It’s not just brands – I’ve found myself in conversations with friends discussing how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ they’ve already been this month or how they just can’t resist a Quality Street/a Baileys/a gingerbread man.

Food shame is, of course, not just reserved for Christmas – it constantly surrounds us every day in fatphobic conversations, advertisements and even professional healthcare advice that (wrongly) reiterates that smaller is better and weight gain is bad. Yet there is something about the festive period that makes it so much more difficult to be around.

We know that for those with an eating disorder, the festive period is one of the hardest times to navigate foods. But even for those without mental health issues, focusing on everything we stand to gain or how much our memory-making meals will impact our bodies has a huge impact: multiple studies show that food restriction leads to binging and that excessive calorie counting is symptomatic of disordered eating and even eating disorders. Essentially, the more you obsess of the idea that you’re not being ‘healthy’, the more unhealthy you’ll become.

Not to mention the fact that imposing the idea that a few meals will drastically change your fitness levels or cause a negative impact on your health is ludicrous and, quite frankly, just bad science. Plus, framing exercise as something we do to earn or burn off calories negates the huge mental, physical and social impact of workouts.

“Stop telling me to have a healthy Christmas and burn off my festive calories“