The Mind Body Project
The Mind Body Project
Healthy Huddle: Holiday Feast vs. Holiday Routine
We lay out why holiday weight gain often tracks with lost routines, not single feasts, and show how small anchors like breakfast, water, movement, and sleep protect energy, mood, and choices. We share a simple meal order to enjoy party foods without the crash or guilt.
• defining a feast versus a routine and why it matters
• how skipping breakfast, water, and movement drives overeating
• using anchors to stabilize busy weeks
• protein-first meal order to cut cravings
• light snack before parties to avoid grazing
• vacation parallels and intentional steps and stairs
• stress relief through short, consistent workouts
• handling gifted sweets by sharing, freezing, or rationing
• balance over restriction to remove guilt
Welcome to Healthy Huddle. Thank you so much for taking a little time to join us. Each week we uh join in on our live call to discuss a different uh healthy huddle topic where our um those on the call will uh might ask questions, have some input um as I share um the week's topic. So let's join the live call. Uh holiday feast versus holiday routine. Um which is a good topic since we're going in it does not say holiday. It does it say healthy on there?
SPEAKER_01:It does. Christy is correct.
SPEAKER_00:Well, that is that's my fault, then it should say holiday.
SPEAKER_01:It says healthy on both sides.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Well, okay.
SPEAKER_01:I'm like that. It's not what it says.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. It is we knew what you meant, though. Okay, thank you. It is, yeah, you're probably thinking healthy feast versus healthy routine. Yeah, holiday feast versus holiday routine. And I thought this week would be a good time to talk about it since we are going into next week, which really the next two weeks, which is a lot of holiday. So it's kind of important because we usually think that the holiday, we fear the holiday sometimes because of weight gain. But it's not necessarily the holiday meals that are the problem. They are some. I mean, we do probably go over on those, but typically is what happens is what starts to disappear around the holidays. We might have seen that disappearance some this week.
SPEAKER_01:Or a waistline, right?
SPEAKER_00:Exercise, your exercise routine, exercise routine, which might cost my you know, a waistline won't disappear, it'll reappear because yes, it will expand. But typically around the holidays, we start to lose our healthy routine because we have all the reasons. We have it's busier, we have maybe more parties to go to, more things to do. We have all the reasons why those routines start to disappear. That's why typically, I mean, it's really challenging the two weeks between Christmas and New Year's to keep people exercising and moving and doing things because they think, well, it's it's I mean, it's kind of a you know, I'm gonna be eating a lot anyhow, so why should I exercise? But part of that routine helps us with those holiday meals and all those different things we have to do. When when our routine starts to slip, it gets a little easier to overeat. It gets a little more frequent overeating, and we're a little less mindful about it because then we get that mindset of, well, I've kind of already blown it. You know, Christmas is just a week away, so I'll go ahead and work on it after Christmas. And then after Christmas, it just kind of rolls into New Year's. So you go, well, I'll just wait till and New Year's is what a Thursday. So it's like, well, I'll just wait till Monday, which is four days after New Year's, which is a lot of damage can be done. In regards to not not not keeping up with our routine, makes a big difference. So the real challenge, or the really the solution to it, is not to restrict the feast, but to protect our routine. Because that's when we protect that routine, what happens when we get up in the morning and we've exercised and we eat a good breakfast? What kind of happens to the rest of our day, even if we have parties to go to or things to do? What how do we kind of feel about ourselves going into that? Yeah, good. Yeah, you feel good, you feel a little bit more empowered that you can make some better choices versus I'm gonna skip working out, I'm gonna skip treadmill, I'm gonna skip strength, I'm just gonna sleep in. And so then we kind of start the day kind of a little bit more tired. Well, I'm kind of running late because I slept in a little bit, so I'm gonna go get something quick. And so that all kind of starts the day in a different mindset. So when we think about holiday feast versus our holiday routine, our holiday feast is really those special meals when we had our Christmas party the other night. That is a feast, it's a special meal, but many still came to exercise that day. It wasn't like, well, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna eat that night, so I'm not gonna do anything. Um, holiday feast again, it's it's when we get together family or friends. Um, you know, we have all the things that we love in our tradition of however your family does it for the holiday, whether it's a new year's tradition, whether it's a Christmas Eve tradition, a Christmas morning tradition. We tend to, you know, ours is we have it, uh we have brunch on when we have our get together, whether it's on Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, the weekend after, we have brunch. Um, so it's all the favorite things. Uh so we tend to eat more because a lot of times we don't fix those things really all year long, maybe once or twice. So again, it's also maybe those foods that you do only have once or twice. And it's it's and it's really just that day. And we're gonna talk about what happens when you have some holiday feast, four or five different ones in a in a week. Those can get kind of a lot, so we'll talk a little bit about how do we kind of manage that. But we've got to remember too that they're meant to be enjoyed, it's it's not something necessarily to fear. Again, it's our holiday routine that gets all whacked out of shape that really causes the problems. Um, because really our holiday routine can kind of look like this. You may be um having dinner for your get-together, but it still means that you can still get up and have the exact same breakfast you normally have. It kind of sets your tone for the day. You can still drink the same amount of water that you do for the day. Um, you still get in your same movement for the day. Just because you have an event that night, um, sometimes you think, oh, well, I gotta sleep in because I might be tired. That's kind of what we think sometimes. But that getting up and getting moving is important to protect our routine. You know, we have to really look at what are our snack habits. You know, maybe it is, as we talked about before, maybe it is having a snack before you go to that holiday. Um, so you're not going starving. Um, it's still kind of your same routine. Um, it's you know, going out of your routine goes, um, you know, you get up that morning and go, I'm not gonna eat until that night. That that's because that's real smart. Um, because what happens when you don't eat all day until you wait till that night for the event or the party? What can you overeat? Yeah, you overeat, you're starving, you're like, man, I can't wait. And so there's kind of some food sitting out before that the main course comes out or your main food. So you're having all these little snacks and you're taking in hundreds of calories before you ever get to the meal because you thought it was a good idea not to eat. But still kind of it's still again better to keep your routine the same, and that will help you not eat as much when you go. And still, best you can keep your bed times. Of course, when you have different things, parties to go to or things like that, you're gonna be out a little bit later. But it is if you can keep bedtimes and breakfast as close to normal as possible in your routine, it does make a big difference in your holiday, and those routines really do make a big difference. And if you talk to people that exercise and say, you know, they might have gained weight over the holidays, it's typically because the routine wasn't the same. Talk to people that gain weight on vacation. How many of you keep a similar routine on vacation that you do at home in regards to exercise and food?
SPEAKER_01:I do. And what does not at all?
SPEAKER_00:Not at all.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:And and if you do keep that same routine, how do you feel on vacation?
SPEAKER_01:I would feel deprived. That's why I'm not gonna do that.
SPEAKER_00:Deprived. But we really do. Don't we exercise?
SPEAKER_01:Well, we do exercise, but not our food.
SPEAKER_00:Not not our food, not necessarily the same, but we still our exercise is still the same. Probably get a little bit more rest, but we still are active, and which also, again, gives us a different mindset sometimes when we when we eat. Just like if if you were to go on vacation, say, I'm not gonna take any escalators, any elevators, I'm gonna take the stairs instead. We've had friends that we've been on vacation with, and that they do that. It makes a difference when you take stairs, you walk a little bit further. All those little things make a difference and they make you feel better. And really on vacation, if if you can kind of maintain a routine, a lot of times what we do, we go on vacation and we look like, oh, it's a break from that life from exercise life. It's the holiday, so I get a break. Again, we've talked about ranchers. Do farmer do those cows know it's Christmas Day?
SPEAKER_01:No.
SPEAKER_00:No. Do they know it's that it's cold out and the rancher has to bundle up to come feed them? No, they care about being hungry, so it doesn't matter if it's Christmas Day, Christmas Eve day, if you can best you can to keep that routine, that's gonna be even better. And it does make a difference. It does make a difference how you feel that day, just starting out the day. Maybe even it's with family. Maybe you need to get that exercise in to get off some of that stress so you can just deal with family. Maybe it has nothing to do with the foods, maybe it's just dealing with family or friends or the people you're gonna have to be around. It does help to kind of alleviate some of that. I mean, give you a better mindset when you go into it. And again, it helps you feel a little bit more confident, it helps you feel a little bit more empowered to make some different decisions, or say, you know, I had that one dessert or two desserts, and I feel pretty good. Again, it's not saying that you can't have it, but it just keeping your routine gives you a different attitude, gives you a different mindset towards that. So, you know, if if we think about the holiday, you know, Thanksgiving, Christmas, you know, and the impact on our health. Is a thanks, is a Thanksgiving dinner gonna make be a small or big impact on our on our health? Smaller? Small. Now, a Thanksgiving four-day weekend, is that gonna be a small or big impact on our health? Big because we're going four days. A Christmas party, a big or small impact on our health. A Christmas small. Christmas Day brunch, big or small, small. All of December, thirty days of grazing, big or small, huge, huge, yes, huge. Um three weeks of no breakfast. If you typically eat breakfast, small or or big. Three weeks of no breakfast. Of no breakfast, and you usually eat breakfast every day. That would be huge. That would be huge because you get to lunch and you go, I am starving, and you're gonna eat more. Um, what if you normally drink lots of water and all month you drink way less water? Maybe you drink five bottles a day and you just start having one because it's gonna be a big difference because now because you're drinking all the punches and the alcoholic drinks and all those things, it's gonna make a big difference. Then, if then if we go into the holidays and we have the emotional eating from stress, all of your events are stressing you out, all your family stressing you out, buying presents are stressing you out. Those are gonna have a big impact on your health. Um, so again, the feast, as we talked about on Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas party, Christmas Day, brunch, those are all small because that's a feast. A feast isn't spread over time, it's a short duration. The routine is what we need to support. And and how many times how many times do we focus on the routine? We really focus more on the feast part. Like, oh, I'm going to a Christmas, so I have to watch my desserts, I have to watch my helpings, I have to watch my spoon sizes. We really focus on the feast. When a lot of times it's it's our routine needs to be dialed in. Of we keep doing the same things, and and and we're so quick to get off that routine because, well, I'm not gonna eat breakfast because I have a noontime party. When if we went ahead and ate that, we'd still eat less at the party because we're not near as hungry. And so we're quick to let a root a routine go when that's the thing that really needs to be dialed in because that's gonna be the one, that's gonna be what really makes a difference. Even maybe it's you know, on Christmas morning, maybe you don't have much going on, so you can come to the gym, you can get in a couple miles. Maybe it's walking, maybe it's an incline, maybe it's just lifting, maybe, but it puts you, it it shifts your mindset and gets you started your day like you do every day. And and getting it started with routine makes you feel stronger, more empowered to go through the day. So it helps us to shift from being good at the feast to we keep our routine stable around the feast, around the holiday. And I think too much we focus on I gotta eat less, I gotta do less. I can't, I can't do that, I can't do this, and we have a lot of can't, or I shouldn't, or we do it, and what do we do? We feel guilty. We feel guilty for going back for a second plate. Is that second plate gonna be an end of the world? No, because what do we talk about? We talk about balance, and when everything else is normal, that are you gonna feel kind of cruddy probably after the second plate? You're gonna feel a little cruddy, yes. Is it the end of the world? And you're going like, oh, I shouldn't have done that. I probably gained 10 pounds. Now, are you gonna gain a little bit? Probably because that's not the way probably you're used to eating, you're not eating like that all the time. But again, you get back to your routine, it's gonna, it's gonna, you're gonna feel right back to normal within a couple days. It's not the end of the world. It's not gonna make make or break your your fitness. Now, after Christmas, it might be on, you know, you might come in the next day and try to get on the treadmill for like a hundred pounds, but it's just kind of how our body feels. But it's gonna get better. It's not like you ate that meal or ate that meal for lunch and supper, and then all of a sudden you're totally out of conditioning, you're totally out of shape. It doesn't happen that way. We just have to, and a lot of times that's what we do. We we feel that way, so we're like, I'm not gonna go because I just feel I just feel like it. So we don't we we slow down or change our routine. And and I hope that this year a lot of you feel pretty confident about your routine, and it's nice because we do have the star chart, it does make a difference with our routine. Because I know I've I already heard some talking today that they were still gonna come up next week, even when we weren't having classes, they were making plans to meet up so they could keep their routine going because because these because they said it makes them feel better and they wanted wanted to do it. So, again, that's honoring your routine and keeping it dialed in. Another thing is we talked about anchors and and walk and talk, sit and talk. We've talked about anchors. So there should be some of those holiday routine anchors, some that that even when everything's kind of crazy, it keeps you kind of anchored. So maybe it's you know, if you're used to getting two or three stars a day, in other words, you're coming to two or three classes, maybe that anchor is you just come to a class. It may not be three classes, but maybe it's uh maybe you say I'm gonna commit to a strength and cardio. I'm coming to you know, two classes, or it's something that you can anchor that no matter what's going on, and say, I'm gonna make this happen. Maybe an anchor is you're gonna say, I'm gonna eat my breakfast every day and make sure I have protein with it. Maybe that's gonna be an anchor. Maybe an anchor is gonna be, you know, you know, when you get busy and you're wrapping, shopping, your water starts to, your water intake starts to go down. So maybe it's I'm gonna get one or two bottles in of water before lunch. Or you realize during the holidays, you amp up on caffeine or energy drinks because you need the energy. So maybe the anchor is I'm going to maybe change what I drink. I'm gonna focus more on water. Maybe you're getting some more veggies. You're you're focusing on I'm gonna get some veggies at lunch and dinner. No matter what I have, I'm gonna have some veggies. Again, an anchor is we're moving. Maybe it, maybe it's even the anchor is, you know, no matter if I go to the gym or not, I'm still gonna get in a 20-minute walk every day at minimum. Or no matter what's going on, I'm gonna get this many steps at you know, for the month of December. You know, I usually get 12,000. So I'm gonna make sure I at least get 12,000 steps every day. That's just an anchor that you make sure you get that. Maybe it's sleep, maybe time gets busy, and you go at you know, during this busy time, I'm gonna make sure I get this amount of sleep. Maybe it's I'm making sure I get to bed at this time. And then maybe the anchor is before I go to parties, I'm gonna eat something, a light snack. So I'm not going into the party quite as hungry. So and you just and you can set some of those anchors that they don't take a lot, but they do help you feel balanced without having to try really hard and think this is really hard to do. It's just again, like we've talked about last week, those micro changes, it doesn't take much, but when you're doing that consistently, and that you know, and you're not thinking about everything, you're just thinking about one or two things that can anchor you in, it makes a difference. So when we talk about our holiday feast, instead of trying to control the meal, we can guide the order of it and the intention. So maybe we have our protein first, uh, which is gonna stop us from overeating a little bit later. Um, you know, if we have again, we talked about our fiber and our color, that's next. That's our that kind of reduces our spiking and cravings. And our starches, if we have those next, that prevents our crash. And then we have the joy foods, they're more satisfactory. You know, we save those for last because we've eaten some of those other things in that order. We still get everything we enjoy, but it's just a little bit more intentional about how you eat those. It's thinking more about how we approach the feast. Because we can still have everything we want and still feel in control of that. Um instead of going and feeling out of control. Because a lot of times I think sometimes when we go to a meal that we haven't had in a while, we feel like a pig in slop. Like, I want it all. And you just waller around, like, I mean, you can just throw the food on you and just waller around in it. It's so good. And typically, what happens? Do you eat when you have a meal that you haven't had in a while and you haven't eaten all day because you're gonna try to save the calories? Do you usually eat fast or slow? Fast. Yeah. You know, you thought about that meal all day long. And does it seem like it takes long to eat? It usually goes by really fast. And you think I waited all day and now my stuffed and I can't eat another bite, or I'm gonna keep eating because I only get it, you know, for this amount of time. So, so kind of the challenge is, you know, this next two weeks, as we go through Christmas next week and the new year's the following week, is to focus on the on your routine. Um, if you haven't been already this month, I'm kind of probably kind of preaching to the choir some, but it's really important that you let's say if you can't make it to a class to get in some cardio or get in some strength, that you're doing something else to be active, that's intentional, not not well, rap presents or put up a Christmas tree. That's active, but that's not the same. Exercise is something that is intentional. Is it intentional to go shopping and park at the furthest parking lot parking space? Is that intentional? Yes, yes, yes, yeah, instead of cruising the parking lot looking for somebody to pull out, and you know, really how it just depends on how cold it is, too. But what what happens when you're cold? What does your body do?
SPEAKER_01:Run.
SPEAKER_00:It runs, it also tries to warm up, so it does it does speed up your metabolism because your body's trying to warm itself up, so it does make a difference too. But those kind of things you can be in, and you know, and really it used to be when we had to go shopping for all of our presents, we could get in a lot of steps during the holiday season. Now we don't get as many because we can just click, click, click, and next thing we know, we have to go out to our front porch to pick it up, and that's about it. So that's why it's really important to focus on your routine because everybody in here has a routine. Most everybody see every day, either on a virtual or in class. So your routine is the same. There's some that when it gets fit by you're already fit by 2025, some of those may not have that routine that are that are getting. I mean, even if it's a star, even if it takes a star, that's a routine, and you come because you don't want to miss that star. It it's still a routine, it's still part of your daily things that you do. You get up, you go to the gym, you go home, you get ready for work, or you go to work, you come, you get off work, you come work out. It's all part of your routine. And just because the holidays, again, the holidays don't know it's a holiday. You're uh, you know, your body doesn't know it's a holiday. Our brain tells our body it's a holiday, you can take it easy. But our br our body's gonna work the same on Christmas Day as it does on June 9th, a random day. It doesn't know the difference. It's us that tells it, oh, you know, we can rest today because it's a holiday. You deserve that. We're really good at telling ourselves that. So that's really just the challenge in the next two weeks is focus on your routine, enjoy your feast. If it's just that meal or that day, even if you have a few of them in a week, you can still make some good choices, but yet you can still enjoy it. Because again, we talk about all the time, which is balance. Are you gonna just feel great after you get done your feast, or if you've had three or four days in a seven-day period of feasting, are you gonna feel great? Not necessarily, but in those times is really important to keep your routine to keep even when you feel like Bigfoot running or walking on the treadmill, like boom, boom, boom, still keep doing it because it's gonna get better. And it's not, I mean, you didn't gain 10 pounds in that week. You might gain a couple pounds, but that is gonna come right back off. It's and again, it's balance, it's keep doing the same things you've been doing. And and that'll help you not stress about the the the feast. If you can just focus, I'm gonna keep my routine. If I can keep that dialed in, I'm gonna enjoy some of those special things that we have that just my grandmother makes, or just my mom makes, or just uh at this house or or this friend. I'm gonna enjoy those things. So that's the challenge. Any thoughts, comments, or questions about holiday feast versus holiday routine, not healthy, but holiday.
SPEAKER_01:Well, um, so if I know what's coming, like I knew the Christmas party was coming, so all week I did fairly well with meal prep and things like that. But lately, the like as much as I appreciate the thoughtfulness, I you know, the bags of uh Christmas candy and goodies and things like that. I mean, I don't want to sound unappreciative because I uh they were thinking of me and I think that's great, but it's killing me. So, like, what do you suggest with stuff like that?
SPEAKER_00:So I would suggest that you give them away. If if uh seriously, if if they are a problem, I'm not saying I could necessarily do that, but I'm just saying maybe you give it to somebody else, or or you ration it. Some of that stuff you might be able to freeze, so you can have it other times, or you just say I'm just gonna have one today, or you know, if I keep my routine, I'm gonna have this one thing or that thing. But I I I get it because typically is what happens is we get those things and we feel that we need to eat it all because it ruins, yeah, because it ruins. But I would say here's here's a fun way. See who else you could bless with that and say, here, I'm blessing you with this food. Good luck. But but really, I mean, if it's an if it's an issue, that's kind of what has to be done, is kind of have to get it away because yeah, it's nice of them to give it to you, but then it's not your responsibility to eat it all. Right. Even though they were nice to give it, they were just the teacher, put it in the teacher workroom, they eat everything.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, I have two bags in my office that I was like, I'm not bringing that home because I don't want to snack on it. But then tomorrow when I go to work, I'm afraid I'm gonna snack on it. So every time you pass it, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So maybe it's a fine way to like Kelly said, maybe you put it in the teacher workroom or gift it to some other teachers.
SPEAKER_01:Uh yeah, that's a good idea, Kelly.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and then let them deal with it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you have to come somewhere else to go, then that's right.
SPEAKER_00:It's kind of like when my parents give me stuff that I don't want, it's like they don't want it either, so they're giving it to me and somebody else's problem. So you can give it to somebody else, it can be their problem. Any other thoughts, comments, or questions? All right. Well, if you do, then let me know. And I really challenge you, just focus on your routine. And if you have some of those things, like Christy said, then just give them away. So, but if you have any thoughts, comments, or questions, just let me know. And thank you to each of you for joining us on Healthy Huddle. I look forward to seeing you right here next time on Healthy Huddle.