Cookies, Carbs, and Calm: Why You Lose Control Around Holiday Food (and How to Get Your Calm Back)
It is Christmas Eve, which means two things are almost guaranteed tomorrow: delicious food and a nervous system that might feel like it is on high alert.
If you keep losing your calm around holiday food, if you walk into family gatherings promising yourself you will “be good,” only to end up overwhelmed, grazing, stress-eating, or spiraling into guilt later, you are not broken. And you are definitely not alone.
What you are experiencing is not a lack of discipline. It is physiology.
Your body is tired of being micromanaged.
Today, we are breaking down the science behind holiday overeating and cravings, why your stress hormones play a bigger role in your behavior than sugar ever could, and how to finally feel calm and grounded around carbs, cookies, and holiday meals.
Because the real problem is not the food.
The problem is stress.
Why Stress Makes You Crave Carbs
When you are stressed, your brain does not care about your fitness goals or your food rules. It cares about survival.
Here is what happens under the surface:
Cortisol rises
Blood sugar drops
Hunger and cravings intensify
Your brain searches for fast, reliable fuel
And the cleanest source of fast fuel is carbohydrates.
This is not weakness.
This is biology.
Your brain runs on glucose. It cannot function without it. If you skip meals, rely on coffee, or try to “earn” your holiday dinner, you are starving the system that regulates your mood, your patience, and your ability to stay calm.
Cortisol will stay elevated to keep you alert, but the cost is your calm.
Your cravings get louder.
Your irritation grows.
Your ability to make grounded choices drops.
You do not need more willpower.
You need more fuel.
The Cookie Isn’t the Problem
Walk into a holiday dinner under-fed, tired, and stressed, and the first cookie you see will feel magnetic.
That cookie is not the problem.
Your physiology is.
When your body is under-fueled, your brain uses carbs as a shortcut back to safety. Carbs help serotonin rise and activate your parasympathetic nervous system. That warm, comforting feeling after eating something sweet is your biology shifting from fight-or-flight into rest-and-digest.
This is why you feel out of control around holiday food.
It is not a moral failure.
It is your body trying to regulate without your support.
The real question is not “Why did I eat the cookie?”
It is “Did I give my body what it needed before I got there?”
The Cost of Keeping Carbs Too Low
Many women unintentionally eat too few carbs, especially during stressful seasons. When carbs stay too low for too long, your body has to compensate.
This often looks like:
Slower thyroid function
Lower reproductive hormones
Higher cortisol
Poor sleep
Intense cravings
Afternoon brain fog
Fatigue or irritability
Workouts that feel impossible
You are not failing.
You are running on emergency power.
You cannot regulate your emotions or cravings if your body is starving for energy.
Calm is a chemistry equation, not a character trait.
Calm Is Chemistry
When you eat balanced carbs alongside protein and fat, something powerful happens:
Insulin brings glucose into your cells
Your mitochondria produce steady energy
Cortisol settles
Serotonin rises
Your nervous system shifts into safety
This is what calm feels like.
You cannot meditate your way out of a blood sugar crash.
Your biology must be supported before your mindset can follow.
Feed your body first.
Then do the self-regulation work.
How to Stay Grounded Around Holiday Meals
You do not need more rules.
You need rhythm.
Here is your Christmas Day game plan.
Before the meal
Eat. Do not arrive hungry.
Have protein, carbs, and fiber.
Give your body what it needs to stay grounded.
During the meal
Make a balanced plate.
Slow down.
Be present with your people.
If you want dessert, eat it without guilt. Guilt is a stress hormone too.
After the meal
Do not punish yourself.
Do not “fix it tomorrow.”
Eat breakfast the next morning. Hydrate. Walk. Restore your rhythm.
Your body is not asking for perfection.
It is asking for consistency and safety.
What This Means For You
Carbs are not the problem.
Control is.
Your nervous system cannot stay calm on restriction.
Your body cannot feel safe when it is underfed.
Your holiday joy cannot exist in the same place as emotional self-punishment.
So this Christmas, instead of chasing control, create safety.
Eat the carbs.
Stay in your body.
Let calm come from nourishment, not deprivation.
Because your calm is not missing.
It is just under-fed.
Want to go deeper? Tune in to this episode of The Mindset/Mirror Connection Podcast!
