How I'm Approaching the Festive Season as a Former Fatty...
The Emma Guns Show
Emma Gunavardhana
4.8 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 November 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
‘Tis the season of excess and, for many years, I would fall head-first into trays of canapés, tubs of chocolates and large bowls of steaming hot Christmas pudding and custard. It's the time of year when food is everywhere and it's as though we've been given license to loosen our belts and enjoy as much as possible. Which is fine, of course, unless you struggle with over-eating, binge-eating, weight management or just lose yourself in all the tantalising delights of festive far and find yourself feeling low, sluggish and regretful come January.
I've come out of plenty of festive seasons many pounds heavier, feeling rubbish and ashamed that I couldn't just, well, stop. And yet, after completely recalibrating my relationship with food, I now enjoy it more than I ever did before. I know what I like, I know my indulgences and I also know what makes me feel good and what keeps me on track with my health and fitness goals.
So, in this episode, I share how I’m approaching the festive season now that I’m someone who genuinely loves food, but no longer lets it control me. I talk about:
- why December used to be such a triggering month for me
- the cultural pressure to 'just have one more'
- choosing my indulgences instead of eating everything in sight
- why I eat before events (and how it stops that canapé chaos moment)
- dealing with food pushers at parties and family gatherings
- how alcohol fits into all of this
- navigating the season with pleasure and boundaries
- how I avoid that January shame spiral
This isn’t about being good or restricting, it’s about staying connected to yourself in a season designed to pull you away from your own instincts.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, hi and welcome to another episode of The Emma Gunn Show and an episode with a title that I'm |
| 0:12.9 | sure might upset a few people. And look, my intention is not to trigger anybody by saying |
| 0:19.9 | how I'm approaching the festive season as a former fatty. |
| 0:22.8 | But I did want to get some people's attention. |
| 0:26.2 | And that is a good way to do it. |
| 0:28.2 | But also, it is not the kind of vocabulary that I am particularly offended by. |
| 0:37.1 | I mean, former fatty is something I can use. that I am particularly offended by. |
| 0:41.7 | I mean, former fatty is something I can use with sort of slightly tongue-in-cheek these days, |
| 0:45.7 | whilst also understanding that it's quite contentious, |
| 0:48.0 | but I'm Gen X. |
| 0:49.2 | I'm the bluntness, being called fat was as part, |
| 0:54.1 | it's like part of growing up in the world that I grew up in. |
| 1:00.7 | And I just, for me, it's not as upsetting as it seems to be. It's not as upsetting a word as it seems |
| 1:07.9 | to have become. And so I've just used it in order to grab your attention, |
| 1:14.2 | but also because if you're here, you probably too aren't offended by that sort of language |
| 1:19.0 | and you too probably understand exactly what I'm trying to say, which is, look, I'm somebody |
| 1:22.4 | who struggled with my weight. I am somebody who, for a very long time time was always heavier than I wanted to be and I've |
| 1:30.3 | got on top of it. And a former fatty is much neater than what I've just said, isn't it? It takes up |
| 1:37.2 | it's two words as opposed to a whole sentence. So it's not meant to be offensive, but I'm sure that |
| 1:42.4 | for some people it would be like, oh my goodness. Yeah, it's just, maybe it's the Gen X in me, but, and maybe it's just having |
| 1:50.7 | been around for, I've been called worse. I'm just going to say that. I've been called worse |
| 1:54.8 | before, during and since my fat years. So let's just gloss over that. |
... |
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