Thrive & Survive The Holiday Season

The holidays can be a season of joy and reconnecting as friends and family gather to celebrate. The holidays can also significantly impact your health with the increase in travel, less sleep, eating unhealthy food, and overindulging in sweets and alcohol. Make the most out of this festive time with an health blueprint. Let’s tackle navigating holiday food, hectic schedules, and sidelined routines. Avoiding holiday weight gain may sound as feasible as Santa fitting down chimneys, but you can stay on track this holiday season.

Here’s a 9 Step checklist to keep in mind and implement this holiday:

1. Start the day with exercise, as staying physically active usually results in gaining less and can even manage to lose weight. Exercising will raise endorphins and help combat stress, depression and the effects of being around toxic people.
2. Meditate and read some motivational quotes to get you in your best mind. Mindset is everything! Visualize how you want to feel and look this holiday season. Remember to not let anyone steal your joy!
3. Socializing with your family and friends can be done outdoors with a brisk walk instead of sitting around the table. You can start a dance party with great music in between courses! Play Twister and get physical!
4. Stay hydrated throughout the day, and remember that alcohol and caffeine can dehydrate you. Not drinking enough water can spark hunger, and you may be thirsty. Alcohol can make you feel depressed the next day so it’s going to rob you of future energy and productivity. 
5. Skip the simple carbohydrates and desserts, staying focused on the protein. Keep your sugar intake to no more than 21 grams. Blood sugar fluctuations cause the body to scramble to re-regulate glucose, which may mean spikes of cortisol, adrenaline, and insulin. The result can be depression and anxiety from excessive stress hormones and a glucose-starved brain. In addition, excessive sugar leads to candida overgrowth which leads to weight gain, bloating, skin issues, foggy brain, mood issues and weakened immune functioning. We can start this holiday by serving healthier, nutrient-rich options to alleviate anxiety and depression and stabilize mood while promoting total wellness. The gut-brain connection helps us understand that there is a food-mood connection. What we eat affects mental health in many ways. Nutrient deficiencies can cause poor neurotransmitter production. Insufficient vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, and Vitamin C can be implicated in depression and anxiety symptoms, as they are all needed for various stages of neurotransmitter production, especially serotonin, dopamine, and GABA. Your food choices can either be positively or negatively impacting your total wellness, ultimately you have the choice to choose which one.
6. Practice mindful eating and being aware of how you are breathing, chewing, and drinking. Mindfulness makes you stay in the moment and not be distracted but focus on what’s going on.
7. Monitor your liquid calories and avoid alcohol. If you drink alcoholic beverages, drink a glass of water for each beverage so you stay hydrated. Better yet, for your mental health, avoid alcoholic beverages at all costs. If you feel that you cannot, then make sure to journal each day to see the patterns that food and alcohol has on your total wellness of mind and body.
8. Take your probiotics and candida-controlling enzymes to avoid bacteria or candida overgrowth and bloating. Follow your customized supplement protocol because we cannot get all vitamins and minerals from our food. Give your body the best support that works just for you. Skip the multivitamin and get tested with an Organic Acid lab test to determine what your body needs, is lacking and where the imbalances are. Ask yourself, are you worth the investment into finally knowing what your body needs? Stop guessing and take action today. It will provide the best ROI.
9. Get ample sleep to deal with family time and resisting over-eating. Make sure you get enough quality sleep. Sleep is restorative and you need it to reach total wellness of mind and body. You’ve got to work on both your mind and body to reach total wellness because they are connected. 

To keep the season merry and bright, follow the steps to help you have a happy and healthy holiday season.  Enjoy each day on your healthy journey.

Click here to watch the presentation on How to Thrive & Survive the Holidays and Avoid Weight Gain.

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Tags: Functional Medicine, Genova, Great Plains, Health Coach, holiday weight gain, Nancy Guberti, organic acid test, survive the holidays, total wellness, Total Wellness Empowerment