How to Thrive Through the Holidays

Dec 13

Spoiler Alert … Thriving through the holidays doesn’t include … The ALL OR NOTHING approach!

This self sabotage approach used to be me!

“I have no time, so I will catch up on sleep this weekend.” “We have too much to do, so let’s grab Wendy’s tonight.”

Yes, there are DAYS that will be like this no matter what season you are in, especially this one! BUT, this all or nothing approach no longer serves me. I want to live HOW I speak to myself.

“I don’t have much time, but I will do something good today for my health.” “Today is a wild day, but I can turn off the screens by 9 pm and go to bed with a cup of herbal tea.” “We are busy, but I can throw a flank steak in the crockpot with some sauce mid-morning and voila it’s dinner 6 hours later.”

JUST THE ACT of speaking to yourself positively can help drive a different outcome.

When you step into your best self-talk, you may just be ready, willing and able to take on “thriving” this season.

If you have the time and energy to level up this next 12 days and you are sleeping 7-8 hours per night minimum, then here are some suggestions to LEVEL UP to continue to burn body fat this season. (Yes, it is absolutely possible)

Here are 5 Suggestions for thriving:

Protein. Protein is the RESULT of building lean tissue and burning body fat to maintain metabolic health. You are safe to eat 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight each day. YES! That’s a lot of protein in a day. I do not recommend that you go from 0 to 100 overnight. But if you are already getting 80-100 grams a day, then LEVELING UP 20% is a fantastic way to keep you protecting your lean tissue and burning body fat. A few ways to do this: add 5-10 grams of protein per meal (i.e. one more deli roll, one more chicken tender, ½ cup of egg whites w/the eggs, one more scoop of lentils)
Maintain your workouts. You burn calories when you work out. You build ATP and mitochondria when you workout hard. When you maintain your workouts, 4-5 times per week, 30 minutes, you will be keeping your body in homeostasis and it will be happy to keep healing your lean tissue and using the rest of those macros to keep burning your visceral (around the organs) body fat.
Eat at home. Make your own food. When you don’t go out to dinner, you don’t get off track. Period. When we eat out, we consume more fats and more carbs, even if we stay away from the alcohol and the bread and the dessert. We have no idea how much butter the chef is using, or how much oil. It’s always more than you think, that’s why it tastes so good. When you eat at home, and make your food, and sit down to eat it, you do three things to heal your body: you choose your ingredients, you nourish it with whole foods, you control your portions, and you eat slower.
Vegetables. Eat your vegetables. 8-10, 1 cup servings per day, with at least 4 colors, other than green. This will keep your gut biome healthy, allow you to digest your proteins better, especially in the forms of lean meats, and it will allow you to absorb your soluble and insoluble fibrous foods best. Top Performing Vegetables: Greens: cruciferous- broccoli, cabbage, kale, spinach, chards; Color Cruciferous- cauliflower, purple cabbage, red pepper, tomatoes; Color Fibrous- sweet potato, squash, yellow vegetables
Skip the alcohol. Alcohol is a fat inhibitor. This means it’s going to stop you from burning body fat. It takes your body 24 hours to metabolize and absorb alcohol. That’s a long time and a lot of work for your beautiful living, thriving vessel! If you make the choice for alcohol, pick two nights a week, maximum and keep alcohol to a minimum (1-2 ). Another tip, keep alcohol as far away from your Monday Strength/HIIT workout as possible (in other words, no Sunday night, as you need your energy and your mindset for Mondays). Here are a few suggestions to help absorb alcohol, whether it’s a glass of wine, a beer, or a vodka spritzer, it’s all sugar alcohol and all will slow down your metabolism. If you drink your glass WITH some healthy fats and proteins, then you will satiate food for absorption with the alcohol. This is good for mental clarity as well. Crudité boards are an awesome fit here: salami, prosciutto, serrano ham, hard cheese, olives, artichokes, nuts, seeds. These are the healthy fats that will help absorption.