There’s a kind of fullness that isn’t related to food. It comes from conversations, notifications, emotional labor, and prolonged periods of concentration without rest. It comes from the typical holiday schedule.
When your capacity reaches its limit, you may still feel hungry, but not in a way that invites complexity. You might not know exactly what you want. You just know that the solution needs to be simple.
This is where a Calm Plate can make a difference.
With the arrival of the holiday season, our to-do list seems to get longer, and our social calendar gets even more crowded. We have decorating to do, gifts to purchase and wrap, travel to plan, parties to attend or host, and numerous family traditions to uphold. Do you view the holidays with eager anticipation, or do you feel a tinge of dread?
Holiday gatherings often involve food and drinks that hold emotional ties to our childhood memories or are presented to tempt your taste buds and offer a moment of decadent pleasure. Either way, it is difficult to pass up what is served. All too quickly, we manage to snack and sample our way to extra pounds, brain fog, and perhaps misery.
Despite what your experience has been, you can choose to change your path. I invite you to explore some strategies to bring you through this holiday season with a firmer footing.
True or false – eating turkey at Thanksgiving makes you sleepy? We’ve all heard the jokes about curling up in a recliner after a big holiday meal. Maybe you have been looking for a comfy place to take a nap. But I think it’s time that we stop blaming the poor turkeys and explore what is really happening.
What is it in turkey that’s blamed for making you sleepy? Tryptophan is what most people associate with turkey and sleep. That is because tryptophan is an amino acid that is a precursor for melatonin. However, that doesn’t mean that it works so quickly to cause sleepiness right after your meal.
Your blood sugar works like a metronome. When it’s steady, your hormones tend to stay more balanced. But when it spikes and crashes, the roller coaster affects everything from how well you sleep to how often you crave sugar.
Every time your blood sugar rises – especially after a flour-based or sugary meal – your body sends out insulin to move that glucose into cells. Over time, if those spikes happen too often, the cells stop responding. That’s called insulin resistance, and it can lead to weight gain, inflammation, and fatigue.
If you have children in school or work in an office, you know that cold season is in full swing. When you feel the telltale throat tickle, how do you respond? Some just buy a box of tissues and push through. Others pull out a collection of over-the-counter drugs. But there are some preventative measures you can employ right away.
Antibiotics are powerful. Sometimes they’re essential; yet even when necessary, they often come with a cost. Because while antibiotics clear out harmful bacteria, they also sweep away the beneficial microbes that keep your digestion, immune system, mood, and energy in balance. They can be like using a flamethrower on a field.
You might notice the effects a few days or weeks later. Your digestion may feel off. Maybe you’re more bloated than usual, your skin flares, your sleep is disrupted, your energy dips, or you develop a yeast infection. For some, it’s a spike in anxiety or a general sense of feeling disconnected from their body. After all, your gut affects your mental health as well.
Sarah was tired all the time. She leaned on coffee to get through her mornings, craved sugar in the afternoons, and by evening she barely had energy left for her family. Her bloodwork came back “normal,” yet she knew something was off. When she met a practitioner who offered Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) testing, Sarah finally got answers that validated her struggles.
Her magnesium was depleted, her copper was out of balance, and she had traces of toxic metals dragging her down. Armed with steps to restore her mineral balance, Sarah began to regain her energy — and hope for her future.
Stories like Sarah’s are not unusual. Minerals are the spark plugs of life. They power energy, steady moods, support hormones, and keep bones strong. Without the right balance, your body simply can’t thrive. That’s where HTMA can make a difference. If you’re ready to move beyond the “blood panel snapshots” and dig deeper, this test could provide the road map.
Have you ever reflected on symptoms you are experiencing and thought, “Getting old sucks?” Perhaps you’ve said it out loud to a friend. I hear it frequently. When I ask clarifying questions, they often provide a list of the symptoms they are experiencing. They may comment that they are getting old. Or they may use wording that implies their body is falling apart. But is it really? Is your body bailing out on you?
Even if you look healthy, your body could be experiencing shifts in the way your metabolism functions. It’s a normal response to the information that you give your body through the food you consume. Yet, that food may be secretly working against you.
In reality, your body isn’t bailing out on you. You aren’t “just getting old,” even if your doctor implies that. And it’s not just in your head. For my female readers, it’s likely that your body signaling a deeper challenge – perimenopause.
Have you ever noticed your energy dip, your mood shift, or your cycle feel off—and you couldn’t quite pin down why? It’s easy to blame stress, sleep, or even your morning coffee, but sometimes the real culprits are far more subtle. Chemicals hiding in everyday products can quietly interfere with your hormones and throw your body out of balance. In fact, there are five hidden hormone disruptors you might be living with—without even realizing it.
Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that don’t come with warning labels. They show up in the smell of your laundry. The convenience of plastic containers. The sheen of your favorite nonstick pan. Read more
When stress arrives, it doesn’t just occupy your mind – it often shows up in your body as powerful cravings. That sudden urge for a sweet treat or crunchy snack isn’t a sign of weakness.
It is your body’s instinctive response to feeling under pressure. Understanding why stress makes you crave sugar is the first step toward shifting the story. Let me share what you can do to reduce stress-driven cravings.
