How to feel good about your body at Christmas

Christmas can be a triggering time if you struggle with your body image.

In this post, I’m sharing four tips to help you feel good about your body at Christmas.

Listen or read below:

Christmas and body anxiety

Dressing up for parties, eating yummy Christmas food or seeing relatives can all trigger body anxiety.

In 2020, many of us couldn’t go to parties or had to restrict family gatherings due to lockdowns. As a result, many people are planning to make up for it this year with a ‘big Christmas’!

If you found coming out of lockdown difficult because of body worries, the thought of attending a big Christmas party or family gathering may feel so overwhelming that you want to hide away under your duvet until Christmas is over!

So, if you’re feeling anxious about dressing up, eating Christmas foods, and being around a lot of people over the festive period, I’ve got a four tips to help you feel good about your body at Christmas.

Feel good about your body at Christmas

Write a Christmas gratitude list

Reflect on all the things that you are grateful for in your life and write them down.  You might want to think back over the last year or focus on what you’re grateful for this Christmas.

You might be grateful that you have stayed safe and well over the last year or so, or that you will get to spend some quality time this Christmas with the people that you love the most.

Keep adding to your list and read over it whenever you start to feel anxiety or shame about your body.

Plan your Christmas outfit

Deciding what to wear to social occasions is one of the biggest stressors for the clients I work with. 

The thought of going to a party or a family gathering can create even greater stress if you’re worried about lots of pairs of eyes on you.

I find that putting together an outfit(s) in advance for occasions helps to reduce the stress in the run up to the event.

So, plan what your Christmas outfit(s) will be and wear it/them to all the events you’re going to. 

Make sure that it’s something that feels physically comfortable and is something that you like. 

Don’t stress about finding the ‘perfect’ outfit.  Have fun with it, it’s Christmas after all!  Put on something sparkly and enjoy.

It’s okay to say ‘no’

If you’ve been invited to a lot of events and it feels overwhelming, it’s okay to say ‘no’ to some of them. 

Choose the ones that you know you are more likely to enjoy or feel comfortable at, and politely decline the others.

If you’re pushing past your body anxiety to attend even one event, that’s progress, so recognise and celebrate this.

Don’t engage in food/weight/appearance conversations

There is a lot of food and weight talk that happens at Christmas time. 

If you get into conversation with someone, including family, that you find triggering, do your best not to engage in it. 

You might change the subject, tell them you don’t want to talk about food or your weight, or simply ignore what they’re saying.

So, there you have it, four tips to help you feel good about your body at Christmas.  Let me know how you find them by leaving a comment below.

I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas, whatever you’re up to this year!