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Yes, you can have it all over the holidays 😊 In hormonal health, there is one very important, absolutely crucial piece of knowledge - keep your blood sugar stable.
Many women who experience symptoms like moodiness, cramps, PMS, bloating and fatigue is because they're not doing a great job managing their blood sugar, even if they're doing their best to eat well.
Because we're women, our blood sugar is more finicky than you think.
This part of hormones made me super frustrated. I had thoughts like "how is my blood sugar not balanced when I already eat so well?"
What I didn't realize was how sensitive a woman's blood sugar is and why.
Our bodies are designed to reproduce. If it senses a threat, like having mismanaged blood sugar (from juicing by itself, eating a sugary treat, eating too many carbs, drinking at happy hour - especially without food, or not eating enough stabilizing foods like fiber, protein and healthy fat), then other systems shut down in order to protect an unborn fetus - even if you're not pregnant or even trying!
Your body then releases more of your fat storing hormone, insulin, making weight harder to lose and causing you to retain more fluid. This is part of why your period completely sucks. And why you feel stressed out.
Knowing this piece of information of managing your blood sugar - your mindset becomes less about "poor me" and all about "how can I support her best"?
I use "her" to describe our body. This is because taking care of ourselves is often last in line when being nurturing to others. We're women and it's our nature. When we change our thinking to see our body as a "her" we're more likely to take care of her like a friend! Just a thought which has really helped myself and clients.
Feel your best this holiday season! Here are 3 tips you can use if you're going to drink wine and eat sugar:
1. Always pair alcohol and sugar with a healthy fat
Just like you'd never let your friend go to the bathroom alone at a crowded party, never drink cocktails or eat sugar without a healthy fat.
Why?
Healthy fat helps stabilize your blood sugar. Which means it'll be less likely to crash and you won't feel irritable or moody later. You also won't feel as tired, which happens when our blood sugar crashes.
2. Eat a hormone balancing breakfast
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. If you were to eat a donut and coffee in the morning, your body would spend the rest of the day trying to balance its blood sugar, even if you had a healthy lunch.
The same goes if you were going to eat a bowl of plain oatmeal or just a piece of fruit. Which means you'd find yourself feeling more hungry, eating more than you actually need throughout the entire day, dealing with headaches, and crashing with an afternoon energy slump.
What makes a good breakfast?
Fill your plate with three things - protein, fiber, and healthy fat. AKA a Balanced Bombshells' BFFs.
Here are 3 quick ideas:
1. scrambled eggs with avocado and apple slices
2. a serving of last night's dinner
3. protein smoothie:
1 cup almond milk
1 scoop plant based protein powder
1/2 cup fruit of your choice
1-2 tbsp. of ground seeds to meet your seed cycling needs
1 tbsp. MCT oil
3. Don't skip meals
It can be super easy to think "I'm going to save my calories to go all out at dinner", but please don't!
Skipping meals makes your blood sugar go haywire.
If a woman's body senses she's not going to get food, especially at times she is use to, your blood sugar will be more likely to crash.
Your body is always looking out for your best interest and she views skipping meals as a threat. You will release more cortisol (one of your stress hormones) and more of your fat storing hormone. This sends the message to hold on to fat, making you feel more bloated, irritable, and it sets you up for a terrible premenstrual and period week.
