Almost everyone freaks out around the Holidays. It’s inevitable. STRESS.
Whaaa, boohoo, let’s begin our pity party now and insert the dreaded victim voice. “I’ve got too much to do and no time for myself, my family is in town and I can’t work out, the food is too good and I can’t say no, I don’t know what NOT to eat so let’s just eat whatever, my family stresses me out and this is my reward to INDULGE.” I get it.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for many reasons. There’s something about the combo of food, family, and lounging around in a turkey-gluttony that makes me feel blissful. Yet, as I’ve aged, I’ve also had to be a SMARTER about how I approach the Holidays, or I will absolutely gain weight.
There are so many MYTHS about what you can or cannot eat out there–it’s overwhelming and exhausting. I’ve researched this topic so that I could find a way to make eating RIGHT and eating SMART fun and enjoyable for YOU. Here’s the deal, if you understand a bit about how the body works and why certain food combinations cause you to lose weight rather than gain weight, you can enjoy the Holidays even more when you apply the right science.
THE GOAL:
- Enjoy the Holiday Season with your friends and family
- Avoid gaining excessive weight due to over-eating and bingeing
HOW:
Plan Ahead
BE AWARE of the number of events, Binge Fests, and leftovers you really have. This makes the 4 major Holidays (October-January) more like 3 months of over-eating, rather than a few single days…yikes.
Insulin
Minimize the release of insulin – INSULIN is a storage hormone, so it increases the storage of FAT. To minimize the insulin spike in your blood, try these things:
- Increase your morning protein intake. Shoot for 30 g of high quality protein (organic eggs) at your 1st meal plus insoluble fiber, within 30-60 mins of waking!
- Small amount of grapefruit juice before 2nd meal
- Use fresh squeezed lemon juice, lime, or citrus kombucha throughout meal
Balance the Gut
TAKE CARE of your gut over the holidays, and your body will thank you.
- Avoid artificial sweeteners, NO SPLENDA! Use Stevia or honey instead
- Eat fermented food – i.e. cheese, Japanese natto, Kefir, kimchee, sauerkraut, plain yogurt, kombucha tea
- Take a pro/prebiotic
Spices/Ingredients
THE RIGHT spices make all the difference.
- Cinnamon (1 tbsp) *warning – do not use if you have any underlying medical conditions, contains coumarin (blood thinner) and can be dangerous
- Honey, or Stevia
- Lemon
- Blueberry
- Resveratrol
- Cacao (55%+)
Contract Your Muscles
Engage in brief muscular contraction throughout binge – WARNING: people may look at you strangely. My exercise of choice is deep squats and wall presses for 60-90 seconds.
- Why does this work? It causes the GLUT—4 transmitters on muscle cells to open instead of shuttling everything to the fat cells.
Miscellaneous – MORE fun tips to keep you slim.
- Take 30 minutes to eat your entire meal. SLOW DOWN! Chew your food thoroughly.
- Try eating an apple, bowl of brothy soup, or drinking 16 oz of water at first signs of hunger.
- Overtraining at the gym and doing boot camp does not give you a license to binge and can actually harm you.
- Take a cold shower, ice pack on the upper traps/chest 20-30 mins.
- Do not restrict your calories during the day because it leads to ^ in ghrelin secretion, which will cause extreme hunger + overeating.
- Make sure you get enough SLEEP.
- Do not eat within 3 hours of sleep.
- Avoid caffeine and stimulants after 3pm.
p.s. I really wanted to post a picture of when I studied abroad in France and gained 15 pounds my junior year in college to show everyone what happened when I ignored these rules and just ate whatever the heck I wanted to for 3 months straight. It wasn’t pretty. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the pic…I will dig a little harder…but, it’s a doozy.
Thanks for reading this blog! Let’s cut the small talk and get right to the good stuff, click here to schedule your appointment. If you really want to gain karma points, follow me on twitter @drcoriseyhoon and like me on Facebook because that’s how I measure my true success. Feel free to e-mail me feedback at drcoriseyhoon@gmail.com!
This design is wicked! You certainly know how to keep a reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Great job. I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
This is a topic which is close to my heart… Thank you! Exactly where are your contact details though?
Please find my contact information under the “Contact” section of this website! Look forward to hearing more from you. https://www.clearlyaligned.com/sample-page
You really make it seem so easy together with your presentation however I find this topic to be actually something which I think I’d by no means understand. It kind of feels too complicated and extremely large for me. I’m having a look forward in your subsequent publish, I’ll try to get the hang of it!
Agreed. It is a complicated topic, but perhaps not as “hard” as we are actually made to believe. Eating whole, organic, and natural foods as much as possible makes logical sense and takes the guess work out of what to eat!