Preparing for Thanksgiving

The holiday season is here and it is a beautiful time of the year. It is filled with friends, family and a ton of food! So when you are trying to eat healthy, how do you stay on track at this time of year?

If you are eating healthy and have been working hard, you do not want to ruin it with tempting foods that are going to leave you feeling awful. At this time of the year, people start getting sick and it is called the “Cold and Flu” season. It really is not Cold and Flu season, it is low vitamin D level and sugar season. I say this because we tend to not be outdoors as the months get colder, so we are not getting sun on our skin. By not getting sun on our skin, our Vitamin D level drops. When our Vitamin D level is too low, our immune system is not functioning the way it should.

Sugar is the norm from Halloween through New Years and then in January everyone wants to eat healthy and lose weight. Why do we do this to ourselves? I have been guilty in the past of doing this every single year. We tell ourselves that this in normal because everyone is doing it. You do not have to fall into this trap! Let’s change the way we go into this holiday season!

If you have been following me you know that I feel the Keto and Carnivore are the best ways to eat (If you are interested in learning to start these ways of eating the healthy way, reach out to me). My reason for this is because it is the lowest inflammatory way to eat, and you are not spiking blood sugar since you are eating little to zero carbs. This way of eating sometimes scares people because they feel it is very limiting. That could not be farther from the truth. I could go on and on about why this way of eating is best, but I will save that for another day! There are ways to eat this healthy way of eating while enjoying all your favorite things!

My biggest tip for not diving into all the unhealthy foods is to make your own stuff to share with everyone. If you make your own goodies in a healthy way, then you are staying on track and you are showing others how you can eat healthy and not sugar up!

Making healthier holiday treats is easy! Use alternatives like Monk fruit, Stevia or Allulose for sweeteners. Use almond flour or coconut flour instead of wheat flour. Make your own dips and sauces so that you aren’t gettiing added sugar and seed oils. When you cook your own stuff you can control the ingredients!

Movement is another good way to support your body during this busy time of year. We are busy and stressed at this time of year which decreases our immune system. By making sure you move your body and do some sort of physical attivity most days, you will increase your immune function.

Easy things to do are walking, even on chilly days. Strength training is a wonderful thing to do because you can fit it in with whatever time you have, if you have 5 minutes or 30 minutes, you can do this! Yoga is another thing you can do, for 10 minutes or an hour! It is movement along with stress reduction. Movement helps with stress, and we need to magage stress during this time of year as well.

Finding a way to manage stress is critical to immune function as well! We cannot remove the stress, but we can control how we manage it. Pray, meditate, read, walk, whatever works for you, do it!

Making sure that your body is on point especially during this season is important because who has time to get sick???

Top tips for this holiday season:

-Do not eat sugar! Make things with Monk fruit, Stevia or Allulose

-Swap out White flour for coconut flour or almond flour to reduce your carbs

-Make your own sauces, dressings and dips to cut added sugar and seed oils

-Get at least 7-9 hours of sleep each night

-Move! The more you exercise and move, the better your stress will be managed and the more your immune system will function properly

-Get out in the sun daily! Even when it is cold. You need sun-this also helps with any seasonal mood issues

-Stay hydrated with quality water.

-Try not to drink alcohol! No one llikes this one, but alcohol is a huge inflammatory and can cause dehydration

-Find a way to manage stress! You cannot remove all stressors, but you can manage your response so that it does not effect your health. Find what works for you

-Take supplements as needed. You can supplement things like Vitamin D, Vitamin C, melatonin (supports the immune system), Zinc, digestive enzymes and Quercetin. These are just a few that can support the immune cells.

-Using some nasal saline spray or X Clear nasal spray after being in public or around someone who is sick is a good way to prevent illness

-Limit caffeine! We tend to increase caffeine at this time of year because we have so much to do, but it does dehydrate you and that can affect the immune system

-If you are going out to a restaurant, plan ahead! Look up the menu beforehand and prepare what you will order. Ask for them to prepare things in a specific way, most places have no problem with this.

-Eat a little protein prior to going out also so that you are not starving and will not be tempted by unhealthy foods

Doing these things on a regulare basis will help you feel good, and stay on point while trying to get it all done and support your immune function.

Don’t forget to enjoy the people you are with and enjoy the moments of this holiday season. We tend to be so stressed that we do not take time to cherish these moments. Living is about taking joy in the moments that are meaningful! So enjoy food (healthy of corse!), laugh, enjoy the moment that someone opens a gift you are giving them, enjoy the magical moments with the little kids, take in all the decorations and lights, just take it all in and enjoy it! Doing this is good for the soul!

Keto Fudge

-1/2 cup Heavy Cream

-1 cup no sugar Chocolate chips (Lakanto or Lilly’s)

-1/4 cup Lakanto Confectioner’s monk fruit

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and use a double broiler. Melt and stir until all ingredients are mixed together.

Line a small 8x8 dish with parchment paper (use brown because white parchment is bleached)

Pour the mixture in the pan and put in the fridge until solid. Cut into pieces and enjoy!

Do not stress over being perfect! None of us do everything perfectly! Making choices towards optimal health are important, but the stress of being 100% perfect with it all is not good. If you eat something that you regret later, just remember…tomorrow is another day to keep working at it

Enjoy!