Episode 11

When Good Enough is Enough - Eating Out, Travel and The 1 of 3 Rule

In this episode, I’m sharing some tips for making good food choices when eating out or traveling, especially during the holiday season. 

Life will never be totally predictable and it’s easy to get discouraged or thrown off when you’re out of your routine and normal environment. Learning to successfully navigate this will help you stay consistent with your healthy choices and avoid feeling deprived.

The key takeaway is not to expect yourself to make progress while your circumstances aren’t ideal. It’s ok to maintain or be in a holding pattern sometimes, and by making “good enough” choices, you can avoid going completely off the rails.

Doors are now open for Body Liberation Together, my 12-week mindset and metabolism intensive, designed to help you shake off the holiday season funk, reset your intentions, and re-establish healthy, sustainable habits so you can start the new year feeling like your best self.

If you decide you’re ready for next-level support to follow through with your goals, I hope you’ll join me in Body Liberation Together. This program only comes around once a year and we start the second week of January, 2024. There are also only 8 spots available, and registration closes on Jan. 5, 2023, so if you already know you need something like this, apply now to join us.

Interested in working with Jeannie one on one? Schedule a 30-minute Coffee Talk here.

 

Interested in working with Jeannie? Schedule a 30-minute Coffee Talk here.

Connect with me on Instagram @joliverwellness and check out the options for my more affordable self-study programs here: https://www.joliverwellness.com/diy-programs

Music credit: Funk’d Up by Reaktor Productions

A Podcast Launch Bestie production

Transcript
Speaker:

Hey there, welcome back to

the nutrition edit podcast.

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I'm your host, Jeannie Oliver,

functional nutrition and wellness coach.

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And today I'm going to keep it pretty

short because I have a little head

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cold sinus thing going on, which

you can probably hear in my voice.

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I'm very nasal.

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Um, and I just wanted to

give you a few quick tips.

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It's the holiday season,

happy holidays to you.

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And I wanted to just

share some tools with you.

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for eating out, , you know, making

good enough choices when you are

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either on the road traveling,

eating out, eating at someone else's

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home, staying with someone else.

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All of these things that a lot of

us are doing over the holidays,

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but that you may be doing at home.

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all the other times of the year as well.

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So, let's just jump into this.

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Look, first of all, I want you to remember

that you do not have to get fully off

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track when you're traveling or eating out.

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This does not mean that everything has to

go out the window and that you lose all

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the progress that you've made, um, that

the wheels are going to fall off the bus.

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That really is not the case.

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There is such a thing as Just making good

enough choices, not perfect choices, which

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you've heard me tell you before, if you're

a listener, that perfect doesn't exist.

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It is not a thing.

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And striving for it is really just

a recipe for misery and frustration.

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, so don't expect yourself to

make progress necessarily.

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If you're on the road or if you're

staying in someone else's home, , you

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know, eating at restaurants, etc.

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Those are times when you may not have

control over your circumstances, over all

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of your food choices, your environment's

going to be different, right?

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So I just want to encourage you that it is

okay to just maintain or be in a holding

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pattern during these times because your

circumstances are not going to be ideal.

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You're not going to have your normal

routine in place, um, you know, your own

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kitchen, all of those sorts of things.

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So here are my top recommendations for

just making those good enough choices.

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When you're out of your routine so

that you can kind of stay Close enough

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to being on track that when you do

get back into your routine at home

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That it's not an uphill battle for you

that it's easier to just ease back in

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So first of all, the most important

thing is Do your best to prioritize

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sleep and drinking plenty of water.

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These are going to drive

everything else downstream.

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You know, if I've talked about before,

if you're tired, you're actually going

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to crave more empty calorie, like

high starch, high sugar foods, or, you

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know, junky foods, processed foods.

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And you're actually less insulin

sensitive when you're not rested.

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So that can be problematic as well.

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, if you're not hydrated enough,

You're not drinking enough water.

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That will absolutely cause sugar cravings

and or salty, crunchy food cravings.

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Um, it can cause just

sort of ongoing hunger.

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I know that's a big, big truth

for me on days when I haven't

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had enough water to drink.

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I'll think, man, why am I so hungry?

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I feel like a bottomless pit today.

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What's the deal?

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I've had plenty to eat and I'll realize

that I haven't had enough water to

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drink and I'm actually quite thirsty.

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So.

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Your brain can kind of mix

up those signals for you.

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So make sure you're staying hydrated.

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And my general rule of thumb for that

one, you know, I had a whole episode, I

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think it was last season, that I talked

about just water and water drinking.

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Maybe it was this season.

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I don't know.

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Um, but basically the goal is to

shoot for drinking about half your

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body weight in ounces of water.

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So, for a 150 pound individual, that

would be roughly 75 ounces of water a day.

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Um, or, you know, 10 cups ish.

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So, you can do that

calculation for yourself.

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It's also good to think about it as

half your weight, half your ideal

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body weight in ounces of water.

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Um, but that could be, you

know, a little too much for some

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people and not enough for others.

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So you'll have to gauge that, but that's

a good general rule of thumb to shoot for.

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So sleep and water, that's my number

one thing because I feel like those are

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going to make everything else easier.

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The second tip I have for you, or

recommendation rather, is to pack

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healthy snacks with you just to

avoid what I call food emergencies.

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So for example, I always pack good

quality, low sugar, high protein protein

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bars, uh, nuts, seeds, organic jerky,

things like that because I Don't ever

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assume that I will be able to find

good healthy options in an airport,

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for example, or on a road trip.

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And maybe not even if

I'm at someone's home.

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They may not have healthy options.

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There may not be a grocery store nearby.

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So I pack a lot of that stuff with me.

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Sometimes I don't need it.

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But, hey, if you do, you've got

it on hand, and then you can

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avoid, you know, a food emergency.

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Which kind of leads into or ties in

together with one of my other tips, which

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is don't let yourself get too hungry.

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Um, a perfect example of this, I

had a client tell me about when

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she went away for a couple days.

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Um, and she was over a holiday when she

got there, literally nothing was open

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and she hadn't packed any food with her.

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The only place that was open was a pizza

place and this is someone that doesn't

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tolerate gluten or dairy very well.

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But that was literally

her only option for food.

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It was either that or go hungry

and she arrived in this place.

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already really, really hungry.

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So she ended up having the pizza

and of course she felt just

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rotten for the next couple days.

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So if she had had something with her,

which now she does, she packs things

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with her whenever she travels, um, she

could have prevented that whole thing

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and, you know, really enjoyed her time

off instead of feeling physically crappy.

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So, to dive a little

bit deeper in the don't.

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Let yourself get too hungry point

any time that you let yourself

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get really ravenously hungry Your

brain is going to drive you towards

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what we call high value foods.

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Those foods are gonna be those kind of

high glycemic empty calorie, Starchy

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carb high sugar type foods the types

of foods that don't really serve us.

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Well You know, once you get too

hungry, it's kind of like all bets are

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off and your brains just like yeah,

give me whatever whatever I can get.

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, you're much less likely to make

choices that are going to serve you

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well, that are going to be good,

healthy, nutrient dense foods.

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So not letting yourself get too hungry,

, is a real, really important thing to.

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Ensure and prioritize.

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Okay.

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So moving on to my tip number three,

and this one is to know your non

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negotiables and set clear boundaries.

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So a good example of this would be, let's

say you are gluten or dairy intolerant,

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just like our previous example.

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Um, I am actually gluten

and dairy intolerant.

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So for me, those are

non negotiable things.

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And I don't compromise on those because

if I do, I feel physically not good.

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I get really bad brain fog, and the trade

off is just not worth the, um, you know,

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If you do the cost benefit analysis there,

it's just not worth the risk for me.

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And most of the people that I know are

aware of this, but if you are someone who

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is maybe Just starting on your wellness

journey or you've just discovered a

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food intolerance or maybe you just

know that something doesn't serve you

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well Be it a specific type of food like

gluten or dairy or maybe you're not

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drinking alcohol anymore Maybe it's sugar

that you're avoiding whatever it is.

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Just know you're Line, right?

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Know those non negotiables.

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Like this is something that I'm

not willing to compromise and then

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really be true to yourself and draw

healthy boundaries around that.

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One way you can do this is

by giving people a heads up.

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So if you're, for example, going to

a family or friend's home for the

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holidays before you go, you can say,

hey, I just want to let you know I'm

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not drinking anymore, and I don't

want this to be You know, a topic

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of discussion or debate or anything.

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I've got my reasons around it.

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You can phrase that however

it feels right for you.

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But just give them a heads up and

just say, look, don't be offended

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if I don't eat this or drink that.

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It's just something that I

need to do for myself to take

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care of my health right now.

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Um, and then you can always

offer to bring something.

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So that's what I usually do.

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I'll say, can I make a dish?

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Can I help cook something?

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Can I purchase some other ingredients so

that you don't have to go to extra trouble

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just because I have a food restriction?

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, so that's just one example.

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I know I've talked about that in a

previous episode, I believe, but I

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just wanted to reiterate that because

I think that a lot of people are

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afraid to be high maintenance or

precious or, you know, that person

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that can eat this or can't eat that.

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And honestly, let me tell you, you

have the right to protect your own

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health and to take good care of

your body and really your choices.

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That you make to protect your

body or no one else's business.

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So it's actually quite gracious for you

to say, Hey, this is what's going on.

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And if I can help make it

easier for you, fabulous.

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But beyond that, you don't

have to make any apologies.

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You know, if someone has celiac disease,

like no one's going to question that.

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Well, you may not have celiac, but

you may have other reasons that are

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just as important for your health,

you know, to avoid that thing.

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So, um.

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You could be gracious about

it, but don't apologize.

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Don't compromise on those things.

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Taking good care of yourself and

your health is of utmost importance.

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And if someone's offended by that

or has issues with that, that's

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usually about them, not about you.

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So don't take it on.

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And this could take some practice.

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This isn't easy for all of us to do,

especially if we have , people pleasing

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tendencies, and so, you know, it may be

something that feels quite uncomfortable

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for you at first, but it does get

easier with practice and with time.

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Okay, so number four, I recommend

opting always for veggies and protein,

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like try to focus on veggies and

protein as the main part of your

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meal and start with those items.

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So eat some veggies, eat some

protein before you go and eat any

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of the starchy carbs like grains or

pasta or bread or anything sugary,

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any kind of refined carbohydrate.

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And the reason I recommend

this is because number one.

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You're going to ensure that you get

more actual nutrients or nutritious food

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because that's what you're eating first.

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And second, the fiber and the protein

in those foods is going to help

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buffer any effect on your blood sugar

that those carbohydrate foods that

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you're eating later will have, okay?

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So, that would help prevent that kind

of blood sugar spike and dip afterwards.

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And, We want to keep your

blood sugar regulated.

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I mean, this is so crucial.

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I've talked about this a lot before.

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It's something that I am always,

always focusing on in my practice

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with my clients, is helping

them regulate blood sugar.

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Because it's so important for your health

in so many ways, especially for us women.

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Um, you know, for future brain

health, but also in the short term

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for, you know, healthy metabolism.

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If your blood sugar is all over

the map, it can lead to insulin

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resistance, which leads to, you know,

fat gain and can eventually lead to

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type two diabetes and all these awful

things that we really want to avoid.

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Um, so keeping that blood sugar kind of,

you know, regulated, nice and somewhat

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even keel is really, really the goal here.

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And by eating your veggies and

protein first at mealtimes, you

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will help keep that more regulated.

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, it's also going to help with appetite

because fiber and protein are filling.

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They stimulate production of that leptin.

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Hormone or neurotransmitter that tells

your brain, Hey, I'm full and satiated.

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I don't need to keep eating.

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And so you're less likely to overeat

or, you know, eat past the point

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when you're actually full or crave

a lot of sweets after your meal.

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It can just help keep all

those things sort of in check.

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Um, and again, you know, makes

it easier to make healthy

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choices that serve you well.

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Um, the other thing that this can kind of

indirectly benefit is your mood and your.

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Stress reactivity.

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If your blood sugar is a little more

regulated, you will be less stress

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reactive, less anxious, less moody.

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So, you know, a lot of us have

stressful situations when it comes

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to family or if you're traveling

for work and I don't think any of us

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needs to be more easily stressed out.

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So remember that food can really

help with stress management too.

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And finally, Eating this way eating

your more nutritious food first

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keeping your blood sugar regulated.

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This also really supports healthy

immune system function And you know,

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everybody's sick right now, even me.

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I'm fighting this sinus situation

Lots of funk is going around All kinds

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of things and when you're traveling

you're more susceptible to it.

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We're on airplanes.

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You're maybe jet lagged Maybe

you're around small children.

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I mean, there's so many

factors that come into play.

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So You know, eating to support

your immune system is always really

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helpful and important as well.

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Okay, next, this is number five.

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Eat enough of the right foods, okay?

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So, this sort of ties into our previous

tip, but The point that I want to make

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here is if you're eating enough of the

right foods, meaning nutrient dense foods,

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high fiber foods, high protein foods,

foods containing healthy fats versus those

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sort of empty calorie, more processed

foods, or maybe more refined carbs, things

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like that, you're going to feel better.

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You're going to stay fuller longer, and

you're just going to be giving your body

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what it needs to function more optimally.

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And You know, as I always talk

about really, I am not about like,

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Hey, let's eat less exercise more.

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I don't subscribe to that at all.

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I don't encourage, Hey, we've all

got to get skinny or be thinner.

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Like that is just not my MO.

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What I am about is helping

you to eat in a way that.

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fuels your body, that gives your body

what it needs, that nourishes you from

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a cellular level on up, that, nourishes

your brain and your nervous system, , your

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muscles, all of these things, right?

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So focusing on that nutrient dense

food and eating enough of it to the

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point where you are nice and full

and satiated versus trying to portion

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control and eat less, like, Eat enough

of the right foods, and it's going to,

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all the other problems end up working

themselves out, most of the time.

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Now, yes, you can overeat healthy,

nutrient dense foods, for sure.

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But I find that, you know, controlling

portions, things like that, that usually

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comes Later down the road, I wouldn't

worry about that at this point in time.

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If you're just sort of getting

your wellness journey either

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started up or dialed in, don't

even worry about that right now.

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Just focus on eating enough of

the right foods, because that will

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really solve a lot of other problems.

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You can always fine tune

later down the road.

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Okay, next, number six.

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So, strategic indulgence.

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Indulgence is something that I

talk about a lot and no other

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time is it more important, I

think, than when you are either on

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vacation or enjoying the holidays.

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And what I mean by strategic

indulgence is being really choosy

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and discriminating with what you

indulge in and how you indulge.

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So instead of just going hogwild and

eating like All the things and then

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finding yourself on January 1st going,

oh my god, I feel rotten and I've

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gained 10 pounds By practicing strategic

indulgence, you're going to pick and

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choose the things that are really

worthwhile for you, that are really

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special, that you probably aren't going

to eat at any other time of the year.

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Or, you know, maybe you're traveling

somewhere special and there's a wonderful

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local cuisine or delicacy or treat that

you won't get at home or elsewhere.

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Those are the to really go,

okay, this is really worth it.

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And then, let's say, for

example, It's a pecan pie.

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I use this example

because I love pecan pie.

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So let's say it's a pecan pie at Christmas

time and you absolutely love pecan pie.

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Well, maybe there's some other sweets

too, but you don't love them as much.

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Skip all the other stuff.

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Don't waste your time with the stuff

that's not really really special for

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you and instead Have that piece of

pecan pie, enjoy it, savor it, be

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really mindful when you're eating

it, savor every bite, and don't allow

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yourself to have any guilt around it.

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Just really experience it and enjoy it.

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Indulge, right?

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And I think you'll find that

it's much more satisfying.

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You, are less likely to overeat

it because you are being aware and

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mindful while you're enjoying it

versus just kind of shoveling something

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in mindlessly and not really paying

attention and then finding like, Oh God,

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I went way overboard with this and I

didn't even really taste or enjoy it.

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So be it, you know, something that's

like a special dessert or maybe a

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savory food that you really love.

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Maybe it's a beautiful cracked

cocktail or glass of wine,

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something along those lines.

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Hold out for the good stuff.

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Pick the things that are really truly

special to you and then don't waste

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your time with the other things.

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Okay?

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I've given the example before of

like the Costco cookies, right?

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Like when we were all working In

offices or going into the office,

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which many of you still may be.

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There's always like cookies and

crap and just stuff that's out,

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you know, for the public to be

taken or eaten in these spaces.

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And it's usually not very good.

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It's usually like a box of cookies

from Safeway or Costco or something.

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Honestly, just don't waste

your time on that crap.

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It's not that special you

can have it at any point.

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Of time in time.

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, I think it can be really useful to

just bring out your inner food snob.

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Nobody else has to know about it.

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You're not going to do this outwardly,

but just think to yourself, No,

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that's that doesn't meet my standards

or that's not super special.

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I'm going to wait for the good stuff

and then pass by the things that are.

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Less special for you.

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Okay, so that's what I mean by strategic

indulgence Another way that you can

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practice that is with your timing of food.

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So For example on a day when you do maybe

some heavier weightlifting or more intense

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workout That's a great day to say hey if

there's something that's you know, more

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of a starchy carb or sugary food that's

probably the best time to have it because

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your muscles are going to be primed and

ready to uptake and use that glucose

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versus Storing that It's fat, okay?

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Yeah, I often will do a leg workout

or a good quicker total body workout

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on holidays, because then my body is

just going to better utilize whatever

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I eat at that feast meal, and I

don't have to worry about it so much.

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So that's another way that you

can practice strategic indulgence.

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All right, so lastly, my last

tip, this is number seven.

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This is what I call the one out of

three rule, and I use this when I'm

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traveling on vacation and I have

a lot of clients who've used this

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and it works really well for them.

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It's a pretty simple,

easy thing to remember.

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So one out of three.

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What I mean by that is if you think of the

three as starchy carbs, sugar, or dessert.

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and alcohol.

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Those are the three.

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At each meal, if you choose only to

have one of the three, instead of just

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every meal having all of the above,

going hog wild, and again, coming home

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feeling like crap, having put weight on.

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When you choose just one of the

three, it makes you a little more

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mindful about, hey, what do I want

the most out of these three things?

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What is going to be the most satisfying?

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And, it's, it prevents

you from feeling deprived.

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Like you're, you know, not able to

have any of those, and now you can't

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really experience, I mean, let's

say you're going to Italy, you want

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to eat pasta, or you want to have,

you know, really special wine, and

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enjoy a wonderful Italian dessert.

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Well, great, you can.

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You're just not going to do more

than one of those at each meal.

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So by doing that it really does prevent

you from feeling deprived or missing

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out, but you're still getting to

enjoy things without going overboard

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or you know treating your body like,

like a garbage dump where you're

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just having all the things all the

time and then paying the price later.

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So, That's what I mean by

the one out of three rule.

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It also typically, it's

nice to mix it up, right?

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So hopefully you're not having an

alcoholic drink at every single meal

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:

every day while on vacation because

that's really going to be hard on your

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body, um, especially for us women.

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:

Detoxifying alcohol is it's really causing

your body to do a lot of heavy lifting

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and it will prioritize detoxification

of alcohol before everything else.

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:

So, you know, any toxic exposures, excess

hormones, anything like that, that your

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body needs to eliminate, it's going to

put that on the back burner and prioritize

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:

getting rid of the alcohol first.

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:

So, , I always encourage people to

drink less alcohol less frequently,

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but when you are going to have

it, you know, choose it carefully.

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Make sure it's really worthwhile, be well

hydrated before and after, try not to

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drink it on an empty stomach, you know,

let it be buffered by food, and then

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your body can handle it a lot better.

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:

So, yeah, so that's what I

mean by, you know, mix it up.

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Don't do necessarily like, well, some

people maybe not drink and they're

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like, well, okay, I'm going to have

dessert twice a day instead of having

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any starchy carbs or any alcohol with my

meals because that's what I would love.

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But some people don't like sweets.

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:

So they're like, huh,

no, I might have some.

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You know, bread after I have my

veggies and protein with this meal,

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um, so just do what works best for

you and makes the most sense for you.

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:

But I do find that that one out of

three rule is a really helpful thing

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to kind of Just help you stay moderate

when you're traveling or eating out.

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So hopefully you find that helpful.

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Anyway, these are just six of some of

my tips and some, you know, strategies

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that you can use or put to use when

you're on the road during the holidays.

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:

You could also go back to episode 12

in season 1 where I talk specifically

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about strategies For navigating the

holidays, and I get a little more in

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:

depth on certain other things that I did

not cover here today in that episode.

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:

All right, so that's what

I have for you today.

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Hopefully you found

those seven tips helpful.

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Just a quick recap.

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First, prioritize your sleep and

hydration or your water drinking.

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Second, pack healthy snacks just in case

so that you can avoid food emergencies.

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Three, know your non negotiables

and set clear healthy boundaries.

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Four, opt for veggies and protein

or focus on veggies and protein at

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mealtime and eat those before any

starchy or refined carbohydrates.

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Five, eat enough of the right foods, so

don't skimp on your nutritious foods.

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Six, practice strategic

indulgence, and then lastly,

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follow that one out of three rule.

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I hope you guys found this helpful.

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I'd love to hear feedback from you.

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What worked for you?

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Uh, what questions do you have?

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You can DM me on Instagram

at joliverwellness.

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com or in the comments

on this podcast page.

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Either way, I'd love to hear from you

and yeah, I think I'll see you one more

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time before the Christmas holiday, but

whatever you're up to this holiday season,

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I wish you safe travels and just a really

happy, healthy, and joy filled holiday

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season, and I'll see you again next week.

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Thanks for joining me.

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About the Podcast

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The Nutrition Edit

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About your host

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Jeannie Oliver

Jeannie is a Certified Nutrition Coach, NASM Personal Trainer and classically trained chef. She helps high performing women improve their overall health, optimize their energy and performance, and discover what it's like to feel good in their own skin - all while enjoying delicious food and creating sustainably healthy lifestyles.