Forget about dieting. This holiday season, take care of your hormones instead.
By: Nataliya Preiss
Tags: Health, Weight Loss, Life Lessons, Nutrition, Stress

Screw naughty or nice. Here’s how to survive the holiday season.

We’re in the home stretch of 2020 — several more days, not that anyone’s counting. Filed that year-end report? Made cookies yet? Hit your 2020 business targets? Is it even safe to go shopping?

Let’s acknowledge the holiday season for what it is: an unbearable workload. And this year with a pandemic on top! I mean, kudos to you if you thrive in this kind of chaos.

But for so many people out there, the first thing to go out the window right now is exercise and healthy eating. Which, ironically, is the very thing that makes us even more overworked, stressed out, and sick.

I have three tips to help you overcome any challenge you might face in the next two weeks — because as we all know, this year is not over yet.

Forget about your pant size. Take care of your hormones instead.

No one wants a finger-wag about dieting right now. Myself included. But I do want to talk about adrenal hormones, how to eat to keep them in balance, and why.

You may have heard about “adrenal fatigue,” which is what happens when the adrenal glands basically wear out. These specialized glands produce our “fight or flight” hormones cortisol and adrenaline.

That jolt you get from coffee? Thank you, adrenal glands!

These small but mighty organs also help us get through high-stress times like a global pandemic and the Christmas season at the same time. But like any body part, they need sufficient rest and the right foods to do their job — or risk burning out.

Adrenal fatigue is a group of symptoms that include feeling tired all the time, difficulty sleeping, brain fog, unstable mood, body aches, and cravings for salty or sugary foods. When adrenal glands aren’t functioning properly it means we’re less capable of managing stress, regulating blood sugars, or even having a healthy sex drive.

I am the first to admit I am a chocolate-junkie. Well, to my defense, I always choose 80% dark chocolate. However, after two months of late-night chocolate cravings, I started to wonder — am I okay? Or am I sugar-coating my stress?

We are more susceptible to adrenal fatigue after prolonged periods of stress. While the coronavirus isn’t going away tomorrow, and you might be losing sleep planning this unpredictable holiday season, you can mitigate adrenal fatigue with a healthy diet.

While I never pretend to have all the answers, I do have tools that have helped me. Here are three strategies to support your health and well-being:

Eat lots of vitamin C-rich foods: Go to town on those little clementines, bell peppers, or even get yourself a supplement. Our adrenal glands store vitamin C for use in stressful times and use up a lot when we’re under physical or mental strain. Keep blood sugars stable: This time of year is a minefield of sugars and processed foods. Blood sugar highs and lows contribute to adrenal fatigue, then adrenal fatigue makes us more susceptible to mood swings, not to mention even more sugar cravings. So try to avoid carbs, especially high-glycemic-index carbs (= blood sugar spike.) To satisfy your sweet tooth and monitor food sugars, switch from milk chocolate to dark chocolate. It generally contains less sugar and is loaded with antioxidants and minerals.

One of the best tools out there to monitor food sugars is the Blood Glucose and Carbs program we built right into SmartPlate®. With the snap of a smartphone camera, our advanced AI system will alert you when you’re exceeding carbohydrate (sugar spike) limits down to the gram.

3. Drink more green tea: I’m not suggesting you give up coffee completely, but maybe that third, fourth, or (in my case) fifth cup could be green tea instead.

Coffee puts adrenal glands into high gear — not a good thing if they’re already burning out. Studies have shown an amino acid in green tea called L-theanine stimulates calming alpha brain wave activity, thereby inducing a state of relaxation.

Also, green tea has a whisper of caffeine for a bit of pick-me-up, too ;)

Want an extra glass of wine or a little treat now and then? Hell yeah, go for it.

But this year, more than ever, our bodies are craving good nutrition to function under so much stress. Yes, 2020 was a year that felt like a bad horror movie. So, slow down, be gentle to yourself. Take a moment to breathe and just acknowledge that you’ve made it. We’ve made it. Everything is going to be maybe, mostly okay, as we keep taking care of ourselves along the way.

Wishing you and your families good health as we gear up for the holiday season.

To the life in balance 💜,

Nataliya