It’s time to reclaim indulgence in the face of dry January wellness mania

There are a couple of reasons that people often exclaim that their favourite part about Christmas is the food. The first one is, obviously, because the food is so ace. Eating a tube of Pringles to yourself isn’t just common, but encouraged, there’s choccy galore, and don’t get me started on the glory that is bread sauce. The second—and in my eyes—the most probable reason is that most of the language about dieting, health and restrictions around food is thrown out of the window for the festive season. Having a lunch that is only cold pigs in blankets and leftover cheeses? Go for it! Want to start the day with a thimble of orange juice and a full glass of Prosecco? Let me join you!

At least, this was how my household held itself growing up, although it must be said, my mam was very strict about nobody eating a thing until the clock chimed on the 25th of December. To open a tub of Celebrations before Christmas Day had officially started was at one’s own risk. Still, even that was more a part of the fun of the season than anything related to shaming someone stuffing their face. I always cherished the precious days between Xmas and New Year’s Day as a safe haven from diet language and a time to do what I truly adore most in the world—indulge.

In the years since leaving home, I’ve noticed that this celebration of self-satisfaction isn’t always extended to me and my fellow fat people. I’ve left many a Crimbo party with a rumbling belly because I simply can’t be arsed with the embarrassment of fatphobic eyes watching me visiting the buffet more times than my thin peers. I’ve listened to colleagues say that they will live to regret eating more than a handful of Twiglets in one sitting, and felt like the literal elephant in the room while friends of friends discuss their January pilates plans to burn off the guilt of enjoying their food for the holiday season.

Being around people who feel obliged to offset their indulgences with an apology and an aspiration to do better serves as a boot camp for the worst time of year to ever be fat—January. Even while enjoying my dalliances with clotted cream, pâté and Malteser truffles through December, a dread seeps in from anticipating the unabashed fat shaming that will come in the month that follows. We all know what to expect from the first month of the year now—a slew of adverts telling us all the ways our bodies are wrong (read: fat) and selling us all the new diet plans, injectables and gym memberships that will help us get back on the “right” (read: thin) track.

The spectre of ‘New Year, New Me’ rhetoric has gotten more invasive in recent Decembers. With the world turning its back on the body-positive language and mission statements of the 2010s by riding the Ozempic train back to the fatphobic pop culture pillars of the early 00s, advertisements, TikTok trends and comment sections are back to being blatant in their hatred of bigger bodies. It’s all the harder to let loose on the Quality Street tin when your algorithm isn’t leaning into the indulgences of the season with you.

It makes it all the worse when, alongside traditional media’s adoration of blatant body shaming, our phone screens start pushing similar ideologies on us. The internet is an open forum and as fatphobia has become more normalised, commenters and creators feel more comfortable sharing their vitriol too. Platforms like X hold space not just for fatphobia, but for eating disorder communities. It’s undoubtedly a rough time to be online as anyone who isn't interested in restricting their diets—Christmas or no—which is why I encourage us all to swap out our social media scrolling in favour of a safe boxset this season.

The point of indulging, especially at the time of year built around enjoying yourself, is to have fun. And part of the indulging process isn’t just filling your boots with everything you adore, but making sure to bog off all the parts of life that make you feel bad. If that’s putting the phone down for a bit so you don’t scroll across any trolls, investing in an ad blocker for your laptop or watching Elf on repeat so a new show doesn’t catch you off guard with a bit of body shaming, then go for it.

Indulging isn’t just about saying yes to everything you want; it’s about creating a safe space to enjoy yourself. It’s hard enough to block out the internalised self-hatred we’re fed by society, don’t let ignorant external sources like marketeers and misinformed influencers get in your way.

Greedy Guts by Gina Tonic is published on 6 March 2025 and available to pre-order now.