Holiday Health Hacks – Manage Stress, Sugar, and Self-Care with McCall McPherson

Foreign. Holiday season, y'. All, I wanted to provide you a quick check in and some tips and tricks on how to not only survive, but thrive during this holiday season. I know personally and I know my patients often feel stressed, concerned, worried about moving into the holiday season, how they're going to feel during and after the holiday season. Will this completely derail my health? How can I prevent that from happening, happening? And I know it's a stressful time, so I was hoping that we could chat today and I could give you some tools and tips and tricks to move through this season potentially a little bit more successfully. So let's dig in. I pull a lot of this information from my own personal experience and also from my patients. If you guys have been around here for long, you know that I have to work very hard for my health, harder than most people need to work. And my health is sort of this delicate ecosystem that needs to be managed. And when I stop managing it, I have to manage it extra to get back in line. So some things that I personally do and I recommend for my patients to do during the holiday season, a big, big one that for me and so many of my people is, that's helpful, is fasting. So intermittent fasting allows your body an opportunity to keep up with the inflammatory detoxification pathway. Okay. When we are eating, you know, basically from the moment we wake up until shortly before bed, it is really difficult and challenging for our body to keep up with the demand of mitigating inflammation, of dealing with food, of breaking it down, of reading it. It's a lot of work. Our body is working overtime, and often during the holidays, our body is already working in overtime. Okay. So creating some space for your body to catch up and deal with everything that you're kind of putting it through and that we are going through is really powerful. I would be pretty miserable during the holidays if I didn't have fasting as a tool. So I can't encourage it enough. If you can't fast, I will give you another altern alternative that maybe can be helpful for you. But I'll share with you the intermittent fasting regimen that I personally do and I recommend for my patients. So I do not ever recommend for intermittent fasting extremism, especially among women. Okay. Really? I recommend that my patients in general that adopt this lifestyle intermittent fast only four to five days a week. I encourage them to be off of fasting to two to three days a week to give their body a rest, to not stress their body. We are trying to build your physiology up and make it more resilient, not less resilient, by creating more stressors. Right? So what that looks like in a 16 hour fasting window, which is what I generally recommend. It could be 12, it could be 14. Listen to your body and adopt what you feel most comfortable with. And of course always check with your doctor. This isn't medical advice, this is simply education. But you essentially give your body a period of digestive rest. So you try not to raise your blood sugar or insulin substantially during the the 16 hour fasting window, which means you try to keep your food and any beverages that would raise your blood sugar in an eight hour window. Okay? During the holidays especially. But even in general, I don't think you need to get super rigid and dogmatic about when that eight hour window is. I encourage significant flexibility. Meaning? Well, if you're at your sister's house and you all plan to have breakfast, then start your eating window early. Even if you normally fast till 11 or 12, you know, start the eating window early, finish it earlier, or just don't fast that day. Okay? Or if you have a really late dinner planned, cocktails or dinner out, start your eating window later. Or again, don't intermittent fast that day. Let it be fluid and let it be flexible. Let it conform to your lifestyle and what your body is communicating to you. If you wake up really hungry one day, eat breakfast. Right? This is not about being dogmatic and forcing things. This is about intuitively listening to your body while also complimenting it and supporting it and trying not to overwhelm it during an overwhelming time. Okay? So again, four to five days a week, try to eat within an eight hour window. Don't consume anything that raises your blood sugar sugar outside of that window. I do drink coffee in my fasting window. I do it with about a tablespoon of heavy whipping cream and water so that it doesn't have any carbs, any sugar, any protein. Is that a perfect fast? No. Does it work? For me? Absolutely. It's, it's changed my life and I wouldn't be fasting if I couldn't have my morning coffee because that's how I am. So those are my tips for fasting. Even if you don't fast during the year, the holidays are a great way to use an opportunity to support your physiology. If you don't feel like you can fast 16 hours, 14 hours, maybe try 12. 7pm to 7am is a very shortened fasting window. But be strict within those time frames and really work hard to not raise your blood sugar you could also do just digestive rest if you can't quite fast, where, hey, if you drink something, maybe it's, you know, some warm bone broth, some, you know, coffee or warm teas, things that aren't going to be like a salad that require a lot of mechanical digestion. The next tip that I have can also be for people that can't intermittent fast, but they still want a little bit more blood sugar regulation. So, you know, excess blood sugar creates, you know, swings and fatigue and inflammation and. And just. It's not healthy, it's not good. It can even influence our thyroid function. So trying to manage your blood sugar during the holidays is a powerful way to maintain control of your health. Okay? Some easy ways to do that. One is what I call ordering your food. And I always say, I don't mean takeout. I need to find a new term for this. But basically setting up your meals and day in a way that promotes regulated blood sugar. So I recommend starting each meal with protein, okay? Then incorporating in like, fibrous, low glycemic index, vegetables, fruits, things that have a lot of antioxidants and a lot of micronutrients. And then third after that, you incorporate carbs, okay? So you save them for the end of a meal. And what that does is it primes your physiology to not experience wild swings in blood sugar. Okay? If you cannot intermittent fast and you want to try to attain a similar response, a powerful way of doing that is, is ordering your food throughout the day, not just your meals, so that you go to sleep overnight. While we sleep, it is our longest window without raising our blood sugar. We want to harness that, y'. All. So when you wake up, let's start your day, even if it's breakfast and you're not fasting with protein, okay? Lay the foundation of really good blood sugar regulation. Then if you want to incorporate some low glycemic index, micronutrient, dense foods, you can do that at breakfast. Do skip carbs for breakfast. Keep your carbs, keep your sugar for later in the day. Why? Because now we are continuing to have a low blood sugar insulin response through the morning. And guess what? You can do the same thing at lunch. So we are now prolonging again, low blood sugar, low insulin. We are keeping our blood sugar lower longer. We are not exposing our body to excess insulin and sugar, creating inflammation, creating moodiness, creating irritability, blood sugar swings, cravings, et cetera. So do that through lunch, too. Now, you've kept your blood sugar low even though you aren't fasting for a solid 18 to 20 hours, save your carbs and your sugar and your treats and things for dinner time. So again, you eat your protein, you eat your micronutrients, your nutritionally dense foods, and then you layer in carbs at dinner and then you layer in treats so that, hey, you're not intermittent fasting, but you're still keeping your blood sugar as low as possible, as long as possible. If you are fasting, you can incorporate the same trick to even amplify the potential and the power of your fast. Okay, so very, very, very powerful. And it's the opposite because we've always heard, hey, eat your carbs early in the day so you can use them. No, I want you to keep your carbs for your last meal of the day or as low as possible as long as possible. Ordering your food, y'. All, I love it. Can't recommend it enough. Another tip for regulating blood sugar, even if you're not fasting, right? And I didn't realize the true value of this until probably four years ago or so when I put on a nutrisense continuous glucose monitor. And I found if I went for even a 5 minute walk or 10 minute walk after a large meal, my blood sugar increase would reduce anywhere from 30 to 50%. And that is shown in research. So if you can go and walk, your body will burn through that sugar. It won't have the as much of a propensity to store it. It won't be circulating in your bloodstream. You will use it more readily, more quickly, in a more balanced way that will make you less prone to gaining weight, less prone to cravings a couple hours later, less prone to swings in mood, blood sugar, et cetera. Super, super powerful, Very, very easy. Make it a family affair. Let this be a time after you eat that you can connect with your kids, that you can connect with your family members, that you can go deep and talk and not be watching TV or staring at your phones so you don't always have to think about it as like a solo experience. Invite someone to go with you because they need it as well, right? We all need to not be cranky after we eat a lot of carbs and sugar with our loved ones. And hey, if this gets us there and gets us through the holidays, even just a little bit, I'll take it. Another one. Hydration. So y' all drink water. Do not go into a room without your water bottle, okay? Just keep filling it up, keep drinking it, keep hydrating. This cuts down on cravings. It cuts down on irritability. It allows your body to deal with inflammation in quicker way. Right. We are flushing our detox pathways and we are keeping them moving. All right. Couple other things that I always think about with inflammation. Right. And I don't want to rigidly turn you against certain food groups. My goal in this conversation is not, hey, I want you to spend your whole holiday season gluten and dairy free. That is not what I want for you. If that's what you need, do it. But I want to give you tools and tips that you can use irrespective of your diet. Right. Intermittent fasting is not going to limit what you're eating, but it will promote the ability for your body to detox from whatever food you're eating a little bit more quickly. Okay. Priming your holiday season with intermittent fasting before you go to your sister or mom's house is great. Even if you don't do it while you're there. Wrapping up the holiday season when you come home with intermittent fasting in these tools is a great way to detox on the back end as well. Okay. One other tip I want to talk about in this sort of category is if you know you're going to have a treat, eat protein first. Like if you know you're gonna have pie in 30 minutes, eat a hard boiled egg, a deviled egg, do just prime your body with a little bit of protein because think of it as additive. Right. Don't think so much going into the holidays that you have to restrict, restrict, restrict. I want you to think more about what can I do to support healthy blood sugar, healthy blood sugar response, even if I am going to eat apple pie. So priming your body 15 to 30 minutes with protein before you have a treat is again, a very powerful way to manipulate your blood sugar. Go for a walk after you have a treat, a very powerful way to manipulate your blood sugar. Okay, let's stay in the conversation about the holidays right now. Like we'll talk about detoxing the after in a moment. But right now let's talk about a couple other dynamics that tend to come into play in the holiday season. One is how do I balance my family's expectations of me during the holidays? How do I balance my own self care during the holidays when I feel like my family requires a lot of me and someone asked me this specific question in social media and I can relate. I, I grew up in a situation where I felt like I could never quite do enough, could never be present enough to make my family members happy. And at any time I would do anything for myself, I would feel that strain and it's hard. Like it's not easy. But I think setting expectations up front is a powerful way. It's, it's an empowering way for you to manage that situation and also manage the expectations of others. Like, oh my gosh. Good morning Mom. I'm so excited to help you cook and bake and prepare for today. I can't wait to spend this time with you. Let's put on some Christmas music. Let's do it. I will be available to do that right after I wrap up my morning routine. That'll and it will probably take me until about 10am But I'll be back and ready to go. If you know, please send me a list of anything that you can think of that maybe I can help with then starting then, right? So you don't feel like you have to dance around this awkward situation. You also set a time where people can know they can count on you and then you have a deadline, right? There has to be a give and take. It can't be, well, I'm going to go do my self care routine. I'll be back when I'm back. Don't. You can't count on me to participate and do anything because who knows when that'll be over. But you can allot yourself a certain amount of time, set those expectations that you'll be available at a certain time to help and participate and you can't wait. And I think that that is fair, right? Another way, if you feel the tug and war of your family expectations of you spending time with them all the time, but you don't feel like you can get in your self care, try to incorporate them into it, right? If it's a morning walk, invite your sister, invite your mom. If it's a walk after dinner, again, invite them to participate with you. If it's a yoga class, maybe ask if they want to come. Not only does that make them feel included, but it also gives them the expectation that you will not be available until yoga class is over. Would you like to come with me to a yoga class tomorrow at 9am? I'd love to do it with you. It ends at 10 and we'll be back about 10:15. And then again they know that they can count on you at that time. So I know that that is especially challenging for people pleasers, people that kind of grew up in this dynamic of what I have to offer is never enough. But it is okay y' all to set your Boundaries. It is okay to take care of yourself. It is okay to ask your mom or husband to keep your children so that you can take care of yourself. Why? Because moms are the glue that holds families together. And when we feel fractured, disconnected from ourselves, feel inflamed, feel tired, that actually impacts our whole family right through the holidays. Whereas if we. We show up for ourselves an hour a day, or an hour and a half, and that allows us to show up in a better way for our family, that actually impacts, honestly, pretty much everyone in our family's experience of the holidays in a positive way. We are the people that set the tone for our family. And if we can't care for ourselves, if we can't go to bed early, if we can't go for a walk, that impacts everybody in a negative way. So claim it, mamas. I sure will. You know, I absolutely will. It's okay to get help, arrange for help, arrange a babysitter. It's okay to do all of those things so that you're able to better take care of yourself because you're. Then you're better able to care for your family. Let's talk about one other tool to de stress during the active, like, holiday season. And you guys know I have been on a de stressing mission after my daughter's health took a decline and looking at literally any way that I can to de stress. One of my favorite ways that I found is the new calm app. Nu calm app. They have a free week trial. I don't have an affiliate code or anything. Maybe I'll try to get you guys one at some point. Um, I'm a paying subscriber myself, but it is fascinating. So when I notice, for me, especially when I'm very stressed, when my nervous system is. Is in an intense situation or season, I cannot meditate, y'. All. I can try all I want, and it doesn't happen. I can try every day for a month, and I will not go into a meditative state for any duration of time. That is useful. New Calm really changed that for me. So it's an app that you put on headphones and ideally a little eye mask. So get those things because they actually really do make a difference. And it plays music. But behind the music, what's happening is like this form of sound therapy that takes your brain with waves from this really intense stress state of firing, and it slowly escorts them into a more calm, more zen brainwave state. Passively, like, you don't actively really have to do anything. You just listen to the Music and even my husband, who is so resistant to all of those meditation, anything like that. He's like, wow, within like two minutes I was. Felt like I was asleep. That's what he relates like relaxing and meditation to is like, it feels like I was almost asleep. And it works like I tell patients about it at least several times a week. It really is a powerful tool. So. And it takes like anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. You can do it for longer as well, but do that a couple times a day. If you're in a really stressful situation with your family and or it's just a stressful season for you during the holidays, cannot recommend it enough. New calm. Again, they have a totally free trial that you can try and see if it works. They also have different. Like you can do an energy one or a focus one, you can do a relaxation or recovery one, et cetera. So those are some tips and tricks post holidays, y'. All. I just came home from a trip this weekend. I felt so incredibly inflamed because again, I am a little canary in the coal mine. Any little thing throws off my body and it takes me days and days and days to recover. So these are some of the tools that I use to recover after holidays, after vacations, et cetera. Intermittent fasting, you could have guessed, but some different. Water, right? Flushing the toxins out of your system, moving them at a faster rate is key. So hydrating in order for you to flush them is an important part of this. Again, do not go from room to room without your water bottle. Some other ones though, dry brushing, moving your lymphatic system or moving my lymphatic system is a very important way for me to feel back to normal as quickly as possible. Dry brushing, sauna. I am fortunate enough to have a sauna at my house. I bought it during COVID because it's such an important thing for me and I could no longer go. But there's a lot of places where you can just go use a sauna for a flat fee. Can't encourage it enough. Your gym, etc. Again, flushing that water out. If you can't access a sauna, things like detox baths and you can easily look up a recipe. But it's like combining Epsom salt, like a cup of Epsom salt, a cup of sea salt, a half a cup of baking soda, all in a very hot bath, as hot as you can tolerate. And submerging your body as much as humanly possible is a powerful way to promote detox. Okay. And there's Other recipes too little flares and nuances that you can find online. Love detox baths. I also love castor oil packs and that's a cheap, cheap way to support your detoxification at home. The Goodbye company is a great place to start. They use organic castor oil. They have a pack for your liver, for your thyroid. I love them. I will link them here in the show notes. I'd love to actually have them on a podcast at some time too, to share with you guys, but that's the one that I use. Can't recommend it enough. And lymphatic massages. I am a sucker for a lymphatic massage and I mean the kind that manipulate my lymph. Personally, I don't love lymphatic massages where you go and they just barely touch you and they're like, okay, you're good. No, like I have fluid built up in my system that I need you to physically manipulate and move along. Okay. So I love Brazilicious. Josie Rushing is the person that started that. I know it's a cute name, but she actually trains other massage therapists in her method of lymphatic massage. Can't recommend it enough. It's the Brazilian model of lymphatic massage. I love it. So you can even search often to to find a provider that has been trained by Josie Rushing of Brazilicious Lymphatic Massage. I've been going to them since 2020. Love it. So those are some of my favorite ways. You can even do like a detox tea, a liver support supplement. I love vital nutrients. Liver support supplements. I'm taking them right now after my weekend. Dandelion tea. So dandelion tea, detox tea in general every night, right? Just a little way to hack away at the inflammation, etc. All the last thing I wanted to say is, you know, to combat inflammation, antioxidants are powerful at doing that. Things like glutathione. Okay. Things like nad. True Niagens. Nad. You guys know that I love this. The first thing I did when I came home from this weekend was take nad. Just a general antioxidant is another powerful way. Ask the xanthan green tea extract. Like just even a blend of antioxidants, things that you can do to combat inflammation little by little along the way through the holiday season are also very powerful. So I hope this has been really helpful. I wanted to just make sure I don't. I asked on social again, like ask me anything about these questions. So I'm going to see if anyone else wrote any other questions I haven't already answered. Okay, couple others rapid fire questions from social that people asked on this topic. Someone wrote nervous system is burnout, stress, grief, etc I can relate to this so much. Because of my daughter my nervous system was just incredibly fried. I was sleeping two to three hours a night. So I'll share with you some things that I did whenever I was in the peak of this situation and life seemed very very heavy and I was not equipped. Protein, protein, protein, protein. Sometimes our nervous system is so fried that you couldn't eat yet you have a hard time eating. And that was me. So when I ate and when I eat now, even still I make it count. Protein micronutrients fuel your body Salt put. I even recommend my patients put a quarter teaspoon of water in in of good salt like pink Himalayan salt, Redmond salt in water twice a day to fuel your adrenals to fue just your micro minerals, those types of things. Put down your phone and read a book. So instead of when you have the opportunity to rest and restore, instead of picking up your phone that does not really allow our body to rest and restore, pick up a physical paper book. Seriously, this got me through this season. New calm. Absolutely. Like I tried so many various things. Nucalm was a game changer for me. I also think soma vetic, you'll have to look it up. It's really interesting. It changed my sleep. I was not sleeping at all, hardly at all. And it absolutely re regulated and restructured my sleep patterns. So those are some tips and tricks for you. I'm sending you so much love when you can rest, rest. If your body's asking you for a nap and you have the capability to say hey mom, hey husband, can you watch the kids for an hour while I go sleep? To do that you have to rest your way out of nervous system burnout, not work yourself out of it. So please, please try to do that. Alcohol pressure. You know, I have kind of been experiencing this as well in in slight degrees because my system was just so fried over the summer I couldn't tolerate alcohol. And so what I would do is simply not say anything like I wasn't going to drink. But if I did have a drink, I would take a couple sips and then just kind of casually set it down. Even on work trips and then if I get a refill or they bring me another drink, I'll take another couple drinks and I'll just casually leave it behind, you know, or if I got a drink Like a margarita, I would put the smallest amount of tequila in it and the largest amount of soda water and then just keep refilling with soda water. Or just say, oh, yeah, I'm. I'm okay for now. I might. In a little bit, I might have another drink. For me, it's always easiest to say, or have a drink. For me, it's always easiest to say, not overtly, that I don't want to drink any alcohol. Because sometimes people get triggered by that. And I'm just like, I'd rather not go into it, Just simply, oh, I'm good for now. I'll grab one in a little bit. And then they probably never think about it again because they're enjoying their own wine and they don't think about how much you are or not enjoying wine yourself or a margarita or whatever. So that's kind of my thoughts on the alcohol piece. But it is hard and it does take a toll on our body, I notice, especially if I drink for a few consecutive days, even a small amount. Like, on my trip over the weekend, I hardly drank anything, but I did drink a drink or two in the evenings, and I felt it. Like, I feel that a lot. So I completely respect, you know, not wanting to do that. I always end up sick, and with a migraine, my body cannot handle it all. I completely understand. Like, I leave these situations feeling horrible, too. So I'm hoping that some of these tools can help you navigate this and leave with less of a migraine, less sick, that kind of thing, because I get it. So this was fun, y'. All. I hope that you learn something. I hope that these tools are empowering for you to take with you on your holiday journey this week and beyond, and use them for Christmas, for New Year's, for vacation, for all of it. But I'm sending you lots of love this holiday season. I hope this is supportive, and I can't wait to see you back in 2025.