What if you went into New Year’s feeling energized, confident, and healthy? Let me tell you how to set yourself up.

“Your biggest commitment must always be to yourself.”


MAKE A DECISION

How do you want to feel this holiday season? Write your intentions down:

  • Writing goals on paper increases your ability to reach them by 42% – consider gifting yourself The 5-Minute Journal and begin Thanksgiving Day. 
  • Make your goal measurable and realistic. Break it down into daily and weekly, and show up New Years Eve with a glow of health and confidence.
  • Keep your diet, agenda and goals simple. Put it down on paper and make sure there are gaps to breathe. I just bought this planner as I like the space to make notes each day + it has a notes section for the week.
  • Control what you can and focus on Kel’s GRACE Framework for optimal health. 
    • Gut, Rest, Activity, Carb (threshold), & Eat with the sun.
    • Add more GRACE to your day, your goals & expectations this holiday season. Chase results, not rules.

Kel’s 5 Pillars of Health: 

GUT:

  • Eat foods you love, but love you back (what causes indigestion, mood swings, bloat, energy crashes?). You can be intuitive with this and there are options to test for this with food sensitivity testing.
  • Anchor your meals around the same hour each day and eliminate or minimize ALL snacks (unless you are growing). We really don’t need snacks on a daily basis. Hunger can feel uncomfortable but it’s the best ingredient going into a meal.
  • Eat >25 grams of protein at most of your meals.
  • With autoimmunity or inflammation do a bi-annual or annual cleanse. Perhaps consider a 10-Day Cleanse starting Black Friday to enhance your health journey this season.
  • Supplement wisely to support your gut, sleep, mood and energy. Go-to’s:
    • Berberine when more carbs or treats are consumes to manage blood sugars,
    • L-glutamine for cravings for alcohol, sugar or carbs, L-glutamine also heals the gut lining like a neosporin would to skin, which could be needed from eating processed foods, sugar and alcohol
    • Take a nightly probiotic to diffuse inflammation, insulin resistance and fuel immune health
    • Reach for GABA chews when running on fumes. GABA is kid safe, but not recommended if anyone is on an anti-anxiety/depressant medication.
    • Bone broth protein powder to whip into your morning coffee to increase protein to start your day, or to make a smoothie when you don’t have a meal option on the go.
  • Meal prep, so more often than not, healthy food is an obvious choice. This also includes catering to parties with something that is satiating and protein-forward. 
  • Protect your gut from alcohol – liquor sterilizes the gut (kills bacteria) and opt for low-alcohol drinks such as Dry Farm Wine or choose mixers such as kombucha. Create a holiday season rule or alcohol “guardrails” of what your intention is with booze. 
    • Lower alcohol options
    • No booze during the week
    • Only “x” drinks at the party

REST

  • If it’s not a HELL yes – then it’s a no! Your kids don’t have to see every tree lighting, zoo attraction, or Winter wonderland attraction, nor do you have to go to EVERYTHING you’re invited to. If it’s not a HELL yes, then tell them “no thank you.”
  • More nights out don’t equal harder, longer, more tough workouts. Restore and rely on walking in nature, bundled up, so you don’t burn out.
  • Protect your sleep. Get enough sleep and then get some more. If/when needed use sleep supplements like Best-Rest from Pure Encapsulations, Insomnitol by Designs for Health, a blend of herbs and a low dose of melatonin, or some basic Magnesium glycinate (Pure Encapsulations). Sourcing vitamins from a dispensary like Fullscript is a safer practice than Amazon and megastores like Sam’s and Costco. 
  • Take deep breaths throughout the day, so you don’t lie down at night wired and tired. 
  • Carve out downtime, especially if it’s to sit in a decorated living room, cuddling up to a motivating book that keeps you inspired. 

ACTIVITY

  • Walk or use your muscles for 10 minutes after your larger meals. Clean, walk, vacuum, etc.
  • Stay committed to your exercise routine, but don’t impair your sleep to make it happen.
  • Exercise every other day for insulin sensitivity.
  • Focus on natural movement and moving hourly to improve overal circulation and breaking insulin resistance (which builds after sitting for more than 45 minutes)
  • Plan something social not centered around food this season (hikes, bowling, trampoline houses, skating, skiing, etc)

CARBS (Knowing Your Carb Limit +)

  • No naked carbs for meals or snacks (grains, sugar, and fruit = carbs). If you have some fruit, have it with healthy fat or protein. If you want oatmeal, pair it with protein. Etc. 
  • Tune into your portions and how various portion sizes of carbs make you feel. Have enough carbs to feel satisfied but not an amount that creates fatigue, cravings or makes you feel lousy. 
  • Start your day with >25 grams of protein or more, and no more than 20 grams of carb rich foods to fuel steady energy all day, and minimize cravings and a drive to snack.
  • Carb tolerance is individualized: 
    • gender, 
    • genetics, 
    • age, 
    • activity, 
    • Type of activity,
    • sleep, 
    • weight goal, 
    • medical history
    • Levels of stress
    • The amt of carbs one tolerates can change w/ the calendar of seasons, the week of the female cycle and the season of life
  •  A JAMA research published in 2019 found that when people were put on either a mod low-carb diet compared to a mod low-fat diet – there was equal weight loss after 1 year. The takeaway is all of the pupils were educated on eating real, whole food and it worked for better health, weight loss, and satisfaction, but we are different and our needs are unique. 
  • Your carb intake is a little bit of a dance:
    • Too much or the wrong type of carbohydrates can blunt the effects of your satiety hormones, decrease insulin sensitivity, increase inflammation, and increase the storage of visceral fat. 
    • But, without adequate amounts of carbohydrates, many people can experience reduced levels of active thyroid hormone, elevated levels of cortisol, and reduced levels of testosterone. Plus if we reduce carbohydrates we can miss out on resistant starch is an important fiber. The real key is to discover your body’s own carbohydrate tipping point.
  • Research published in the journal of the International Society of sports nutrition showed that carbohydrate consumption after exercise was found to directly increase muscle glycogen resent assist, in replenishing muscle glycogen, rather than being stored as fat.
    • the inclusion of carbs and protein after training improved strength and body composition to a placebo. 
    • If fat loss is your goal, you want the carbohydrates after you work out, not before it. 
  • Understand there will be temptations, but it’s the holidays, and that’s ok
    • Enjoy your favorite foods in moderation
    • Bring a snack if you know there are going to be temptations
      • But make sure it’s a healthy snack you will ENJOY and is FILLING
      • Celery sticks won’t stand a chance against all the Christmas cookies
      • If you fall off track for a few days, understand it’s OK!
        • Don’t punish yourself, just get right back on track

Eat with the Sun

  • Leave 13-16 hours from dinner to breakfast. This is a form of intermittent fasting and will support your circadian rhythms, and hormone balance thus quality sleep.  It has been shown to decrease insulin resistance, which is linked to metabolic syndrome causing weight gain. It also kick-starts your body into burning those hard-to-reach fat cells for energy.
  • Tune in to winter daylight hours and eat 80% of your food when the sun is up. If you eat late, eat light. 
  • Try to eat in a 12-hour eating window and listen to your body to know what is best. 
  • Minimize nighttime eating, and focus on delaying and not depriving yourself.

Resources & Links