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.
The holidays can be a time when we indulge in more than we normally would. More food, most likely more alcohol, more activities, and less sleep. All of these can contribute to feeling behind the curve as we enter the new year. Do you know what’s at the root of this feeling? It’s your gut. Your gut is essential for your health.
There are many things that influence your gut health. These are primarily related to what you put in your mouth – whether solid or liquid – as Dana learned recently when she reached out for my help.
Dana, a young wife and mother to a 4-year-old daughter, realized she was spiraling downward and knew she needed help. She reported that she wasn’t doing well even before the holidays, but since Thanksgiving had been feeling like it was all getting worse.
Her gut was not happy – indigestion was a common experience – so she often avoided food. She also wasn’t sleeping well, which made her groggy throughout the day. All the added Christmas festivities were making things worse, so she picked up her phone to send an SOS to me.
The Christmas season presents a wide array of stimulation for our senses. The music, images in commercials, colorful decorations, and the food … oh, the food. For many, these holiday hallmarks evoke joy in the season, but some struggle with holiday blues.
Surprisingly, a survey by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) shows that 64% of people experience holiday blues.
The holiday blues are “feelings of anxiety or depression during holidays that can be associated with extra stress, unrealistic expectations, or even memories that accompany the season.” These “blues” refer to sad feelings, yet those experiencing holiday blues may feel worried, frustrated, or even disappointed.
What is your focus in these last few days before Thanksgiving? Have you set the menu for the meal and prepared your grocery list? Are your thoughts dominated by arrangements you need to make for guests, or perhaps the calorie overload that comes with the traditional feast?
Or perhaps you are one who thinks of where you will settle for your post-turkey nap?
All of these demands on your attention are significantly contributing to your stress level. This hinders your digestion, affects your heart and lung function, and makes you susceptible to viral illness.
Here in the US, we may have an assortment of witches, ghosts, and princesses showing up at our doors this evening. Many of them will have cute kids’ faces beaming over the neckline of their costumes, though some may be hidden behind masks. It’s not a scary situation, or is it?
You know what’s really scary in this situation played out in neighborhoods or businesses? The amount of sugar that accumulates in the bags of the trick-or-treaters.
It can seem innocuous. Lots of little candies – suckers, fun-sized packs, or candy bars. All small portions, right?
When it comes to holiday meals, what do you look forward to the most? Is it the meat that is served, or the side dishes? All the special dishes help fill out and complement the main courses, making every feast one to remember.
Even when shifting your food habits, you can still serve a memorable spread by incorporating these healthy holiday side dish recipes. Featuring fresh ingredients and creative flavors, these dishes are perfect for impressing your guests. Hope you’ll try some of these fantastic 5 healthy holiday side dish recipes.
From delicious, fancy dinners to spending quality time with loved ones, there’s nothing better than this time of year. However, it all seems to pass by so quickly, and before we know it, we’re back to work and feeling just as burnt out as before. What if we were to slow down the pace? Here are a number of ways to savor the season with practical tips for slowing down.
While the holidays can bring out joy and excitement, there is also more stress from added demands on schedule, finances, and travel plans. Though these stressors can take a toll on your mental and physical health, I have good news! It doesn’t have to drag you down. Approach this time of year with 4 tips to stay healthy through the holidays. Read more
