Experts urge holiday shift away from 'work off' mindset; promote mindful eating and body neutrality
Nutritionists warn that calorie-focused workouts after holiday treats can backfire; advocates encourage enjoying food and listening to the body.
The holiday season often carries a script that equates indulgence with guilt and exercise with punishment. A HuffPost feature on the toxic phrase many hear around the holidays notes how a caller’s command to “let’s work off all that Halloween candy” reflects a broader, calorie-centered mindset that experts say should be abandoned. Health professionals caution that treating meals or treats as something you must earn or offset with exercise can undermine both physical health and emotional well-being.
"We should never exercise for the sake of burning calories. ... We should exercise for cardiovascular health, for mental health, for emotional health. It gives structure to your day. You can create social relationships through classes together," said Emmie Keefe, a Boston-based nutritionist. "There are so many reasons to exercise. Burning calories shouldn’t be one of them."
Recent research shows that focusing on regular exercise can contribute to longevity and overall health, often more consistently than a primary focus on weight loss. Exercise also helps alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression, enhances creativity, and can improve sleep. Conversely, viewing exercise as punishment can make people less likely to engage in healthy behavior. Keefe notes that the mental gymnastics of counting calories through food and exercise isn’t always realistic or helpful. “What that walk and that workout class is not going to do is burn off what you ate right before,” she said. “That way of thinking is big, big trouble.”
"There are so many reasons to exercise. Burning calories shouldn’t be one of them." - Emmie Keefe
The messaging around food during the holidays can also be harmful to eating dynamics. Alyssa Royse, owner of Rocket Community Fitness in Seattle, describes the mindset that people must “deserve” a pie or undo the damage as dangerous. “It links us to this idea that we have to earn the right to eat and have to earn the right to have pleasure. Both of those things are innate in simply having a body … by virtue of being alive, you are allowed [both],” she said. “When we moralize food, we trigger all sorts of dangerous thoughts and behavior patterns in people.” Royse and other trainers in her gym aim to avoid mentioning food altogether and instead emphasize enjoyment and joy as the primary purpose of the body.
Royse added that people already harbor damaging thoughts during the holidays due to years of media messaging pressuring thinner bodies. She encourages clients to move toward body- and food-neutral thinking, where food is not an emotional or moral event—“You are allowed to just have it.”
Keefe also highlights how shaming oneself for what was eaten can trigger physical symptoms through stress hormones, including stomach pains and digestive issues, along with headaches and heart palpitations. “You’re really making yourself suffer twice,” she said. The focus, she argues, should be on enjoying holiday foods and then moving on with life. "Food doesn’t need to be an emotional or moral experience. You are allowed to just have it." - Alyssa Royse
Listen to your body instead
Both experts advocate tuning in to one’s body rather than letting outside forces dictate attitudes toward food and exercise, especially during the holidays. Mindful eating—mentally noting how a food tastes and how it feels to eat it—helps people recognize hunger and fullness cues without imposing an earned-or-punished framework around meals. Royse suggests prioritizing water intake (a glass per holiday cocktail) and light activity like walking, not as punishment but as a way to counter any physical discomfort. Keefe likewise supports enjoying holiday foods while prioritizing nutrition, noting that holidays do not require a strict split between eat-this-or-that. She has seen clients exhaust themselves by trying to preemptively offset the holidays’ physical impact, which can undermine overall health.
For those struggling with eating disorders, health professionals emphasize seeking help. The National Eating Disorder Association provides support through its helpline at 1-800-931-2237.
