Now that we are through the holidays and have a brand-New Year on the rise, this is a great time to manage our stress, reduce internal inflammation AND give our adrenals a break. A Post-Holiday Adrenal Restore is just what the doctor (or your friendly neighborhood nutritionist) recommends to help you start off the new year right!
The best things in life are the people we love and the memories we’ve made along the way. The holidays are time to build memories, to share our love with our families and friends, and sometimes to go a little a crazy with our never ending to do lists. Are you with me?
Women and especially moms tend to do ALL the things to build memories with our families.
- We turn our homes into a winter wonderland with lights, candles and beautiful trees.
- We bake, we shop, we wrap.
- We ice ginger bread cookies to share AND
- We fill those stockings with care.
Nothing, is left undone when it comes to creating memories for our children and our families and for sharing our love with friends.
However, although our intensions come from love and goodness, it can take its toll on us. The pressure from feeling like we need to get it all done puts an incredible load on our adrenal glands and generates higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. If the extra holiday cookies and party foods aren’t enough to add a few extra inches to our waist lines, cortisol will jump in and do the job to make sure our jeans fit just a little bit tighter around the middle.
But my friend, we can have our cookies and eat them too. Just not too many!
Check out The 28 Day Sugar Detox Cheat Sheet for a little help with those sugar cravings.
There is an answer to support us in building those memories and still taking care of ourselves so that we are not left feeling exhausted and stressed. We can manage our to-do lists both during and after the holidays as we restore our adrenals all at the same time with a few simple steps.
Are you ready? Let’s do this!
Adrenal Restore Protocol
Step 1 – Breath: That’s right just breath. The very first thing we do to reduce stress and restore our adrenals is to take a moment to just breath. Start now and take a slow deep, cleansing breath. As you inhale make sure to breath in deep so that your abdomen expands and then slowly breath out. Breath in for four seconds, hold the breath for four seconds and then release the breath out for four seconds. Repeat this process for 10 times in a quiet space. Slow controlled breathing helps to reduce stress hormones and supplies oxygen to our brain, heart and every cell in our body. Take a few minutes out at least 3 times each day to practice slow controlled breathing.
Step 2 – The Adrenal Restore Diet: While it can be difficult to avoid all of the special holiday treats that are being passed around, there are a few thing we can do to offset the negative effects of too much sugar and too much holiday goodness! First, remember that just one holiday party is not going to make you gain the average ten pounds that most women tend to gain around the holidays. It’s an accumulation of foods over a month or two that helps us put on unwanted weight. It’s also an accumulation of these foods that stresses our adrenals, liver, heart and our brains, causing depression and fatigue. The Adrenal Restore Diet consists of:
- Consume REAL foods including those that are grown in nature and are as close to their original source as possible.
- Avoid all processed foods, packaged foods and fast foods.
- Avoid refined sugar and white flour. If you want to indulge in an occasional sweet treat, plan it. Decide one event or day of the week that you will indulge and then the rest of the week, let the cookies go!
- Avoid alcohol. Much like refined sugar and white flour, alcohol raises our blood sugar levels, insulin levels and our cortisol levels. Again, if you choose to partake, plan when you will indulge and keep it to one or two days per week.
- Eat adequate protein. Protein builds enzymes to produce hormones, repairs cells and damaged tissue and helps satisfy us so that we don’t over eat processed foods, sugar and unhealthy snacks.
- Eat plenty of high fiber vegetables with each meal. Fiber will help fill you up, cleanses our intestines of left-over debris, and vegetables contain an abundance of vitamins and minerals to support every function of the body.
- Eat healthy fat including olive oil, grass-fed butter, coconut oil, avocado and avocado oil, olives, cheese if tolerated and a small number of nuts and nut butters. While nuts are a good source of healthy fat, protein and carbohydrate they are calorie dense and can easily be overeaten.
- Eat up to one or two servings of fresh fruit combined with a fat or protein to balance the sugar load. Try half an apple with almonds or a slice of cheese. Blueberries with whole milk, unsweetened yogurt, or a piece of fruit alongside your scrambled eggs for breakfast.
- Avoid allergic foods or foods you have known sensitivities to. These foods stimulate an immune reaction, cause internal inflammation and create stress for our adrenal glands.
- Avoid excessive amounts of caffeine.
- Download a FREE copy of The 28 Day Sugar Detox Cheat Sheet and kick those sugar cravings once and for all!
Step 3 – Stress Management: One of the things that has helped me manage stress during the holidays is that I do not have to do ALL the things. For many years now, I have taken a day with my daughters to bake and decorate holiday cookies. It’s something we look forward to doing every Christmas. But it can be a lot of work. I make up 5 or 6 different types of cookie doughs, we roll them out, bake them, and make an absolute disaster in the kitchen. Then I spend the rest of the day cleaning it all up. Now that my daughters are grown, we still enjoy cookie day but instead we each bring a type of cookie dough that is already prepared and ready to bake. We bake them and then prepare platters to take to neighbors and friends. We still enjoy the tradition but it’s a lot less work for mom and even more fun for our daughters.
So how can you manage your to-do list? Make a list of the things that are really important to you to do. Just brainstorm everything and write it down. Then, go back over the list and cross off any of the items you could live without or just don’t want to do. Next, review the list again and note any of the items that someone else could do for you. Maybe the kids could make dinner one night a week or the family could have a takedown Christmas tree party. And, finally what can you pay others to do. Maybe the neighborhood kids could earn a few bucks and take down the outdoor Christmas lights or you might hire a housekeeper in the new year. Look for ways to enroll others as it not only helps you but you are supporting them as well.
Step 4 – Get Adequate Rest: Shoot for 7 to 8 hours each night. Go to bed no later than 10pm which is ideal for reducing stress and restoring the adrenals.
Step 5 – Get Outdoors: Day light and getting out doors is grounding and healthy for adrenal function.
Step 6 – Get Moving: Moderate exercise including walking, dance, swimming and yoga support adrenal restoration. However, intense exercise such as long distance runs or powerlifting at the gym may cause more stress especially if these are new exercises for you.
Step 7 – Laugh: That’s right laughter reduces stress and supports the adrenals. It also stimulates the vagus nerve which is responsible for the regulation of most of our internal organs. Have fun with your loved ones or watch a funny movie and laugh your socks off!
Step 8 – Accept Nurturing: Studies show that accepting nurturing and affection in the form of a simple hug or touch from a loved one can be very soothing and will help you relax.
Well, I hope that helps. Get started restoring your adrenals my friend and may you have a very happy and healthy New Year.
P.S. Don’t forget to download The 28 Day Sugar Detox Cheat Sheet to help you easily kick those sugar cravings and restore your adrenals.
