Marcelle Pick recommends planning holiday meals weeks ahead, bringing vegetable plates and large salads to events, and sticking to quick recipes under 30 minutes. Keep walking and yoga in your routine, take a multivitamin, and start prep before Thanksgiving to avoid weight gain and hormonal problems that can linger for months.
Are you trying to figure out what you're going to do for the holidays? I have so many patients coming in to see me that are starting to say, what am I going to do for food over the holidays? People are already thinking about it. I'm Marcel Peck, best selling author and women's health expert. And I want to tell you I'm starting to think about that myself. So I live in Maine and the trees are starting to turn. I'm starting to notice I've got leaves everywhere. I'm thinking this weekend about how am I going to start blowing those bloody leaves off my lawn and my driveway. But I'm also starting to think about how am I going to hunker in for the winter. It's kind of funny how I do that. I'm starting to paint a room upstairs. I've got some chalk paint so I can paint some of my favorite materials and I can put them in my new room that I'm getting done. And I think that's what we do as women. We start to kind of hunker in for the winter, especially when we're in the Northeast. But what are we going to do about the holidays? I have a weight loss program and what my patients are finding is they're starting to worry about it now. And here's what I would suggest that we do. Think ahead, plan ahead. I've got my kids coming for Christmas. I'm already starting to think about what am I going to prepare, how am I going to have it all organized so I can have as much time with them as possible. If I go out and I go to different activities and I'm invited out to dinner, I actually will bring some things myself that I know, like a vegetable plate, or I might bring a fruit plate, or I might bring a huge salad with a vegetable dish as well. So I know that I'm going to be getting that as an option for myself so that I can still stay healthy in this whole regime. Now the reality is we have holiday parties and we indulge, that's fine. But what I find so many people doing is they start now or towards Thanksgiving, which is only three or four weeks away, and then they continue until January and then they come to see me and they're feeling horrible. So now's the time to start planning ahead for it. So what are we going to be doing in regards to even food? And I'm starting to notice I want more soups, I want more kind of bulky things. So look for some recipes. The great news for all of you is you have access to everything. Now, if we think about even 35 years ago, we didn't have the Internet. We couldn't look up recipes, we couldn't look up ideas. Now we can get food and menus that are 30 minutes or less to prepare. So start thinking about that in that regard. And also, what about self care? Oh, yeah, self care. So many of us, including myself, we forget because we're doing so many other things. We've got kids in all kinds of sports this time of year. We're starting to think about the holidays, we're starting to think about relatives. We're kind of trying to plan it all. And then we've got the holidays, Hanukkah and Krist coming up. So be aware that all of that prevents you from doing self care that, as I've talked about so many times before, can cause hormonal dysregulation, can cause adrenal issues, and so many other things that cause health problems. So I'm going to be urging you in the newsletters that I write and also the conversations that I have with you, either in the newsletter or in person. Please be aware that you also have to do things for yourself. And maybe it's just that walk that you take. Maybe it's saying no more often in this year. Maybe it's an exercise regime. Be prepared. We've got lots of time now to be preparing ourselves. It's a little late the week before Thanksgiving to be thinking about this. Now's the time to be hunkering under to say, what can I do for me? What kind of food plans can I have ahead for myself? While I'm not feeling so stressed out, maybe I even start thinking about some of the holiday things now so I'm a little bit more prepared. All of this has enormous benefits for you. And what can you also do for your exercise regime? Is it yoga? How can I plan that into my program? Is it walking? Is it running? Is it treadmill? Is it using a trainer? Do I have a stretching regime? All of these things make a difference. And also, are you creative? Then do some crafts that make you really happy and find time to be with your family. Because honestly, that is something that will never, ever be able to be given back to you. So please pay attention to yourself. Give yourself the gift of nutrition, nutrients, get on a good multivitamin and also take care of yourself. Now's the time to start.
