let them know that body and food judgments are off limits. If that is not possible or if diet talk comes up anyway, take some space. You can do this by going to the bathroom, taking a walk, or playing with younger kids or a pet.
Information gathered & adapted from:
Pumpkin Spice Magic Bars
Ingredients
1/2 cup melted butter
1.5 cup graham cracker crumbs or about 9 whole graham crackers crushed
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
4 ounces softened cream cheese
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup shredded coconut
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
Melted caramel or chocolate to drizzle on top
Preparation
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.Combine butter, graham crackers, and brown sugar in a bowl and mix well. Then press into the bottom of a 9×13 inch pan.
3.Bake for 8 minutes then remove from oven.
4.In a bowl beat cream cheese, pumpkin puree, egg, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon until smooth. Then pour evenly over the crust in the pan.
5.Layer chocolate chips then pecans then coconut, and then condensed milk over the top.
6.Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top. Then remove and let cool.
7.Drizzle melted chocolate or caramel over the top.
8.Cut into squares and enjoy.
Recipe makes: 16 bars
Nutrition Information:
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Recipe adapted from:
