How to Approach Holiday Charcuterie Boards With 3 Mindful Steps
The holiday season is a time of celebration with friends and family, and at each of these gatherings, you can pretty much guarantee there will be a trendy charcuterie board calling your name. While these celebrations can be an opportunity to connect, express gratitude, and experience joy for life, you may feel uncomfortable eating in front of others or feel guilty indulging at holiday parties. Nevertheless, there are tangible steps you can take to eat mindfully so that you can feel connected and joyful in these moments.
The purpose of this article is not to bombard you with dieting tips on how to minimize holiday calories or avoid holiday treats. This article is intentionally written to help guide you in feeling your best by listening to your body's needs rather than your mind’s messages. Your body and mind can give you different cues when it comes to mealtimes, so by tuning into the mind and body, we can take intentional aligned action to satisfy our present moment needs and enjoy the holidays.
3 Steps To Mindfully Eat Holiday Charcuterie Boards:
Tune Into Your Hunger
The first step of mindful eating is to take a moment to pause and notice how hungry you are before getting your plate of food. Notice your body's symptoms of hunger: low energy, physical stomach pain or grumbling, or even irritable mood. There are many ways your body can communicate its hunger to you, so take a moment to pause and listen.
If you are getting ready for the holiday party and already are experiencing hunger, honor that hunger and have a snack with some protein before you leave. You never know what food is going to be available for you at a gathering and if there aren’t satisfying options for your body then you may end up eating foods that don’t agree with your body or satisfy you.
Tuning into your hunger may sound like a thoughtful conversation with the self to determine if your hunger level is intense, moderate, mild, or zero. You may ask yourself:
How hungry am I right now?
On a scale of 0-5, how intense is this feeling of hunger at this moment?
Take a moment of gratitude for checking in with yourself.
Based on your level of intensity, here are mindful ways to approach the charcuterie board.
Intense Hunger: “I am really hungry right now!”
First, consider if there will only be charcuterie boards for this party or if there will be another main meal. Either way, I encourage you to honor your intense hunger in the moment. If there will be a meal, then perhaps intentionally choose a few bites that will help give you immediate energy and start to settle your strong hunger, such as a fruit or grain, and pair it with some protein to hold you until the meal, However, if the charcuterie board is the main attraction, here’s what to do:
If all that’s available at the party is finger foods, no worries! To satisfy this intense hunger, I encourage you to choose foods from the charcuterie board that have sustenance that provides a mix of protein, fat & grains (meats, nuts, cheese, hummus, whole grain bread). If you try to short-change yourself thinking you will be ‘healthy’ by limiting your choices to less nutrient-dense foods (fruit, veggies, crackers), you may feel full in the moment, but those choices will not provide you with long term energy and support to keep you satisfied for the party. As a result, you may find yourself coming back around to the charcuterie board multiple times that night because your body is still asking for greater sustenance. Of course, you can have fruit and crackers, but don’t limit yourself to those if you are feeling intense hunger!
Moderate Hunger: “I feel hungry, I could enjoy eating right now.”
At this level of intensity, choose foods that are in alignment with your hunger, while remembering to add some protein and fats as well as the fruits, veggies, and crackers to go with it!
Zero to Mild Hunger: “I’m not that hungry.”
If you are thinking about getting a plate of food after realizing that you really aren’t that hungry, check in with yourself to learn what your true intention is. Are you getting food because you’re a little hungry, or just need something to help you feel more satisfied? Or is there an external pressure to get food? Did you see something that just looks yummy and have to try it? There are no right or wrong answers. By pausing to tune into your hunger and reflect, you are simply given the space to act with intention rather than react based on what others are doing or what you think you should do. Since you're not that hungry, consider what other factors may be contributing to you getting a plate of food - a.k.a your thoughts, which brings us to Step 2…
Step 2: Bring Awareness to Your Thoughts About Food
Our thoughts typically control our actions, but they don’t have to! When taking a mindful approach to eating holiday finger food, you want to bring non-judgemental curiosity to your thoughts so you can respond to your body’s needs rather than react to your mind’s ideas.
The mind may say a variety of things depending on your past relationship with food, such as:
“I want to try it ALL.”
“I already ate earlier, so I SHOULDN’T need to eat now.”
“If I eat TOO much I might not fit into that pair of pants.”
“All this food is unhealthy for me. I can’t have ANY of this.”
“I SHOULD only eat this much.”
“If I don't have this __ now, I’ll never get the chance to have it again.”
“I’m going to ruin my healthy habits if I eat that.”
“I’m starting a diet next week, so I better eat all that I can now!”
You may not always be conscious of the thoughts above - typically our mind quickly filters our world and processes information on autopilot. However, each of these thoughts keep us from actually listening to our bodies and negatively impact our relationship with food. It requires more effort to pause and bring conscious awareness to the noise of the mind, but that’s exactly what I’m suggesting you do!
After you have tuned in to your body’s hunger, notice if your mind tries to tell you something different. If you recognize “my body is at a mild to moderate level of hunger”, but my eyes are seeing “so many yummy things I want all of them,” try bringing non-judgemental curiosity to this observation. Notice where this desire for all the “yummy things” is coming from. Your body is saying, “I'm not that hungry,” yet your eyes are saying, “I want it all,” because your mind is bringing past experiences into the present.
Your past experiences with foods are making you want it, or the idea of it makes you want to try everything. When you listen to your body’s hunger and turn down the volume of your mind’s ideas, then you can choose foods more wisely based on your present moment hunger level. So maybe you don't “try it all” right now, but that doesn’t mean you can never come back. You can use the affirmation “I can always come back for more if I am still hungry.” I recommend waiting 10-15 minutes before getting a second round of food because it takes time for the body to sense the food as it enters the belly.
Step 3: Eat Slow and Savor
Now that you have tuned into your hunger and thoughts, it’s time to eat! Grab a plate to help you visualize the various foods and what you may be missing or want more of to fully satisfy you right now.
Since you are at a holiday party, you may find yourself at a table chatting with others. Usually, to practice a mindful meal I suggest minimizing distractions by eating alone or without multitasking, however, you can still cultivate intentional bites in a party atmosphere without being a loner by implementing intentional actions during your meal.
Intentional actions allow you to slow down to create space for you to recognize present moment observations about your hunger, satisfaction, taste, and food preferences, because when we don’t pause/bring awareness we can repeat patterns of behavior that don't actually serve us. By using these intentional actions to tune in with yourself throughout your meal, you can learn what you really need right now, which may be different from what you originally thought!
Choose one or two of these Intentional Actions to practice during your meal:
Send gratitude to farmers, nature, and yourself for prepping this nourishing meal.
Smell your food before you place it in your mouth.
Don’t pick up another bite of food while you are still chewing the previous bite.
Place your utensil down after each bite.
Aim to chew 10-15 times before swallowing.
Notice different tastes and textures as you chew.
Notice if this food is feeling good in your body or not, refrain from judging, aim to notice, and bring curiosity. Be open to listening to what foods your body is telling you “YES” vs “NO” towards.
Recognize when you feel satisfied with the meal. If unsure, wait 10-15 mins before grabbing more so that your body has time to fully sense the food you just fed it.
The holiday season is known for delicious, beautiful, and celebratory foods offered at gatherings and charcuterie boards are a fun way to present them! However, there is NO rule saying you can’t enjoy festivities with your family and friends while still practicing intentional eating habits. Although the party environment can be distracting, you can utilize these three tips to bring mindfulness into your eating that allows you to be satisfied in your body and enjoy the holiday season with your loved ones.