Now that the holiday (and actual trick-or-treating) is over, I want to take a moment to talk tricks for treating yourself. I know, I know—one last pun on the subject before we defrost the Mariah Carey, okay?

Halloween can be absolutely fabulous, and it can also be confusing and painful. The whole experience can be a complicated mash-up of emotions: magical and body shame, excitement and FOMO, food guilt and the ever-present quest for the holy grail of halloween candy.

Costumes either encouraged to be skimpy, or young families flaunting their pinterest-worthy perfection; celebrations surrounding consuming either candy or alcohol (or both). No matter what body you’re in, what costume you chose, or how you spent your holiday celebrations, a lot can come up. While your whole feed feels like everyone’s basking in their post-halloween glory, take a moment to check in with yourself and your values.

Did you spend the holiday true to whatever it may mean to you (even if that’s absolutely nothing?) The more bandwidth you give to those values, the less there is available to lean into everyone else’s. There’s something to be said for thinking about it now, as that Mariah Carey gets defrosted and we head into holiday season full speed ahead, so that we can course-correct.

Halloween is really the start of a longer holiday season, and by that I mean a longer conversation about perfection and expectations. A lot of us have a lot of ideas about how we are going to approach treats this holiday season. And you know what, really just food in general. We have all of these ideas around what we’re supposed to look like, and how we are supposed to eat, and those ideas tend to scream a little bit louder during this season.

Wanna know my best course of action? Have a plan. Wanna know the best plan? Step one: eat the thing, and move on. Don’t make a huge deal. Don’t shame yourself. Don’t fixate on it, just eat the thing.

Step two: in the event that you do feel like you might have overdone it, start with self-compassion (I know, I know, but it’s true!) Remind yourself that one data point is not a trend–that one night or weekend is not a summation of your eating habits. Just return to your normal, whatever that might look like for you.

I know that’s easier said than done, but this is a great place to start. If you find yourself in need of support this season, don’t hesitate to reach out! I’d love to help you develop tools to navigate your relationship with food (among other things…) not only this Halloween, but the rest of the Holiday season.