HSOS #22: Grace Over Guilt: A Christmas Day Reminder for Women Over 40

 This Christmas Day episode is a permission slip wrapped in grace. It lets go of the idea that food needs to be earned, reminds you that one day never defines your health, and encourages presence over perfection when it comes to eating, drinking, and simply being human. It also makes space for grief during the holidays and offers a gentle peek at a more grounded, consistent way forward in the new year without the January reset chaos. 

Let’s talk.

Welcome to Her Season of Strength—where women over 40 reclaim their bodies, their energy, and their voices, without apologies. I'm Kim Duffy—registered dietitian, personal trainer, mom, and your biggest hype woman when it comes to aging like you mean it.

This show isn’t about chasing skinny or counting wrinkles. It’s about building real strength—physical, emotional, and hormonal. Each week, I’ll share straight-talking nutrition tips, sustainable fitness strategies, and conversations that help you feel powerful in your skin once again.

Menopause is not an ending, it is only the beginning. This is your season of strength.

What Kim Covers: 

• A Christmas Day permission slip, no rules required
• Why food doesn’t need to be earned (yes, even today)
• Presence over perfection with holiday eating and drinking
• Breaking the all-or-nothing guilt spiral
• When Christmas feels heavy and making space for grief
• A gentle reminder that January doesn’t need a reset
• A sneak peek at building consistency with Strong in 21
• Link to Episode 18: "Holding Grief, Finding Strength: Caring for Your Body in a Heavy Season"

Links & resources for this episode:

Fit After 50 Plus Program: 8-Week Nutrition Coaching & Fitness Program for women 50+. Next session starts winter of 2026. Join the interest list today for the best bonuses and discounts offered.

Free cheat sheet: "20 Tips to Crushing Menopause"

Join my free weekly newsletter list and get a new high protein recipe sent to your inbox every Thursday.

Find me on social media: Instagram I Facebook I Tiktok

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hi there, and welcome to her season of Strength, where women over 40 reclaim their bodies, their energy, and their voices, without apologies. I'm Kim Duffy, registered dietitian, personal trainer, mom, and your biggest hype woman. When it comes to aging like you mean it, this show isn't about chasing skinny or counting wrinkles.

[00:00:20] It's about building real strength, physical, emotional, and hormonal. Each week, I'll share straight talking, nutrition tips, sustainable fitness strategies. And conversations that help you feel powerful in your skin. Once again, menopause isn't an ending. It's only the beginning. This is your season of strength.

[00:00:39] Hello and welcome back to Her Season of Strength. And if you're listening to this on Christmas Day, I just wanna start by saying how glad I am that you're here. Maybe you're listening, while the coffee's brewing, the house is still quiet. Or maybe you stuck away for a few minutes of peace and quiet or maybe you're in the car heading somewhere that brings [00:01:00] a mix of excitement.

[00:01:01] And maybe a few complicated feelings. So wherever you are today, you're welcome here. This episode, it's not about nutrition rules, it's not about macros or workouts or getting back on track. Today's about permission. Permission to en to enjoy today without guilt, permission to let go of that idea that you need to earn your food and permission to simply be present.

[00:01:27] Exactly as you are, because Christmas day is one day. One day outta 365, and you are allowed to enjoy it. So let's start with something. That shows up for so many women this time of year, the idea that food has to be earned somewhere along the way. A lot of us learned that if we wanted dessert, we needed to work it off afterwards or maybe starve ourselves beforehand in order to actually deserve it or be able to enjoy it.

[00:01:57] And if we plan to drink later, [00:02:00] maybe we decide we have to eat less earlier. And if we enjoyed ourselves too much, we'd have to pay for it later with. Cardio or exercise or I don't know what, and I wanna say this clearly, especially today, you do not need to earn your food. Food is not a moral issue. It's not a reward for being good, and it's not a punishment for being human.

[00:02:26] Christmas dinner does not require a workout beforehand. Cookies don't need a justification. A glass of wine does not me mean that you've failed anything. Your body doesn't keep score like that. I often ask myself and my clients this question, where did I learn this rule? Most of the time, it didn't come from our bodies.

[00:02:47] It came from years of diet, culture, messaging from the idea that control equals health and enjoyment equals weakness. And honestly, that mindset is exhausting. [00:03:00] What if today wasn't about control at all? What if today was about presence? Now I wanna be really clear here. Letting go of guilt does not mean throwing mindfulness out the window and binging on everything all day long until you are, feeling sick.

[00:03:17] Mindful eating doesn't mean perfect eating it just. It doesn't mean slow silent bites with no distractions and zero joy. It means just being somewhat aware of what you're eating, what you're enjoying, aware of how your body feels and aware of when something tastes really good and when it doesn't anymore.

[00:03:37] And today may look different than your usual routine meals might be. Later, portions might be bigger. There might be foods that you don't normally eat that's okay. One day does not undo your health. One day does not erase your habits, and one day does not define the kind of woman you. So let's touch briefly [00:04:00] on alcohol 'cause this is another big guilt trigger during the holidays.

[00:04:04] If you choose to have a drink today, that does not mean that tomorrow needs to be punishment. It does not mean you blew it, and it definitely does not mean you need to start January angry at yourself. And if you choose not to drink, that choice is just as valid. The problem is rarely the food or the drink itself the problem is that all or nothing thinking that comes afterwards.

[00:04:27] Today, the goal is not about perfection, it's choice without shame. Okay? Remember that choice without shame. I also wanna acknowledge something important here. For some of you, Christmas doesn't feel light or joyful. And it might feel heavy. There may be someone missing this year, an empty chair at the table, a relationship that feels strained, or maybe you just feel off and you can't explain why.

[00:04:51] If that's you, I see you. I'm here. Food and alcohol, they often show up differently when grief is present. And sometimes they [00:05:00] comfort us. Sometimes they numb us. Sometimes they just help us get through the day. And that doesn't make you weak. It makes you human. So if this season feels especially heavy, I want to gently point you towards my episode 18 of the Her Season of Strength podcast.

[00:05:20] It's called Holding Grief, finding Strength, and Caring for Your Body in a He Heavy Season. Because I created that episode because I also, have grief during the holidays. I'm missing my youngest child. My, my daughter, she would be 26, turning 26 here on just coming, Monday, December 22nd.

[00:05:40] So I know that you're gonna be hearing this, or this'll be, this episode will be coming out on December 25th and I always record a week beforehand. And yeah, so Monday is my youngest, my baby's birthday, and yep, she would be 26 years old. Crazy to think she's been gone [00:06:00] for 13 years. Whew. Time flies.

[00:06:04] So just I just want to let you know you moms who are missing kids, even, moms missing, parents missing. Siblings, whoever you're missing animals. That episode that I created, it's there to support you when when strength doesn't look loud or productive, but quiet and compassionate.

[00:06:23] So when caring, when you're caring for your body, it means meeting yourself where you are, not where you think you should be. And as we start to wrap up the year, I know what's coming, the January noise, the resets, the cleanses, the detoxes, the messages telling you that December needs to be undone.

[00:06:42] And I want you to hear this now before that craziness, that noise, that chaos gets loud. You don't need a reset. You need a foundation. Okay. After January 5th, I'm gonna be sharing more about a prog a program that I've been working on here this week. It's called Strong [00:07:00] in 21, and I wanted to make something that wasn't about, that the resets wasn't about that diet or that restriction mindset.

[00:07:10] It's not about extreme, but it's. It's more about let's just work on consistency. Let's work on creating a foundation so that the one day off is gonna make no difference. You just hop back right on the next day that it's consistent, it's realistic, it's sustainable, and that is the key to something becoming a habit.

[00:07:33] And it's, I wanted to create this program to be the opposite of the January punishment thinking. 'cause, strong in 21, it's not about fixing yourself, it's just about building habits that support your health and your life heading into 2026 without burning you out in the process. Stay tuned and I'll share more information on the next episode about that.

[00:07:53] And I'll have probably a link, to to go and check it out and just read more about it. I think you'd be really surprised at the [00:08:00] cost. Not in a bad way. In a good way. So more on that soon. No rushing, no pressure. So if you take one thing from my little shorty episode today, I want it to be this, you don't need to earn your food.

[00:08:14] One day does not define your health. Grace is part of wellness and it's so important. Presence matters more than perfection. So I hope today brings moments of connections and rest and maybe even some joy. And if it doesn't, I hope you give yourself permission to feel exactly how you feel. Thanks for spending part of your Christmas day with me.

[00:08:39] And if this episode resonated, I'd love for you to share it with a friend who might need a little permission today. Feel free to give me a rating or a review because that just is just gonna help other women to find me who need to hear these messages. And I always love hearing from you in messages or on social or even emailing me at info@strengthennutrition.com.

[00:08:59] I'm [00:09:00] wishing you a peaceful and a meaningful Christmas. Remember, this is about progress over perfection, and we're in this for the long haul. This is your season of strength. Have a Happy Holidays!