Dr. Nina's Tips On How To Treat Yourself For Halloween

It's Dr. Nina

Dr. Nina Savelle-Rocklin, Psy.D. aka Dr. Nina has made a house call to Entertain Me a couple of times before.

Nina specializes in eating disorders by digging to the root of where the problem lies. She encourages people to Win The Diet War by finding the real issue at hand. Last year I had her dole out her wisdom about how to navigate what I like to call "The Eating Season," you know that time between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve.

This year I got to thinking that no one ever really addresses Halloween. So I paged Dr. Nina and asked her if she would be willing to take on my favorite day of the year with her usual flair in the spirit of the season.

I promise this is not a trick, Dr. Nina is here with some awesome tips on how to treat yourself for Halloween!

1.  Afraid of the dark?  The scariest thoughts are the dark ideas you have about yourself.  Keep out thoughts like, "I suck" or "I'm too fat/stupid/ugly" or "Who would love me?"    Those thoughts just make you feel terrible about yourself.  And that's truly frightening.

Boo!

2.  Got ghosts?  If the ghosts of the past are haunting you, it's time to deal with them.  If you had a critical parent, teacher or sibling, and you find yourself being equally critical to yourself, that critical voice belongs to others, not to you.  Find your authentic voice, and view yourself as you are, not as others treated you.

3.  Give yourself a treat.  If you find yourself saying, "I'm going to be good this Halloween and not eat a single piece of candy," or "I was so bad because I ate that pumpkin cheesecake," then you're connecting your character to what you eat.  Allow yourself to eat candy on Halloween without feeling guilty.  Deprivation or anticipation of deprivation leads to overeating.   If you give yourself permission to have candy you may actually eat less! 

"Just Say No"

4.  Living a zombie life?  Do you feel as if you're the walking dead, doing the same thing day after day, not truly enjoying your life to the fullest?  If so, bring yourself back to life.  Think about one thing that you've been waiting to do "one day" and make today the day you start working towards doing that thing.  If you want to run a marathon, go for a walk or a short run.  If you want to start dating, go online and check out some dating sites.

5.  Be playful.  Remember the fun of going out with your friends on Halloween?  This occasion is about being with other people, dressing up, and having fun.  So, have a great time.  Happy Halloween!!

Treat Yourself, Find Out More About Dr. Nina -

Nina Savelle-Rocklin, Psy.D. is a Los Angeles-based psychoanalyst who specializes in weight, food and body image issues.  She is a recognized expert on eating disorders, interviewed and quoted by the Los Angeles Times, Prevention, Real Simple, and many other publications.  Dr. Nina writes an award-winning blog, Make Peace With Food, hosts a popular podcast, Win The Diet War with Dr. Nina, and can be seen on her YouTube video series, The Dr. Nina Show.  She was one of 20 thought leaders in the field of eating psychology invited to speak at the 2014 Mindful Eating Summit.  Dr. Nina is currently writing a book for Rowman & Littlefield on the psychoanalytic treatment of eating disorders.  For more information, please visit www.winthedietwar.com.