Managing Challenging Eating Situations

Many people struggle to maintain healthy eating habits when faced with a challenging situation, be it business travel, vacation, holiday celebration, restaurant dining, or family gatherings. These situations can test the resolve of even the most motivated person. To manage challenging eating situations, it is best to anticipate them, develop or visualize an appropriate strategy or response to allow you to stay on track, and then try it. Changing the way you respond to challenging eating situations is hard, but by practicing new strategies you can build on small “wins” over time to develop effective responses. This exercise provides a framework for getting better at managing challenging eating situations.

Identify a challenging eating situation you will face this week and answer these questions. Most critical is being clear on your desired outcome.

1. What is most challenging about this situation?
2. How does facing this challenge make you feel?
3. If you have experienced a similar situation before, how you have typically responded? And how do you typically feel afterward?
4. What is your desired outcome in this situation?

Consider how to change your response to support your desired outcome. List all the possi ble ways you might respond differently. If necessary, consult with your counselor to generate ideas.

Visualize how your challenging situation might unfold and how you can respond to support your desired outcome. Use these prompts to help you visualize.

• What is/are the specific challenge(s)? Think about where you will be, who will be with you, and how you’ll be feeling.
• Of the ideas you listed in Part 2, realistically which are you most likely to use?
• Now visualize how you will face this challenge. With as much specificity as possible, explain in writing or to your counselor what you will do and say.
• Imagine that despite your best intentions, your new strategies don’t work and you make an unplanned eating exception. What will you do to forgive yourself and refocus on getting back on track?

Try your new strategy(s) when faced with the challenging situation. Keep in mind that developing new habits takes practice over time, so commend yourself even for small “wins” and recognize that imperfections are part of relearning new habits.

At your next appointment, be prepared to discuss these questions with your counselor:

1. Which strategies were you able to use?
2. What worked? What didn’t?
3. How did you feel about how you managed this challenging eating situation?
4. What will you do similarly and differently the next time you encounter a similar situation?