October, November, December, and January bring along the best holidays where you're surrounded by friends, family, and incredible food.

Along with all of these, we are met with food anxiety, higher food consumption, comfort foods, and daylight savings.

Food Consumption During The Holidays

Who hasn't been told or exposed to someone saying that holidays bring along weight gain. Some might say that this is linked to being around more carbs, sugary foods, and having food access be at an all time high.

For example, my family has food sitting out on nearly all counter tops during Thanksgiving and Christmas. In the past I would try to avoid those rooms altogether, but this would cause hyper focusing on the baked goods. Restricting myself from eating the things my body was interested in and craving ended up causing me to binge on them later in private.

Yeah that's scary to admit. No one likes the feeling of sneaking food, eating it, and feeling overwhelming guilt from eating a food you specifically told yourself to avoid.

The solution?

*This isn't always easy so bare with me* but a good amount of the time the solution is to eat what you crave. YEAH, EAT THE DAMN COOKIE. Trust yourself that this is what you are feeling. The only way for a craving to go away is to fulfill it. You cannot fulfill a craving for a cookie and eat celery. C'mon.

Dealing With Family Comments During The Holidays

Sometimes the most judgmental people in your life are your family members. During the holidays there are weight comments thrown around, hyper focusing on caloric intake, and passive aggressive competitions on who can eat the healthiest.

Some families do this on purpose, they know what they're doing.. Some family members don't even know they're doing this.

*I don't mean to rub anyone the wrong way or make them feel like I'm outing their family. the purpose of this section is help you become aware of these situations and how to get you out of them.*

Handling Weight Comments

First off, your body is no ones business. NOT EVEN YOUR PARENTS! Whatever you weigh or whatever you eat is your business and your business only. If you're receiving comments about your weight or how much you're eating, remember this: Those who make comments are insecure about themselves in some way and they need to place it onto someone else to make themselves feel better. Hear the comment, feel the emotions that it brings, and move on. You are allowed to disagree with your family and you are allowed to distance yourself from them if you need. What they say is not always right.

Handling The Passive Aggressive "Healthy Eating" Competitions

There are family members that will eat different than you during the holidays. Personally I know that cheese makes my stomach hurt so I may either eat less of it or avoid it completely. This is different than if a family member is eating a salad and judging your decision to eat a cookie. If someone is eating "healthier" than you, this doesn't mean you need to follow in their footsteps or feel guilty for your choices.

Trust me, I've been in the position of eating a salad instead of cheesecake to make others know I'm healthier than them.

The key is to remember that the holidays are meant to be enjoyed.

If your idea of enjoyment is eating salads BY ALL MEANS GO FOR IT, no judgment over here. And If your idea of enjoyment is eating those homemade goods from your grandma, then GET AFTER IT!

Overcoming Daylight Savings Mental Struggles

Darkness brings different feelings. For me, I get sad when it's dark outside, I thrive in sunlight and hotter weather. It's been hard, personally, to handle shorter days/colder weather/darker evenings.

Some tips that I have personally been using:

- prioritize social settings

- have something to look forward to every evening

- make a new Pinterest recipe for dinner

- workout in the evening (proven fact that exercise releases endorphins aka a chemical that produces happiness/pleasure)

- get up early ... it helps you fall asleep at night (limiting laying in the dark completely awake)

You're not alone. The holidays are meant to be relaxing. You are allowed to overeat. You are allowed to eat what you crave. You are allowed to distance yourself from family members. You are allowed to disagree with your families point of view. You've got this.

Handling The Holidays