Mindful Holiday Eating: 7 Strategies to Stay Grounded Ep 118

Holiday tables can come with love, nostalgia—and pressure. In this short, practical episode, Coach Chris, functional nutritionist, shares seven strategies to help you enjoy the food and feel good in your body: don’t show up starving, hydrate intentionally, plan ahead, say “no, thank you” with love, share your intentions (if you want to), move your body in a way that feels good, and be present.

You’ll learn how to:

• Prevent the “ravenous trap” so you can slow down and taste your food
• Use hydration to reduce mindless grazing
• Plan ahead without being rigid or restrictive
• Set kind boundaries around food (with love)
• Invite support from people you trust
• Reconnect to your body with feel-good movement
• Anchor the whole day in presence—not pressure

Read more here: https://www.theenduranceedge.com/mindful-holiday-eating-7-strategies-to-stay-grounded/

Next week: We’ll go deeper on handling comments, food pressure, and scripts for saying “no, thank you” with love.

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Chapters

• 1:25 Setting Intentions For The Holidays
• 3:06 Avoiding The Ravenous Arrival Trap
• 4:28 Protein And Fiber Snack Ideas
• 5:49 Hydration Habits That Prevent Overeating
• 5:53 Using The Hunger Scale Wisely
• 8:30 Plan Ahead Without Feeling Controlled
• 10:08 Saying No Thank You With Love
• 12:30 Share Intentions And Get Support
• 13:30 Move Your Body For Joy And Calm
• 15:00 Practice Presence And Mindful Eating

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:00

Hey y'all, welcome back to the Find Your Edge podcast. I am your host, Coach Chris Newport, and today we're digging into some holiday strategies for meals and gatherings and all that good stuff so that you can feel connected to both your goals, your values, and what is really meaningful for you. So, because let's be real, the holidays are lovely and fabulous, and also can certainly be a lot. There's family traditions, there's emotions potentially tied to food, there's people who are providing a lot of love, shall we say, through their foods that they're providing you, or you may be providing, and sometimes subtle or not so subtle pressure to just eat a little bit more, to just loosen up or save room for dessert and things like that. So just so you know, none of these things make you a weak human being. It just makes you a human. So today we're gonna talk through practical tools to help you enjoy your holidays without feeling stuffed, without feeling guilty, without feeling restricted or disconnected from yourself and still aligned with your values and your goals. So, biggest one that I see that people make this mistake is that they go into holiday meals, or let's just say it doesn't even have to be a holiday meal. It can be going out to dinner with friends, it can be showing up to a birthday party. It doesn't matter if it's an actual holiday event. But I see so many people who literally show up starving. They're like, I cannot wait to eat. So it doesn't matter what is served, they're just gonna go for it. It's just a massive trap. If you show up ravenous, especially, and I remind my longevity nutrition coaching group a lot about this, we look at their appetite genetics, especially if you are high or very high for your appetite genetics, you have to stay on top of it much more diligently to get that cycle of leptin and ghrelin to participate for you, not against you and your goals. So if you show up super hungry, your brain is gonna go, I don't care what it is, let's let's put it down the hatch. So if you try to have a small balanced meal or a snack beforehand, or just honestly eat beforehand, especially if you know, like, ah, I know I'm not gonna get what are my favorite things at this meal, or maybe you have a certain allergy or food intolerance, maybe you're even eating something before you actually go. So that's totally up to you what version you want to do. But certainly if we can include some sort of protein and fiber, the two magical things that I'm always trying to encourage people to eat. So let me give you some examples. It could be something like Greek yogurt and some berries. So the Greek yogurt being higher in protein and the berries being higher in fiber, it could actually be blending those together and making yourself a nice smoothie. One of my favorites is like eggs and avocado toast. You could have some nuts and a piece of fruit. So whatever it is for you specifically that works best for you to keep you satisfied and keep that hunger scale not tipping too far. So the hunger scale is a scale from one to ten, 10 being that you're absolutely overstuffed, and one being, oh my gosh, I am starving, I can't even stand it. So, can we stay in this like happy four to six most of the time? So if you have a little bit of a snack and that brings you up to four or five, and then knowing that it's gonna take you an hour to get there or two hours to get there or whatever, and by the time you get there to your destination, you're gonna be back at that. Maybe you are up to a six, and now you're down to a four, and like, okay, I could eat a little something, but know that I'm not super starving. So if you can manage your hunger, which is all that normal brain and body response telling you that you need food, you will be more present during the meal and hopefully enjoy it better and be more aligned with your goals. Okay, number two, and y'all, I am gonna have to admit that I am not doing great at this one. I am sitting here recording this podcast and I am not hydrating. Oh, fail. Um, actually, no, I'm not gonna call that a fail. I'm gonna call that being unintentional about hydrating while I am doing this podcast. So I know that for me, hydration is hard. And I know that for a lot of folks, hydration is hard to be intentional and to be mindful about it, especially when you get really deep into something, like you're really having a great conversation with a friend or a family member or whatever, and then you just forget to hydrate. Or let's say you're just running around buying gifts and preparing something to eat that you're actually going to bring to that meal and you forget to hydrate. So that little bit of dehydration can mimic hunger and it can drive you to have some of those mindless snacking and mindless overeating, especially if you go to a situation or go to a place that may have more of a buffet style or a more of like a just, you know, pick at it kind of thing. Because if you're picking at various foods and you're not actually putting it on a plate, we forget about it easily. It becomes more mindless, and then we end up eating more than our overall intention was. And this is something that has been very well researched in terms of asking folks afterwards how much do you think you eat, and then how much they actually ate was definitely more so when there was that sort of just like picking at a little buffet or picking at an appetizer plate, especially if you don't actually put it on a plate. So make sure you are hydrated prior to going into any of these different types of meals. So starting the day off right, make sure to get that water in first thing in the morning, which I did do this morning. So check one for me, even though I don't have water sitting exactly with me. But try to drink throughout the day, not just during the meal. Consider alternating water if you're doing any alcoholic beverages. So alternating water with alcoholic beverage, and make sure that you set an intention if there will be any alcohol involved. How much do you intend to have to consume? And is that supporting and aligning your goals? Not to mention that hydration is really good about supporting your digestion, supporting your energy, supporting your mental clarity, and helps you feel better in your body. All right, here's another one that oftentimes is something that we forget about, and that's planning ahead. So a little preparation goes a long way. Here's what this can actually look like. If you are going out, maybe your tradition is that for the holidays you go out to a restaurant. Know what they're serving before you go. So you can actually sort of plan in your head, like, oh, I know that I love this particular dish, or that I am gonna split this dish with my spouse or partner or whatever. So you can have a look at the menu, you can be a little bit better prepared. If you're going to something that you are maybe cooking something for, maybe you're the person creating the meal, or maybe you're coming to some sort of like a potluck. You can always bring a dish that you feel really good about, and then you know that you like. So this is also great if you have any allergies or intolerances. It's like, okay, I'm just gonna show up with what works for me. And oh, by the way, it's also a delicious meal, and everybody else is gonna enjoy it as well. So that is a great way of planning for yourself to know that you're gonna enjoy the meal and you're gonna feel good about aligning with your goals and with your values. So planning isn't about controlling, it's about sending that message to your future self. It's about caring for that future self and saying, I got you. All right, here's another one saying, no thank you with love. So holiday food often comes with gaining not only weight in terms of pounds, but also emotional weight, especially when someone has made a dish, quote unquote, just for you. So there's some little tips and strategies you can do. Like you can take a small portion, you can split it with a partner or some kids, you can take a bite and truly savor it and then talk about it. And sometimes you can be a little sneaky and move it around a little bit on your plate and give lots of compliments to the chef, if you will. You can also ask to take some home. Now, what you do with it at home is totally up to you. But that will make the food preparer feel really good about themselves and about feeling like they have done something really great. So you can say something like, Oh my gosh, thank you so much. This looks amazing. I am really feeling stuffed right now, but I totally appreciate you. We have a whole episode coming up just focused on that, including scripts for handling things like food pushers and guilt trips and but you've always loved this kind of thing. So stay tuned for that. That one's coming up next week. Another thing you can do is to share your intentions if you feel comfortable about doing it. So you don't need to announce that, hey guys, I'm losing weight or whatever. You don't necessarily have to, or I'm uh leaning into a more of a plant-based diet, or I am whatever. Doesn't matter what the thing is that you're doing. So you don't necessarily have to announce it to the room. But if there's somebody you trust there and you want to express that to them so that they can be more aligned with maybe keeping some of their language aligned with what you need. So here's something that you could potentially say like, I'm working on being more present with how I eat. Can you help me slow down or check in during the meal? People who care about you always want to support you. They just need to know how. So, in that case, if it's somebody who's like super loud, um, maybe that's not a thing to ask them. But maybe if it's somebody who's sitting right next to you and can give you just like a little elbow nudge and or you know, scratch their nose or whatever signal that you guys have for each other to just remind yourself, like, okay, let me just take a pause, let me check in, take a breath. Another thing to remind you of for the holidays is to move your body in a way that feels good to you. This isn't punishment. This is not that you need to earn or burn your Thanksgiving dinner or whatever holiday it is, but to support your mood digestion and nervous system. So this may look like a bike ride. This may look like a turkey trot run with your family. This may look like just going for a walk. This may look like taking a 15-minute yoga session while you're in your room or in a hotel room or whatever. This might mean that you're dancing in the kitchen while you're cooking and like cranking up the music and having some fun with that. So anything that truly brings you back into your body and allows you to move in a way that feels good to you and feels like you. So that definitely matters. And last but not least is working on being present. This is truly the heart of mindful eating. Holiday meals aren't always about food, but they're about connection and memories and laughter and storytelling and belonging. So slow down, take a breath. Do it now, please. It doesn't matter where you are. You can be driving, working out, whatever. Just remind yourself, just take a deep breath. Whew. And then looking around the room and really enjoying your food, not just thinking it of it as like, oh, I have to get it down or I have to actually finish my plate, but really tasting it, enjoying it, and reminding yourself, what is the experience that I truly want to remember at this holiday meal or whatever meal you're at? And let that intuition and let that ability to truly listen to your body guide you. So navigating holiday eating doesn't require rule following or self-control. It just requires a little bit of awareness, a little bit of compassion, and a little bit of intention. So remember, you're not good or bad based on what you eat. One meal does not tip the scales and totally change your health. It's all about consistency. You deserve to feel good in your body and to enjoy the people around you and to enjoy your food. So if today's episode resonated with you, don't forget to share it with a friend who might need the reminder. And again, next episode, we're gonna be talking about how to handle food comments and food pressure and how to maintain some boundaries with kindness and confidence. Thank you so much for being here. I honor you and I appreciate you for being here on the Find Your Edge podcast. Thanks for listening.