Nourished Living

29 - Yes, You Can Enjoy The Holidays AND Stay Healthy

• Courtney Podany

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The holidays are full of joy, celebration, and connection, but they can also feel like a season of overindulgence with the “I’ll start again in January” mindset. 

In this episode of The Nourished Living Podcast, Courtney shares practical tips and mindset shifts to help you stay on track with your health goals while still enjoying the festivities. 

From Halloween candy to Thanksgiving pie and holiday parties galore, you’ll learn how to navigate this season with balance, consistency, and grace.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Why the “all or nothing” mindset is holding you back—and what to do instead
  • Simple strategies for staying consistent at holiday parties and events
  • How to support your digestion, blood sugar, and energy during big meals
  • Practical tips for managing holiday stress without burning out
  • The importance of balance, boundaries, and giving yourself grace
  • A powerful reminder: you are allowed to say no and set boundaries

Resources & Links Mentioned in This Episode:

If you loved this episode, please share it with a friend and leave a review—it helps more women find encouragement, balance, and support during the holiday season.

Welcome to the Nourish Living Podcast, where I'll be diving deep into nutrition, holistic wellness, and practical tips to help you live your healthiest, most vibrant life. I am Courtney Podany, a nutritional therapist, certified personal trainer, type one diabetic and mom. I'm here to help you take charge of your health with ease and competence. Together we'll explore how to nourish your body, mind, and soul in a way that feels good and sustainable. So grab your favorite beverage. Take a deep breath, and let's get into the episode. I. Welcome back to the Nourished Living Podcast. I am your host, Courtney Podany, and today we are going to dive into a topic that comes up every single year. How do I stay on track during the holidays? You might be thinking, wait, what? We are already talking about the holidays. Well, yes, let's be real. Halloween candy has already been out for a couple of weeks, and I swear once October hits, we start to indulge more, and then as the months go on, the days get shorter and the days are colder. I swear we just throw out all of our hard work with the promise that we will start again in January. But I'm here to tell you that all hope is not lost. I talked about this in an earlier podcast episode, but the all or nothing mindset here is your reminder. You do not need to live in that all or nothing mindset. Your goals do not have to be put on pause until the new year. There's a way to enjoy the holidays, indulge here and there, and still feel good in your body, and without losing progress. Like I have said before, one choice does not ruin everything. If you have some of your kids' Halloween candy or two slices of pie at Thanksgiving, that does not need to mean that you've fallen off the wagon and you just throw up your hands and ditch everything you've been working towards. What matters is what you do consistently. Those daily habits, not the occasional treat. This is 100% about balance and consistency, not perfection. So I wanted to get this out early to catch people to give some tips and tricks to help you with your goals. But really this could apply to anytime you are feeling like you're not seeing any progress or like what you're doing isn't making a difference, or you just feel like you're in a funk. Maybe you've ordered DoorDash every night this week, or you haven't worked out in two weeks. Oh, well that's okay. Pick back up when you can and keep moving forward. Your future self will. Thank you next month because what you do today is setting the foundation for you in one month and just forget about the rest. Stay present, and don't beat yourself up because you weren't quite, you know, quote unquote. Perfect. There is no perfect. And also, this is not necessarily specific to weight loss. You could have any type of goal. I feel like that's just like what people get in their minds or what they hear, what they think when they hear like health goals or goals. But this could be, you know, you just wanna hit your daily water requirement, or you wanna stretch for 20 minutes after dinner or go to a Zumba class three times a week. This goal could literally be anything that you are doing for yourself to feel better at the end of the day. So I've compiled some tips and tricks to stay on track, but also to deal with stress. Unfortunately, this time of year can come with added stress, and as we know, stress can wreak havoc on our digestion and gut health, our immunity, our sleep, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And I don't want that for you. Okay, so let's get started with the tips and tricks for staying on track during the holidays. If you are going to parties or extra events, what have you, if you are going to a party. Eat before. Sounds simple, right? But back in my youth, I used to be the type of person that if a party started at say, 1:00 PM I would literally just not eat anything at all that morning because oh, there's gonna be food at the party. I don't need to eat. Well, now in my old age, I do not recommend doing that. If you do, you'll just eat everything in sight. Once you get to the party, or if you show up and there's no food out at the moment, you're gonna be hangry. You're gonna be cranky, and you're not even gonna have a good time. So please eat beforehand. It doesn't have to be like you eat at 12:30 PM when the party starts at one. In that situation, a breakfast around 9:00 AM would do the trick, and this will just make it easier to be mindful of what you end up eating while you were there. Next, you could offer to bring a dish that you like. That way, you know there's at least one option that will support your goals. And you'll enjoy it. Before I had kids, I would never ask people what they were planning on serving at a party. I would just go in blind and hope for the best. You know, now that I have kids and my daughter is allergic to nuts and she actually used to be lactose intolerant as well. Um, so I would inquire to see. If I would need to bring something for her. So that would give me some insider insight on, what was gonna be served and if I liked it or not. But anyway, if you don't know what's gonna be served and you don't feel comfortable going in blind, you can offer to bring something that you enjoy. You could pack your own snacks. This is actually a great tip, especially if you have a long way to travel. So you know you could eat something on the way to the event. Again, just to kind of avoid this starving situation. And we don't want you showing up at the party starving. Or if you just know that the food that's gonna be there will not agree with you in some way or your goals, you could eat the snacks that you packed for yourself, but regardless of what is being served, aim to always pair protein, fats, and carbs together. I know you have heard me say this before, but it is so important. This combo will keep your blood sugar stable so you have consistent energy levels. Your energy isn't gonna tank a few hours later, and it will help you to feel satisfied, less irritable, and calm, which can be huge during holidays, right? The stress of it all. Eating to support your blood sugar can absolutely decrease the amount of stress you end up feeling. Even if you are in a stressful situation, but you are well nourished, it could make a world of difference. You will also want to stay hydrated. I know sometimes it can be really hard to stay hydrated when you're at other people's houses and you know, you're grazing on food, you're chatting with people, but sometimes, sweet craving could actually be dehydration in disguise. Also though. Staying hydrated and drinking water helps us to regulate our core body temperature. It keeps our mucus membranes moist, which if you remember from the immune episode, that is one of our physical defenses against germs and bacteria. So it'll help keep you healthy, and it also helps to remove toxins and waste and whatnot. So those are also important during the holidays. And if you're able to stay on top of your water, maybe you won't end up eating like quite as much as you would have if you were dehydrated. And lastly, take a walk after eating. Walking after meals helps to keep our digestion moving and assists with our blood sugar control. If your meal was quite carb heavy, a walk will also help to bring your blood sugar back into range naturally. And just one more note on if you feel like you overindulged. I just wanna point out who set that limit? It really is just your perception that you ate too much. So try to give yourself some grace. You were just enjoying yourself, so don't beat yourself up, and please do not eat less the next day to make up for it. Or please do not punish yourself with extra exercise the next day. If you are in some type of exercise routine or workout, just stay on track with what you are doing. You do not need to add in extra cardio or do two workouts that day, I promise. Remember that food is meant to be enjoyed and the holidays are all about connection. So one meal or even one week does not define you or your progress, and here are some tips on managing stress during the holidays. This will help you to ground, stay calm and stay present. Get outside as much as you can. Sunlight and fresh air can make a huge difference. Time block and schedule your workouts and movement. Put them in your calendar like an appointment with yourself. If you have specifically set aside time to move your body, you know, hopefully nothing will get in the way. I know life happens, but try not to dismiss it and really take that time for yourself because you deserve it. And the movement will help you manage that stress and anxiety. You can meditate or journal to help clear your mind, Get those thoughts out of your head that are not supporting you and practice grounding, whether that's barefoot in the grass, deep breathing, or just slowing down. Things start to take on a whole pace of their own around the holidays, which can spiral if you are not intentional about it. And show gratitude daily, even small moments of thankfulness, even small moments of thankfulness shift your perspective. I think sometimes when people think about showing gratitude, they think it has to be these grandiose moments that are. Quite rare, but it really can be as simple as seeing a pretty flower on your walk or a smile from a stranger. There can be gratitude in everything. Okay, and then this is a big one. I want you to listen up, especially if no one else has told you this. You are allowed to say no. Creating boundaries and sticking to them are an act of self-care and will give you so much more peace. And just like with your workouts, it's a promise you are making to yourself. And by sticking to it, you are not breaking that promise. So as we head into the holiday season, remember. It's not all or nothing. You don't have to give up on yourself until January, but you also don't have to be perfect. It's about consistency, balance, and taking care of yourself in ways that feel good, which will be different for everyone. But I hope you can take what resonates from today's episode. Try a couple of these strategies and give yourself permission to enjoy this season while still honoring your health. Those two things can both exist, and if you haven't already, please grab my free affirmations. They are the perfect little extra boost to keep your vibes high and your mindset strong, especially during the holiday season when stress and temptations are everywhere. They are simple, powerful, and will help you stay grounded and intentional no matter what's going on around you. And if you are not already hanging out with me on Instagram, come join me over at Healthy with Courtney. Two Y's. And Courtney, it was previously Nourished Living, but I have updated it to Healthy with Courtney, two Y's in Courtney, and that is where I'll be most active to share daily tips, inspiration, and behind the scenes of how I practice this in my own life. And I would love to connect with you. Thank you for tuning in today. If you found this helpful, please don't forget to subscribe, like, and leave a comment. It helps others who need this message find me, and I appreciate it so much. Thanks for hanging out with me today and tuning into the Nourished Living Podcast. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and found something you can start implementing right away to kickstart your nourished transformation. If you loved this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with someone who could benefit from these insights. You can also connect with me over on Instagram at Nourished Living for more resources and support. Until next time, stay nourished.