10 Steps to Eating Mindfully During the Holidays

Quick answer: Mindful eating is the practice of bringing your full attention to what you eat and how you eat it—listening to your body's hunger and fullness cues instead of eating on autopilot. During the holidays, it offers a third choice between strict dieting and overindulging: savoring food with all five senses and stopping when you're satisfied.

Holiday gatherings can throw off our usual eating patterns and make it easy to ignore the body's internal hunger and fullness cues. Many of us respond by starting a new diet or overindulging in favorite treats—but there's a third choice. Here's what mindful eating is, why it helps during the holidays, and ten steps to practice it at your next gathering.

What is mindful eating?

Mindful eating is an approach that involves bringing your full attention to what you are eating and the process of eating—it's not so much about what you eat, but how you eat.

It is not a diet, nor a strict set of rules. Mindful eating means listening to your body to determine what, when, and how much to eat, and exploring your food with each of your five senses. It means eating with full awareness rather than being distracted by external events (like television) or internal ones (like distressing thoughts or emotions). It also involves examining the thoughts, feelings, and sensations that come up around food. Practiced regularly, it promotes greater awareness in your relationship with food and can reawaken your joy and satisfaction in eating. It's one of many skills taught in mindfulness-based therapy.

Why is mindful eating harder during the holidays?

Because holidays trigger intense emotions—joy and pleasure, but also stress—and holiday events disrupt our usual eating routines.

Parties, buffets, and back-to-back gatherings make it easy to graze mindlessly and neglect the body's signals. Emotional eating can also pick up when holiday stress runs high. If holiday stress or anxiety feels bigger than food choices, anxiety counseling can help you work on what's underneath.

What are the 10 steps to eating mindfully during the holidays?

The ten steps walk you through a meal from sitting down to knowing when to stop.

1. Get comfortable and remove distractions. Find a place to sit and eat a meal, rather than standing and talking while mindlessly eating holiday treats.

2. Look at all the foods being offered. Explore the spread with your senses. What looks appealing? What smells appealing?

3. Rate your physical hunger on a scale of 1–10. How hungry are you? What is your body hungry for, and how much?

4. Don't forget to breathe. A full table can be overwhelming. Take a moment to notice what thoughts and emotions are coming up, and separate your body's hunger and fullness cues from those thoughts and feelings.

5. Mindfully select and plate your food. Check in with your body again about what and how much it wants and needs.

6. Take a deep breath before eating to get centered.

7. Eat slowly. Take one bite, close your eyes, and savor it. Note the flavors, textures, and smells—try chewing longer than you normally do.

8. Notice impulses to rush to the next bite. Let them remind you that you already have something in your mouth—there's no need to hurry to have a complete experience of eating.

9. Be aware as you swallow. Did the food taste the same as before? How satisfied are you? Do you want to keep eating this food, or move to something else?

10. Check in throughout the meal. Keep assessing your hunger and fullness. When you feel satisfied and full, stop eating.

How does eating slowly help?

Slowing down lets you truly experience the food with all of your senses—which leaves you feeling more satisfied with less.

The biggest point to remember during the holidays (and every day, really) is to eat only when you are physically hungry and stop when you are physically full. If you're offered copious food at a party and you're not hungry, take some to go and enjoy it later when you are. You can even practice mindful eating at home before the party starts.

A healthier relationship with holiday food

Mindful eating isn't about restriction—it's about awareness, satisfaction, and trusting your body's cues through a season designed to override them. Start today; it's never too early to begin your journey to a healthier and more satisfying relationship with food.

Getting started. If food, stress, or the holidays feel harder than they should, a therapist can help. Learn more about mindfulness-based therapy at Austin Mindfulness Center.

Frequently asked questions

Is mindful eating a diet?

No. Mindful eating is not a diet or a strict set of rules—it's a way of paying attention to how you eat, guided by your body's own hunger and fullness cues.

What if I'm not hungry at a holiday party?

Check in with yourself before eating. If you're not physically hungry, take some food to go and eat it later when you are—you don't have to eat just because food is offered.

How do I start practicing mindful eating?

Start with one meal: sit down, remove distractions, rate your hunger, eat slowly, and savor each bite with your senses. Practicing before a holiday event makes it easier in the moment.

Get started with a therapist at Austin Mindfulness Center—in person in Austin or online across Texas.