Specialized Diet Holiday Anxiety SDHA or Healthy Eating Anxiety or Family Food Anxiety–
The anxiety created when you need to eat foods that are not the normal staple of your culture, general society, and/or family and you are having a gathering with a large focus on food.
With the traditional holidays of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas coming up quickly I thought now would be the perfect time to talk about SDHA. (I just created this acronym for this article.)
I bought it up in a conversation a year ago and people laughed and agreed. This was a hint that you don’t have to be neurodiverse to have anxiety around the topic of food, culture, and health.
What I have found is that it is very kinesthetic and neurodiverse how I process and release my anxiety.
I like to identify it specifically by giving it a name I can relate to and understand–
Specialized Diet Holiday Anxiety SDHA or Healthy Eating Anxiety or Family Food Anxiety
Next, I list out all of the fears I am having around this topic.
Fear builds around:
–explaining what you are eating
-having to talk about why you eat the foods you eat
-having to dissect your recipe; list all of the ingredients, the calories in your food item, and give all the nutritional values of your food
-having people call you names, bully you, and say things like, “What’s wrong with you? Are you too good for the rest of us?”
-having a family member say–
“what’s wrong with my food? Don’t you love me?”
“what are we supposed to eat?”
–what do I need to cook, bring, and do to be ready for this?
-what happens if everyone eats the food you bring and you have to be there for many more hours than you planned?
-are the kids going to be picked on?
It can lead to or build on our fears of belonging, being accepted, and being of value.
So often when all of these questions get to swirling around in our heads, we just toss our hands up and say, “I just won’t go.”
I don’t like to give in to my fears. It can feel like there is no better option, but that is only because you are spending too much time listening to those fears, which most often doesn’t work out in your favor.
How I make fear into not a big deal is to use the techniques I have studied in many trainings, from PQ to Brendon Burchard.
1. turn this into a growing moment
I could use this as a chance to grow and learn how to answer those questions and make them not mean anything.
–bring a copy of the recipe with
–tell the host in advance that I am eating in a doctor-recommended manner and that I will be bringing my own food
–bring enough that I don’t run out. Leftovers mean less cooking for me that week.
2. turn this into a connection moment
By being open and engaging about why I am eating the foods I am, I might better connect with people at the gathering. I also might help someone else talk about something they are doing with food and health.
3. turn this into a flow moment
It is always good for me to practice not being able to control things and being more in the flow with the moment and the people I am with– letting go of all the fears and just trusting that I will be able to flow with the moment should anyone ask me about it.
I like to write this part out or meditate on how this will play out.
When I start to notice these types of fears and worries in my life, it is typically a sign that I am not feeling worthy and my confidence is a little down. Maybe that happens to you too?
It’s normal and if I am noticing it, that tells me I should use my many tools to power back up before the event. (There are lots of articles I have written that address this.)
If you are suffering from some Specialized Diet Holiday Anxiety SDHA or Healthy Eating Anxiety or Family Food Anxiety as we head into the holidays you’re not alone and I hope this helps.
Remember that your health is important. You have worked hard to get where you are and everyone doesn’t have to understand or even get it. They just need to respect it, because this is your life and your choice, and your well-being is worth it.
Good luck and let me know your stories about these situations. We would all love to hear how you have grown from this process.
Enjoy your health and the holidays,
JoyGenea