Strategies for Getting Through the Holidays

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In this episode of Simple Shifts: Conversations to Fuel the Body, Mind and Soul, Martha and Peter discuss the challenges of maintaining health during the holiday season. They share strategies for navigating festive gatherings, including portion control, hydration, and the importance of exercise. The conversation emphasizes finding balance between celebration and self-care, encouraging listeners to engage with their own strategies for a healthier holiday experience.

Key Takeaways
Video Podcast
Video Transcript
More Simple Shifts Podcast Episodes

Key Takeaways

It’s important to maintain momentum during the holiday season.
Celebrations often come with more food temptations.
Finding balance is key to enjoying holiday festivities.
Portion control can help manage intake during gatherings.
Incorporating healthy soups can offset richer meals.
Staying hydrated is crucial, especially with alcohol consumption.
Regular exercise helps in making better food choices.
Getting enough sleep supports overall health during busy times.
A short walk after meals can help regulate blood sugar.
Community engagement can provide additional support and strategies.

Video Podcast

Video Transcript

Martha McKinnon (00:00)
Hi, welcome to Simple Shifts, Conversations to Fuel the Body, Mind and Soul. I’m Martha McKinnon from the blog Simple Nourished Living and with me is my brother and partner at Simple Nourished Living, Peter Morrison.

Peter Morrison (00:13)
Hello, how are you today?

Martha McKinnon (00:16)
Hello. I’m really well. How are you today?

Peter Morrison (00:18)
Excellent. Thank you.

Martha McKinnon (00:20)
Can you believe we’ve moved into holiday season again already? It just doesn’t even seem possible.

Peter Morrison (00:28)
Yeah, it feels like once Labor Day hits, it’s just game on, you know, you’re like, boom.

Martha McKinnon (00:33)
I know, it’s so true. It’s so true. I had a friend years and years ago growing up, when it was 4th of July, should be like summer’s over. And then Labor Day, you know, it’s like years over. It does really, you kind of get on this downward slope and it just, it’s like a ski slope. It kind of speeds up on us. And so we’re there.

And so I thought it would be really fun for us today and maybe just smart to think ahead and to start planning and sharing some of our favorite tried and true strategies for handling the challenges of the holidays. I think it’s important to just keep it in the forefront of our mind.

I think what happens often is we just at the end of the year we get to a point and we just say forget about it I’ll start again in the new year. But then that sets us up for a big challenge in the new year if we can figure out how to just maintain some momentum.

And even if we just go into a maintenance mode, I think it can be really helpful for our weight, for our health, for how we go into feeling in the new year. So what are your thoughts?

Peter Morrison (01:40)
I think it’s a great idea. What are my thoughts?

Martha McKinnon (01:44)
Yeah. Well, what are your thoughts? Like, what are some of the challenges that come up for you during this time of year that don’t present themselves during the rest of the year?

Peter Morrison (01:53)
Well, there’s more get togethers. There’s more gatherings. There’s just more at which there’s just more food available. So it’s just an exposure thing, I think, to not only more food, but foods that you don’t or many, many or some people don’t always eat like platters of cookies and cakes.

Martha McKinnon (02:27)
Yeah.

Peter Morrison (02:28)
Yeah, so it’s just that kind of balancing act, I guess, of navigating that.

Martha McKinnon (02:35)
Yeah, so there’s a lot more gatherings. There’s a lot more, I would say like temptations, a lot more plentiful food, varieties of food, more sort of rich, sweet, celebratory food. And we definitely want to celebrate. We want to have that sense of celebration. We don’t want to become so strict and regimented and disciplined that we lose any sense of fun and celebration, but it’s all about just finding that balance and thinking about strategies that will allow us to celebrate without losing all sense of control.

Peter Morrison (03:12)
Mm-hmm.

Martha McKinnon (03:14)
So do you have any tried and true strategies that help you at this time of year to kind of just balance things out? Things you do or don’t do or approaches you take, in general?

Peter Morrison (03:37)
Well, usually like with bigger meals and gatherings, you’re going to be eating dessert or you might even start with appetizers or snacks or something. So it becomes more courses than I would normally eat. So I think I’m not always successful, but I try to eat less at each of those, right? Because you do want to have a piece of cake or a cookie or two for dessert.

So rather than, you know, fill up your plate so it’s overflowing, maybe not go back for seconds at dinner time and just eat moderate amounts, so that you can’t or so that I can feel comfortable and not stuffed after the meal is over.

Martha McKinnon (04:33)
So portion, like paying attention to your portions. Yep, so portion control and just maybe stepping back the portions a little bit of everything you’re eating, realizing that you’re going to be eating more courses. So that’s a really great strategy is to just pay attention to the portions.

One thing I really do is because we do tend to go out more and there are more celebrations during those off days. Again, and it’s the weather gets colder. So I find myself eating soup a lot more often during the non-celebratory days, just to kind of balance things out. And I find that really works well for me. If I’ve got soups that are full of veggies and protein, they’re satisfying. And you’re able to satisfy yourself on a lot less. And they just feel like this perfect counter.

So you’ve got this day of where you’re eating multi-courses, and it’s very rich and wonderful. And then the next day, it’s just offset by a very simple sort of chicken veggie soup or turkey veggie soup or vegetable beef soup or bean and vegetable soup or lentil soup and it just kind of balances.

So that’s one strategy that I’ve used quite successfully through many years now. It’s like, okay, we’re going to be eating a lot more soup and a lot more simply just on those days when we’re not out celebrating.

Peter Morrison (05:55)
I think I also, I don’t know if I read this somewhere at some point, but drinking more water during the course of a meal can sort of help keep you feeling fuller without that extra turkey leg or that extra spoonful of mashed potatoes or something. So trying to consciously like drink more water, I think might help.

Martha McKinnon (06:20)
And it’s drier. I think it gets drier at this time of year. So we just naturally need more water and hydration when you’ve got the heat running and things like that. And especially if alcohol is part of your celebration too. I mean, just getting the water because that tends to dehydrate and that also tends to lower inhibitions. And so, you know, you have a glass of wine and you’re like, bring on more.

And so the water can be a great compliment to that tendency and I know some people will alternate like a glass of wine with a glass of water and just kind of alternate to slow the whole process down and to keep things in more balance.

Exercise, I think exercise becomes more important just to stay moving and to stay active because I always feel better. And I think you’ve mentioned in the past when you’re exercising, when you’re taking care of yourself in that way, you just tend to be a little more selective when it comes to dinner time, know, when you’re when you’re exercising and feeling good because you want to you just want to keep that good feeling going.

And so it helps you to make better choices all around when you’re taking care of yourself. I think getting enough sleep again, just attending to all of those other self care habits, managing your stress, getting enough sleep. Those are all going to help you have the sort of strength and fortitude to make better decisions.

Especially if you end up at a party, you know, I tend to be around people who really like to push food a little bit, to push libations a little bit. And so it’s nice to, I think you just feel better if you’re taking care of your overall health and wellness to give you that extra fortitude. Yeah.

Peter Morrison (08:01)
Mm-hmm.

Martha McKinnon (08:06)
Anything else?

Peter Morrison (08:08)
Even a little walk after dinner, right? Don’t start cutting the pie while you’re clearing the plates from the table. Maybe take a break, take a little walk around the block, get some air, sort of change up the eating routine.

Martha McKinnon (08:28)
Yeah, give yourself some space, give yourself a breather, fresh air, and it helps your blood sugar. I think that we’re seeing that a lot more now. I think the Glucose Goddess first mentioned this the first time I became aware of it, but a lot of people are showing, especially people with those continuous monitors that just like a 10 minute walk, 10 minutes of movement after a meal really helps to stabilize and equalize blood sugar.

So it doesn’t have to be a huge amount either to just help keep everything in balance.

Martha McKinnon (09:04)
I think we’ve covered a lot of good topics here and lot of good strategies, a lot of good hints and helpful tips. If you watch this and you have other strategies that you’ve used successfully, we would love for you to share them in the comments. If you enjoyed this episode, please like, please subscribe, please share with your friends and get the word out, that we’re here trying to support you on your health and wellness journey. And we’ll be back real soon.

Peter Morrison (09:41)
Thanks everyone, happy holidays.

Martha McKinnon (09:44)
Happy holidays, take care, bye bye.