8. Getting Through Thanksgiving Meal with a Steady Nervous System (and Food Regulation)
Episode Description
Thanksgiving can bring up a lot for people who are working on binge eating recovery, intuitive eating, or nervous-system regulation. Big meals on holidays have more stimulation, more exposure, more history, and more pressure to "be good" even though your nervous system is doing its own thing underneath.
In this episode, I talk through why the holiday environment makes appetite, pacing, and fullness feel different than they do on regular days, and what actually helps your body stay steady here.
We look at the nervous-system side of hunger and fullness, why predictability matters (and how to use it), and how the pace of the room may be influencing you in ways you didn't even realize.
I also talk about widening your focus so the entire holiday doesn't reduce down to "fixing this." You aren't broken!
The goal isn't a perfect Thanksgiving; it's a more regulated one.
Timestamps
00:00 — Intro: why holidays feel different
00:33 — Eating earlier vs. "saving up"
08:26 — Checking your pace
15:53 — Building a satisfying plate
22:11 — Navigating fullness
26:19 — Expanding the day beyond food