The holiday season is packed with celebrations, family gatherings, and delicious food! For most, it is also accompanied by some stress around maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Our OrthoHealth team at Illinois Bone and Joint is here to help keep you feeling your best so that you may enjoy the holiday and stay healthy.
Read on for great advice from our OrthoHealth metabolic health physician Inbar Kirson, MD, FACOG, Diplomate ABOM.
Celebrate with Nutrition in Mind
Planning and Preparing helps us stay on track, but even the best laid plans can be derailed. With so many temptations including tasty treats and delicious meals, having a plan ahead of time can make a big difference. Here are three easy tips to help you minimize the impact:
- Try to avoid going to the holiday party/dinner hungry. Have a small protein snack about 20-30 mins before the event to dampen the hunger signals so that you can make better choices at the event. Try having a cheese stick, or a handful of nuts, maybe drink 1/2 a protein shake or have a half apple with some peanut butter.
- If there is a buffet, serve all your food onto your plate before you start eating. This will help your brain visualize and register the food you are eating and help trigger the satiety signals to help you feel full. Grazing from a buffet bypasses the fullness trigger in your brain
- Eat in the order of protein and vegetables first and leave the carbohydrates for last. By eating your protein first you are providing your body with the most important nutrient it needs and you are helping your brain turn off the hunger signals. This can help you avoid overeating and feeling too full later on.
Cook in Advance and Prep Your Body with Protein
Hosting guests can be hectic, but you can take some weight off your shoulders by preparing food a day or two in advance. Freeze and refrigerate your dishes respectively. If you're headed to someone else's house for your holiday dinner, don't go there hungry; break your fast that day with protein to jumpstart your metabolism.
"Many of us try to fast the whole day to ‘save room' for the anticipated delicious holiday meal, however, this is not the best strategy if you are trying to avoid the extra pounds," says Inbar Kirson, MD. "Making sure you have a protein meal for your first meal of the day will jumpstart your metabolism and prevent you from being super hungry before you arrive at dinner, as well as help to curb the impact of the tempting holiday food."
Protein is the building block of muscle, and muscle drives our metabolism. In addition to turning on our muscles and metabolism, protein has other very helpful properties, including making us feel fuller longer, reducing the need for snacks between meals, and helping us eat less of the foods we might love but aren’t necessarily the healthiest for our bodies.
"Research performed at the University of Illinois by Dr. Donald Layman reveals that our bodies need 30 grams of protein at one time to activate muscle and ensure that the metabolism is turned on," says Dr. Kirson.
Here are four great ways to get your 30 grams of protein for your first meal of the day and start your day off right:
- 3-4 hard-boiled eggs - Eggs are one of the most complete, inexpensive proteins available, and you don’t have to be afraid to eat the yolk. There are numerous studies out there that show that the yolk is not harmful to us and the yolk has eight essential amino acids.
- 1 cup of 1-2% milkfat cottage cheese - This has 26 grams of protein and you could add some fresh berries.
- 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt - This will have 18-22 grams of protein and you could put some nuts in it for crunch to get the extra protein.
- 3-egg omelet - With some spinach and feta added, an omelet is a delicious way to start your morning if you have the time (skip the hash browns and have some sliced tomatoes instead!)
Balance Activity and Rest
While staying active is essential, rest is just as important. The holiday season can be draining, so listen to your body. If you’re feeling fatigued, don't hesitate to take time for yourself to recharge. Proper rest helps maintain your energy and resilience.
Sleep is vital for our health and for helping us manage the stress around this time of year. When we sleep our body repairs itself, strengthens our immune system, and restores our mental health. Aiming for a minimum of 7 hours of sleep can help you manage the family dynamics, the stress of hosting and allow you to enjoy the holiday season with all its jam-packed activities.
IBJI’s OrthoHealth Program
We treat patients with various goals. Whether you want to lose weight, minimize your risk for diabetes, heart disease or cancer, decrease your medication for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes, need to gain weight or want to improve your athletic performance, at OrthoHealth we have the expertise and knowledge to help you reach your goal. Our mission is to help each patient learn what their body needs in order to optimize their health.
