Enjoy Thanksgiving Without Food Guilt: 7 Powerful Strategies

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Read the Transcript:

Enjoy Thanksgiving Without Food Guilt: 7 Powerful Strategies

Hi there, welcome back to the Eating Habits for Life podcast. If you’re joining for the first time, I’m Kate, your guide to breaking free from eating habits that aren’t serving you, and building new ones that will help you feel more confident, energized, and at ease.

I know that the holidays can bring a lot of emotions around food, especially Thanksgiving, where that extra focus on food can bring up a lot of thoughts around overeating or food guilt. Today, I want to help you go into this holiday with more peace and leave it with even more confidence.

So here’s the thing about guilt—it doesn’t just feel uncomfortable; it also tends to take away from the enjoyment of the day itself. When we’re feeling guilty about food, we’re not fully present with the people around us, and it can make what should be a joyful occasion feel like a source of stress. And beyond just feeling bad, guilt often isn’t helpful in the long run either. In fact, it can even lead us to sabotage our goals moving forward.

For example, imagine you finish Thanksgiving dinner, and you’re feeling overly full and guilty about what you ate. If you tell yourself things like, ‘I shouldn’t have had that dessert, I have no self-control,’ or ‘I’ll have to eat less tomorrow to make up for today,’ you might feel so discouraged that it affects the next day’s choices. Instead of finding balance naturally, you might end up overly restricting.

This can lead to feeling deprived, then overeating again, and so on. It’s that cycle of guilt and restriction that can make things feel out of control.

But today, I want to show you a different approach—one where you can enjoy Thanksgiving without that guilt, all while keeping your goals in mind in a way that feels good. We’ll go through some common thoughts that can lead to feelings of guilt or worry around food, and I’ll show you how to shift those thoughts in a way that brings calm and confidence, rather than self-judgment.

Before I dive in, I want to encourage you to stick around to the end to hear about the new workbook I created for you to accompany one of my most popular episodes, that will help you going into the holidays and beyond.

Plus, you might have been thinking about booking a free consultation with me, however you might be pushing it off because the holidays are coming up. The fact that the holidays are coming up is actually the reason why I’d encourage you to book your free consultation with me now.

The reasons are…starting now can help you through the holidays, preventing the usual holiday weight gain. Prevention is always easier than trying to reverse something.

Also, come January, my free consultation schedule starts filling up. That’s the time everyone wants help, so time slots go quickly. So get your head start and book your free 60-minute consultation with me by visiting the link down in the show notes, aka episode description.

Alright, let’s dive into ‘Enjoying Thanksgiving without Food Guilt: 7 Powerful Strategies.’

Pre-Meal Thoughts That Lead to Guilt

So, let’s start with some common thoughts that might come up before the Thanksgiving meal even begins. These are thoughts that can lead you into the meal feeling anxious or on edge and sometimes lead to choices that don’t feel great later. The beauty is, by shifting these thoughts ahead of time, you can go into Thanksgiving with a much clearer, more balanced mindset.

Thought #1: “I shouldn’t eat too much because I don’t want to feel guilty later.”

This thought often comes from the idea that we have to be cautious or restrictive to avoid guilt. It’s a subtle form of self-judgment before you’ve even eaten, and it can actually make you feel more pressure, not less.

Action: Before Thanksgiving, practice this thought at a regular meal where you might feel the urge to restrict. Take a few deep breaths and say, “I trust myself.” Notice how it feels to enter the meal with this calm sense of trust rather than worry.

Shift: Instead, try thinking, “I trust myself to make choices that I feel good about.” By giving yourself permission to trust your body, you let go of the pressure to “eat perfectly” and allow yourself to enjoy the experience more freely.

Thought #2: “I don’t want to ruin my progress with one meal.”

It’s easy to feel like one holiday meal can set you back, but this thought creates unnecessary pressure and can take away from the enjoyment of the meal.

Action: Practice this shift with a larger meal before Thanksgiving, and notice how your body feels when you’re not stressing about perfection. Remind yourself that progress is not lost in a single meal.

Shift: Instead, try reframing it as, “One meal doesn’t define my progress. I can enjoy this experience and still continue toward my goals.”

Thought #3: “I have to avoid certain foods to stay on track.”

Restricting specific foods can actually make you want them more. Plus, labeling certain foods as “off-limits” can lead to guilt if you decide to have them anyway.

• Shift: Try reframing this to, “I’m allowed to have what I enjoy, and I can choose portions that satisfy me.”
• Action: Before Thanksgiving, try allowing yourself a smaller portion of a food you’d usually avoid, and notice how this feels in your body. It’s all about creating permission, which can be really freeing.

Post-Meal Thoughts That Lead to Guilt

Now, let’s talk about those common post-meal thoughts that tend to bring on guilt. This is often where we find ourselves questioning our choices, and maybe feeling regretful about what we ate. These are the thoughts that can sometimes keep us stuck in a cycle of self-judgment, so let’s look at how to gently shift each one.

Thought #1: “I ate way too much—I’m going to gain weight.”

This thought is pretty common, but it’s based on a fear that one meal can undo everything. When we tell ourselves this, we start feeling defeated, and that feeling can create anxiety for days afterward.

Action: After a satisfying meal, practice reminding yourself of this thought. Take a moment to reflect on the positive parts of the experience, such as connecting with others or enjoying seasonal flavors. This can help you leave the meal feeling more balanced.

Shift: Instead, try thinking, “One meal doesn’t define my progress. I enjoyed this time with family and friends, and that’s just as valuable as any goal I have.”

Thought #2: “I shouldn’t have eaten dessert. I have no self-control.”

It’s easy to feel guilty after dessert, especially if you tell yourself that having it somehow reflects poorly on your self-control. But food choices don’t define your character.

Action: After having dessert, reflect on how it was part of the celebration, not something to be judged. Take a deep breath and remind yourself that you can enjoy food without assigning it a moral value.

Shift: Instead, try, “Choosing to enjoy dessert is part of a balanced life, not a lack of control.”

Thought #3: “I need to eat less tomorrow to make up for today.”

When we feel guilty, it’s common to think we have to “make up” for it, but this often leads to a restrictive cycle that doesn’t feel great.

Action: The next day, tune into your hunger cues without focusing on “making up” for anything. Remind yourself that your body knows how to find balance naturally.

Shift: Reframe this as, “My body deserves nourishment each day. I’ll continue to care for it by listening to what it needs.”

Thought #4: “I don’t feel good about how much I ate. I’ll never get this under control.”

After a big holiday meal, this thought can come up, making us feel stuck in a cycle of guilt. But remember, every experience can be a learning opportunity.

Action: After the meal, jot down a few thoughts on what you enjoyed, and note any gentle takeaways you’d like to carry forward, like listening to fullness cues or choosing what brings you the most joy. This reflection helps create a pattern of self-compassion.

Shift: Reframe this as, “I’m learning to listen to my body better each time. Every experience helps me make progress.”

So, as you head into Thanksgiving, remember that you have the power to choose thoughts that help you feel good about your food experiences. Practicing these small mindset shifts ahead of time, even with smaller meals, can really make a difference in how you feel during and after the holiday. You deserve to enjoy Thanksgiving without guilt or worry.

And if you’d like even more tools for reducing overeating and feeling in control of your eating habits, one of my most popular podcast episodes, How to Stop Overeating can absolutely help you.

And to make it even more effective, I created a workbook to accompany the podcast. This workbook lets you discover which of the 4 main underlying reasons for overeating are why you personally overeat. Plus, it includes simple solutions for each of these, and has you create a small, quick-start action plan.

Here’s where you can grab that episode and workbook. Thank you so much for joining me today, and I’ll see you in the next episode. Take care and I’ll talk with you very soon.