Holiday Activities in Chicago to Help Your Binge Eating Recovery
I love Chicago. I’ve visited many times, for work, for play, and for SHOPPING (magnificent mile, anyone?). People were so friendly that I have to remind myself that I’m in a big city. Plus, being right there by Lake Michigan? The blend of nature and city excitement was a win for me! Any sort of distraction serves as self-care when you’re struggling with a binge eating disorder. If you live in Chicago, or you’re visiting there for the holiday season, I encourage you to do some awesome self-care and check out the following places. It’ll help you feel connected with others and with this magical time of year. It will benefit your binge eating recovery. I include takeaway tips to help you.
McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Millennium Park
It’s a gorgeous location decked out in all the holiday trimmings. It feels as though you’re in a holiday movie when you’re there. If you do ice skate, see it as intuitive movement (or intuitive gripping on the side rails while praying you don’t fall on your butt). Laugh, act silly, and live in the present moment. If ice skating isn’t your thing, grab a hot drink, take in the festive atmosphere, and watch other people fall on their butts!
Takeaway Tip:
Binge eating disorder disengages you from your body and mind, as well as from connecting with the world around you. Going to a fabulous holiday setting that transports you to a magical, movie-like setting re-engages you with the people of Chicago and with the present moment. practicing intuitive movement gently reconnects you with your body.
The CTA Holiday Train in Chicago
I think the Chicago-based movie While You Were Sleeping was one of my favorite 90s flicks. I loved the end where Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman were kissing in their wedding attire as they stood at the back of a CTA train going off into the distance. When I found out that there was a CTA Holiday Train, I got REALLY excited! It’s an open-air flatcar with Santa Claus and his sleigh and reindeer and other holiday decorations on it. It has lights, lights, and more lights! It can be a fun game to see which family member spots the train first!
Takeaway Tip for Binge Eating Recovery:
Engaging your brain in an activity that doesn’t have to do with food, eating, and body image distracts you and can improve your mood. If unhelpful eating disorder thoughts show up, divert your brain and focus on the task at hand. It’s a mindfulness technique from DBT.
The Art Institute of Chicago
Home of the majestic lions decked in holiday wreaths standing watch over Michigan Avenue, The Art Institute of Chicago is a fabulous museum that displays priceless, jaw-dropping pieces of art. It’s one of my favorite spots in Chicago. There’s a sense of serenity and peace there that is especially poignant during the holiday season. Plus, the museum shop is a great place to pick up gifts!
Takeaway Tip for Disordered Eating:
Either making art or looking at art is a grounding technique based in mindfulness. It engages your senses and your cerebral cortex (higher-level brain) as you analyze the deeper meaning or simply lose yourself in the beauty and complexity of each piece. On one trip I took to Chicago over 20 years ago, I was deep in my eating disorder. Going to The Art Institute of Chicago soothed my brain. It’ll help yours, too.
Art on theMART as Eating Disorder Treatment
Art on theMART is a digital light display on the side of The Merchandise Mart building. It actually is the “largest permanent digital art projection in the world.” Talk about using a dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skill of distraction to curb your binge eating urges. It totally stimulates your visual cortex (looks cool & festive), which distracts you from eating disorder thoughts and behaviors.
Takeaway Tip for Eating Disorders:
Strong sensations is a DBT coping skill that jolts us out of the shame spiral, which is a common experience in people with binge eating disorders. It actually grounds us in the present moment. Art on theMART is one of the strongest visual stimulations you can get!
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*The ELITE BINGE EATING RECOVERY METHOD is virtual binge eating education and coaching support. The goal of this program is to help people stop any type of distressed eating, such as binge eating or binge/purge behaviors via education, behavioral changes, and mindset shifts. The ELITE BINGE EATING RECOVERY METHOD is not a clinical eating disorder therapy or eating disorder treatment programs and is not intended to serve as such. In them, Dr. Marianne Miller works from her role as a binge-eating coach, not as a binge-eating therapist.