The holiday season is a time of joy, celebration, and indulgence. However, many people worry about the potential weight gain that often accompanies this festive time.
We are in the midst of the holiday season, a time of fun, festivities, family, friends, and of course, food, which leave people asking, ‘How are we to manage the holiday season without weight gain?
Well, first let me say this. If you happen to gain weight during the holidays, it is not the end of the world.
And on today's podcast, we're going to talk about how to navigate the holidays without the expected weight gain.
Join Dr. Adrienne Youdim, a triple board-certified internist, obesity medicine, and physician nutrition specialist, as she shares her expert tips and insights on maintaining a healthy lifestyle during this festive time.
What You’ll Learn From Today’s Episode
“If you happen to gain weight during the holidays, it is not the end of the world. “ - Dr. Adrienne Youdim
Connect with Dr. Adrienne Youdim
3 Ways to Get More From Adrienne
1. Subscribe to our Newsletter. Subscribe Now and get the 5 Bites to Fasttrack your Health and Wellbeing https://dradrienneyoudim.com/newsletter/
2. Buy the Book. The current weightloss strategies have failed you. Its time to address your true hunger. Purchase 'Hungry for More' https://www.amazon.com/Hungry-More-Stories-Science-Inspire/dp/0578875632
3. Leave us a Rating and Review via Apple Podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/health-bite/id1504295718
The holiday season is a time of joy, celebration, and indulgence. However, many people worry about the potential weight gain that often accompanies this festive time.
We are in the midst of the holiday season, a time of fun, festivities, family, friends, and of course, food, which leave people asking, ‘How are we to manage the holiday season without weight gain?
Well, first let me say this. If you happen to gain weight during the holidays, it is not the end of the world.
And on today's podcast, we're going to talk about how to navigate the holidays without the expected weight gain.
Join Dr. Adrienne Youdim, a triple board-certified internist, obesity medicine, and physician nutrition specialist, as she shares her expert tips and insights on maintaining a healthy lifestyle during this festive time.
What You’ll Learn From Today’s Episode
“If you happen to gain weight during the holidays, it is not the end of the world. “ - Dr. Adrienne Youdim
Connect with Dr. Adrienne Youdim
3 Ways to Get More From Adrienne
1. Subscribe to our Newsletter. Subscribe Now and get the 5 Bites to Fasttrack your Health and Wellbeing https://dradrienneyoudim.com/newsletter/
2. Buy the Book. The current weightloss strategies have failed you. Its time to address your true hunger. Purchase 'Hungry for More' https://www.amazon.com/Hungry-More-Stories-Science-Inspire/dp/0578875632
3. Leave us a Rating and Review via Apple Podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/health-bite/id1504295718
Hi friends. We are in the midst of the holiday season. A time of fun, festivities, family, friends. Of course food, which leaves my patients asking How are we to manage the holiday season without weight gain? Well, first let me say this. If you happen to gain weight during the holidays, it is not the end of the world.
But on today's podcast, we're gonna talk about how to navigate the holidays without the expected weight gain. Welcome back to Health Bite. I'm your host, Dr. Adrianne. I'm a triple board certified internist, obesity medicine and physician nutrition specialist, and I help people like you redefine nutrition to include not only the food that we eat, but all the ways in which we can nourish ourselves physically.
Mentally and emotionally, and this week we are talking about the holidays and how to maybe circumvent that usual holiday weight gain. So I have some tips for you. Tip number one. Don't go hungry. Now, I tell you, this is something really common. When people are going out to a big meal or expecting a big meal, they tend to kind of fast fasting the whole day so that they can save their calories for the night of or for that special meal.
But this is exactly the opposite of what you should be doing. In fact, what I recommend is carefully planning your meals throughout the day. Not only not fasting, but even considering a protein shake on your way out. Because here's what happens when you fast, when you eat super light all day, in anticipation of that one big meal, you tend to arrive at that meal.
Really hungry. That hunger usually has a life of its own. And then you're behind the eight ball. There is no amount of eating that can satiate your hunger in that moment. And then you end up getting up feeling overly full, bloated, lethargic, maybe even irritable. And so I have an alternate solution. I want you to be really mindful about your food intake on the day or days of the holidays.
Make sure you have really balanced meals and consider even having a protein shake on your way out the door. Why? Because that. One little protein shake may be at a hundred calories and 20 grams of protein is gonna help dampen that hunger so that when you actually arrive at that meal, you can be mindful about your choices and about the food that you choose to consume.
Really enjoying the meal before you, without eating out of ravenous hunger. I. My tip number two is to ditch the all or nothing behavior. So I've said this before, a lot of times our behaviors go together in a basket. I've heard patients tell me things like. I stopped taking the weight loss medication over the holidays or I decided to not exercise or I stopped exercising over the holidays or, you know, I had that week where we were eating really heavy and so I figured I blew it anyway, and I decided to call it quits on all of December and even the first few weeks of January.
We don't have to be all or nothing. And in fact, if we're not, then we can enjoy the indulgences of the holidays without necessarily experiencing the common weight gain. So what I recommend is that you split up, your behaviors split up. Your actions into almost buckets, whether or not you take medications for weight loss, that is its own bucket.
Your exercise routine, that's its own bucket and your food intake throughout the holidays. Even that gets divided up not only into its own bucket, but into multiple buckets. Because what you choose to do the day of the big holiday, or the week of the big holiday, or even the month, does not need to define what you do that entire season.
Take each habit, each behavior, each ritual as its own independent. Variable. As its own thing, and you'll find that again if you choose to indulge over the holidays. Maybe it's a full meal. Maybe it's several meals, maybe it's an entire week or even a month. If you mind your behaviors, your other behaviors throughout that timeframe, you'll find that you can manage the holidays, the food, and the indulgences of the holidays, again, without experiencing the necessary weight gain.
So maintain your behaviors independent of what you choose to eat in that moment of time. Tip number three is when you're sitting at the table, I want you to think about volume. Now, you may. Associate volume with large portions, and they can be large portions of the right things. That doesn't mean that you don't have your pie, that doesn't mean that you don't enjoy your mashed potatoes, but I want you to go big.
On high volume foods that are low energy density. There's actually a whole dietary plan called volumetrics that was coined by a behavioral therapist, and basically what she said is, eat an abundance of high volume foods. Those high volume foods that are low energy density are also. Super replete in vitamins and minerals.
Things like fruits and vegetables tend to nourish you deeply because they are so high in vitamins and minerals and take up a lot of real estate in the gut without the calorie load. And in that way you can feel full. Feel nourished and replete without necessarily going really big on the more calorie, dense, heavy foods.
Now notice. I'm not saying that you shouldn't enjoy or take advantage of the more indulgent foods of the holidays, but what I'm saying is that we don't have to exclusively choose from those either. And if we still focus on a balanced diet. That is high in volume. We can still enjoy the goodies without throwing the towel in on our weight maintenance or weight loss plan.
My next tip is hydration. So there's all these rules out there to drink six ounces. Eight times a day, or eight glasses of six ounces of water, or 64 ounces or 56 ounces. These are all kind of bogus. There really is no number that you need to shoot for, but you do need to stay hydrated. And if you start to feel thirst, thirst is actually a sign that you are already behind the eight ball that you've already dehydrated yourself.
Here's why. Hydration is important when it comes to your physical diet. It's important because. Believe it or not, our hunger pathways and our thirst pathways are so closely linked that sometimes they get muddled up and confused. Believe it or not, sometimes you feel hunger when what you're actually experiencing.
Thirst. So I recommend getting in the habit of drinking regularly, having a water bottle at your side, and just taking sips throughout the day that will help you stay clear and define your signals. Thirst from hunger. Hunger from thirst. So hydration is actually an important tip. Now back at the table, I want you to savor the meal.
Now, if you follow rule number one, which is to not go at it hungry, you are much more likely to savor because when was the last time you savored something when you were famished? I haven't, when we're super hungry, we're just gobbling it down as fast as we can because we are responding to that hyper signaling of the hunger cue.
But when you are slightly satiated, then you're able to really savor the food. Now, I've shared with you before that our mouth is replete with. Taste buds. We have taste buds everywhere, not only on the tips of our tongue and the top of our tongue, but also lining the skin inside of the oropharynx or the mouth.
We have taste buds underneath the tongue. We have taste buds in the skin that lines the soft palate. We even have taste buds at the uvula. That's the little dingly dangly thing in the way back of your throat. And guess what? You even have taste buds in your gut, but we are not able to taste when we don't chew.
So instead of this cockamamie idea of chewing 20 or 30 times per bite, which is quite insane, and actually not. Enjoyable at all. I want you to focus on your taste buds and I want you to focus on savoring the meal, which means that you take slow and small bites. Not only that, but you take time to really distribute the food throughout the mouth so that you can experience that bite of food with all of those taste buds that line all of the areas of the oropharynx.
When you do that, you actually send more signals of. Pleasure to your brain and you actually enjoy the meal more. So really take time to savor the meal. And when it comes to savoring, I don't want you to just savor the meal, but I want you to really take a, a moment or moments to savor the experience.
Chances are it was a day off for you. You were perhaps able to sleep in or ditch some of your normal responsibilities and routines. You certainly didn't have to take the kids to school this morning. Savor the experience of a mini vacation savor, the experience of being around and surrounded by friends and family.
Take some time to really connect with the people around you, because while we tend to culturally hyperfocus on the food aspect of the holidays, there's also a real connection aspect connecting to the people around us now. I know I have a big family and I know that it's not always fun and games and bells and whistles.
I'm gonna ask you to really focus on what's good and disregard or leave behind what isn't. Try and tease out what is really enjoyable about the day, and then make an intentional commitment. To really savor it. And so savoring leads to connection. And connection is not only with one another, but also connection to self.
So take a moment on this special day. During this special time, which marks important holidays, which marks the end of the year, take some time to connect with yourself, connect with how you're doing right now and in this moment. Perhaps it, it's a time that requires a little bit more compassion. Take some time to offer that compassion to yourself.
Think about the year behind you and think about the year ahead, what went well. Perhaps there are things that didn't go so well, and that's okay too. Set your intentions for how you want to position yourself going forward. There certainly is a lot going on in the world right now. Perhaps you wanna take some time to set some intentions for the world around you.
Take some time to connect with your family. Take some time to connect with yourself and take some time to connect with the global community. This savoring practice of connection is a way to nourish yourself beyond the food that you eat. My next tip back at the holiday table is to watch the alcohol. So yeah, this is a time when lots of people are drinking, and even if you're not a regular drinker, it may be a time that you choose to mindfully drink.
During the holidays, and that's okay. Provided that it's a mindful thought. Drinking is one of those things that sometimes in these scenarios can slip, right? It can slip to drinking out of habit. It can slip to perhaps drinking out of. Tension or frustration for what's going on around you. The problem with that is not only is it not mindful and therefore not enjoyable, but of course once we start drinking mindlessly, one can lead to two, two can lead to four, and then when you are slightly tipsy or inebriated.
Then you tend to consume more food too. Not only do you consume more food, but you're not savoring it, you're not mindful of it, you're not truly enjoying it. Another thing about alcohol is that it literally intercepts our hunger hormones. So there are many hormones as we, as we've discussed on this podcast, that manage and navigate your hunger.
One of those hormones is called leptin. You probably have heard of it. It's a hormone that's released by fat cells that signals. Sufficiency or fullness to the brain. And guess what? Alcohol literally intercepts our leptin. So not only do you tend to get more munchy. The day of or in that moment, but you also tend to get muncher in the day or days that follow.
Another way that alcohol interferes with our food intake is via our sleep. We've also talked on this podcast about how alcohol interferes with our sleep. While it makes you sleepy and sedated in the moment, it actually interferes with rem. Impacts the quality of our sleep. And when quality of sleep declines, hunger hormones go up.
So keep in mind that alcohol may be a mindful part of your holiday celebrations. Just remember to keep it mindful. Next tip is. Notice your stress. So again, stress can be good. Stress can be bad. Stress can merely be the excitement of the holiday season. Perhaps you have some stress and excitement about hosting.
Perhaps you have some stress and excitement about the people that you're going to interact with. Perhaps you have a little bit of stress or social anxiety. All of these things are normal, but when we tend to stress, we tend to want to soothe. And what is the easiest, most accessible means of soothing?
Food, of course, especially during the holidays when it's around us in such abundance. Again, I don't wanna steer you away from eating those indulgences of the holidays, of participating in those special family times and those special family recipes, but if you're going to do it, if you're going to indulge, then make it matter.
And we can all agree that when we're eating out of stress, frustration, indignation, we're not savoring, we're not enjoying, we're probably not even really connecting or even realizing in the moment what it is we're consuming. We're too preoccupied, right? So. Try and be mindful. Notice what is driving the food intake, and if you notice that it is stress, or even if you can be so intentional that you notice the stress bubbling up beforehand, then give yourself a timeout.
If you're already in it and you notice that you are eating in a stressed and rushed way while you're in the midst of eating, I. That's okay too. Whenever you notice is good enough and is the right time, give yourself a timeout. Leave or excuse yourself from the table. Consider going into the bedroom or even the bathroom and take three deep.
Breaths. We've talked in the past about how deep breathing can actually turn down or dial back the sympathetic nervous system, and if you are breathing in the proper way, you can actually activate the parasympathetic or rest and relax part of your nervous system. When you do that, your heart rate goes down, your blood pressure goes down.
You are no longer responding to that sympathetic. And your ability to digest also gets enhanced because the sympathetic nervous system actually shuts down digestion. Who needs to digest when you are running from tigers, right? Which is what your body thinks you are doing when you are in a stressful state.
So take a moment to. Rebalance yourself to dial back that stress response to upregulate, that parasympathetic nervous system or parasympathetic response. Not only will you be more mindful and intentional about what you eat, not only will you enjoy that food more, but you will even be able to digest it better.
So watch the stress and navigate it. Before you sit at the table, finally end the meal, right? How often have you finished your meal? Have felt perfectly full, only to find yourself sitting at the table with all of that delectable food in front of you. And so as you talk, you pick, you take another bite, you maybe.
Grab another serving and you continue to the point past fullness. Now you might be overly full, which actually isn't a comfortable state, so what we wanna do is end the meal, right, end it at a point where we are sated, satiated, and comfortable before we get to that point of discomfort. Now I'm gonna tell you something that may not seem logical, but consider stopping yourself before you're full.
Consider stopping yourself at about 80% fullness and just give yourself a moment if you, in fact, after you have paused, still feel hungry. Then you can go back for more. But chances are, if you stop yourself at 80% and pause and give your mind and body an opportunity to communicate, then your stomach and gut has the time to relay the satiety to your brain.
Your brain then will heat that cue, will dial back. The hunger and allow you to stop at a point where you are full sated, but still comfortable. And you know, this is such a difficult thing to do. As I've shared, I come from a Persian Jewish family. We tend to sit around the table for long periods of time, and it's all too easy to dip back in for seconds and thirds and look if it comes from a place of genuine hunger.
Go right ahead. But chances are that it doesn't. And if you indulge beyond your fullness, beyond your satiety, then you get into that point of overly full, that point of discomfort. So save yourself the discomfort and stop early. Now here are some tips to help you do that. Another, another tip I have comes from my culture as well.
We tend to drink tea after dinner. Now what does tea do? Tea or any hot beverage for that matter. Not only does it help with digestion, but the tea is hot, right? So by the time you. Sit down with that warm cup of tea, wait for it to neutralize in temperature so that you can actually drink it slowly. Get through that warm beverage.
You have again, given your body time to recalibrate. You've given your gut time to connect to your brain to catch up to the food that you've ingested. Chances are, once you've gotten through that cup of tea or hot beverage. You realize you are no longer hungry and it's much harder to go back to the table after you've been through or gotten through that cup of tea.
So once you're done, or once you're at 80%, go grab yourself a warm beverage. Maybe a hot cup of tea, maybe even a cup of coffee, maybe even a sparkling water, because that too slows you down enough so that you can appreciate your fullness and keeps you from jumping back in at the table just because. So tho those are my 10 steps of navigating the holidays and the holiday meal without ex excess, excessive overindulgence, and potential weight gain.
But I wanna leave you with this because the most important step is the morning after. What are you going to do the moment after? Because perhaps despite all of your planning and your navigating, and please don't take this podcast or any of my words to suggest that you should be compulsively thinking about your diet.
While you are in the midst of holiday celebrations, but even if you've been mindful, you may find that you kind of went back for an extra cookie or two more than you would've otherwise would. The question isn't so much what has happened. The question is, what are you going to do? The moment after, because chances are that one meal or that one season is not going to throw in the towel on your lifelong health and wellness goals unless you let it.
And how do we let it? We let it by catastrophizing the morning after by making big of it, and by preventing ourselves from. Or having enjoyed the moment and then getting back to our routine. So what I want you to focus on. Is not just the holiday meal or the holiday seasons, but how you plan to approach the moment or the morning after.
And what I'm going to suggest to you is to intend on approaching the morning after with self-acceptance, with self-compassion, and with a commitment to reconnect and redefine your lifestyle habits. Goals and routines because nothing is going to throw in the towel on your goals greater than your catastrophizing of whatever happened during the holidays.
I hope that you have a enjoyable holiday season that you enjoy your friends family festivities. I hope you enjoy. I hope you take some time to do something that you're, you love, perhaps engage in the outdoors and with nature, and I hope that you come out on the other side of this holiday season excited, rejuvenated, and ready for a productive and joyful year to come.
If you love this episode, please share it with someone that you love, and if you would head back over to the app and leave us a review, it would be a great help. I look forward to seeing you here again next week on Health Byte. Until then, sending my love out to all of you. Bye now.