Trim The Treats-Holiday Guide to avoid weight gain and de-stress!

Welcome and Introductions 0:00

Okay. Looks like it's recording and we will go ahead. Jenny, do you mind letting others in if they come in? Sure. Okay, awesome. All right. I'm just going to share my screen. Welcome everybody to the Trim the Treats holiday guide to avoiding weight gain and burnout, reducing stress and avoiding gaining weight, you know, through the holidays. That is so, so very common. So I'm Lindsay Simone, a family nurse practitioner, and I am here with my special guest, Chef Jenny Castleman. Say hey everybody.

Thank you guys so much for coming. It means so to us. Can you guys still see my screen? Yes. Awesome, awesome. So we'll get started. Why are you here? Everybody knows that the holidays are a time to have fun, to gather, um to see family and friends, To eat and to drink. And with that can bring some excess stress, pounds, all the things that We try to avoid all year long, work really hard at. And so I just wanted to put together some ideas that are going to help us to better, you know, stay on track with our healthy habits, set some boundaries that're going help to us avoid burnout, and maybe be able to indulge in some things that we want to without overdoing it.

So if you're here for that, then you are in the right place. So about us, like I said, I'm Lindsay Simone, a family nurse practitioner, board certified. I have right at 20 years of healthcare experience. Um, started out in healthcare really, um, as a high school student, went through college and majored in biology, wound up in a nursing school a couple of years later after college with second career and then onto becoming a nurse practitioners. I'm a mother and I am also the owner of Simone Medical, which is, as most of you probably know, a wellness practice that focuses on holistic wellness,

Holiday Health Goals and the 80/20 Rule 2:26

weight loss, and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Also, I will let Jenny tell you about herself. Hi guys, I'm Jenny Castleman. I am a wellness chef and a nutrition health coach. And my main priority is empowering women, especially when it comes to the area of hormone health that Lindsay has been a huge part of my life getting that together. and also families just to incorporate healthier lifestyle choices as well as in the kitchen but also in your lifestyle aswell. So I just finished writing a festive feast is my healthy holiday cookbook.

It's not to avoid indulging because that's the holidays and we love to have our babies and our desserts so you can still have that all the while still enjoying some of those same holiday treats and flavor profiles. So just made it a little bit more lighter for you. Yes, thanks, Jenny. She is a mom of twins, those cute little little redheaded twins which I love. Um, so if you guys stay tuned through the whole webinar, um, Ginny and I have a awesome surprise for All right, so what can I do now? I have that calendar marked New Year's Day.

We're all kind of, well, most of us, if you're like me, I kind to try to forget that New Years is coming up, but it's always in the back of my mind that new year's day's coming. It's where I want to start fresh and really put a good foot forward. So this webinar is about optimizing your health through the holidays. I'm going to share a couple strategies, like I said, that you can begin using now, integrate it into your life throughout the holidays, because honestly, this is going be one of the hardest times of year, and then integrate into life moving forward.

It's just easy little changes that really make a big difference. We find that during the holidays, we do have less control, like I said, over what we're eating, where we are eating and who we were eating with, and that can throw off even the most dedicated person. So we'll just remind ourselves that there are things we can do to avoid ending up back at square one, even in new situations like where sometimes we may lose control. So the very first tip I have, and I'm sure everybody's heard of this, is the 80-20 rule.

And I love to go by this rule in my own life. I preach it to my patients. Um, I never tell people just completely go on a diet and cut out everything that you love. But the, 80 20 rule is a really good, um, rule to have during the holidays where 80% of the time I want you to continue to focus on nutrient-dense whole foods. And that means meats, vegetables, fruits, whole things that can either be, I always say, hunted, grown, caught, raised yourself, avoiding processed foods as much as you can. That is going to maintain where you are, where, you've gotten over the past year, but also could help to stave off some of that weight gain.

Also, 20% of the time, do not feel guilty about having your favorite treats during the holidays. So indulge in that hot cup of hot chocolate. Have a piece of pie, have a peace of cake, but that's it. A piece a cake. It's really about moderation. Just don't let yourself go off the rails well when you'll regret it once we get to that January 1st date. that I give a lot of my patients and I, you know, do myself is that, I like to have a healthy protein based snack or either even half of a protein shake before I go out somewhere like a party or a meeting or somewhere that.

I know that there's going to be temptation there. It keeps me full. Keeps me from craving things. Oh, even do this before. Go to the grocery store and it really helps cut down. You know? Um, Going somewhere hungry is never ever a good idea. So definitely, you know, keep higher protein based snacks on hands like beef jerky. I always tell my patients beef, jerkey, good. sugar-free protein bars, things like that. Also, it's important to stay hydrated through the holiday season and anytime, so you should be aiming for at least 64 ounces of water a day.

Protein, Hydration, and Smarter Holiday Eating 7:26

Staying hydrated is going to help you help your skin look better, for one, help with your metabolism going strong, and help to be energized and to make it through Another good tip is to replace your electrolytes once a day with a sugar-free, high-quality electrolyte mix. My favorite is Element, it's the letters LMNT. It's sugar free, tastes really good, not too sweet. Another one that I really like is Relight, but there's lots out there. Just check the ingredients. Some of them, some of the more popular brands can be full of sugar, and we definitely don't want to go down that route.

It's kind of counterintuitive to do that. So like I said, 20% of time, enjoy that, that treat. That's awesome, Hannah. You've got element right now. I've already, I had mine today too. So enjoy yourself 20 percent of the time definitely let you know let yourself have have what you want. Just keep it in moderation. All right. So moving on to that next tip. continue to prioritize a balance of protein, fiber, and healthy fats. So even when you're out at these parties or at family dinners or whatever it may be, you still should have the knowledge to be able to make good choices.

If you're choosing a higher carbohydrate filled dish, you might want to stay away from the heavier fat dishes. Ketogenic diets are all the rage right now. A lot of people abide by that throughout the year, but get into trouble when there's more temptation with higher carbohydrate foods because you really can pack on the pounds if you're eating high fat and then you overindulge in either sugar or carbohydrates. So be careful about that. You do want to make sure that you are getting in, you know, enough healthy carbs.

Those are things like vegetables, some grains, nuts and some fruits. also those healthy fats and protein, protein protein. We can't preach that enough. I saw a funny meme the other day that said something about I have to quit my job because I'm focusing on eating protein now, which is true. But it is so important, especially for women getting into our, you know, 35 early 40s and beyond to maintain lean muscle, keep your metabolism running strong and help your body to run off of that as energy versus processed foods, added sugar and carbohydrates.

Like I said, carbs are not off the menu, but just make sure that you're choosing complex carbs, not these fast burning carbohydrates you see in the picture like chips and cookies and processed breads and drinks. You really want to reach for more things like vegetables, dairy, cheeses even. and fruits that are just higher quality. And that's going to help your body use that as energy, sustained energy instead of that short burst of energy that has your blood sugar way up and then crashing back down, leaving you craving for sugar and more carbohydrates later on in the day.

You can do a lot of this. A lot these tips I've already talked about by adopting alternative recipes like Chef Jenny has created in her cookbook. So just another plug for that. She has taken some of our favorite things and just put a twist on it that you can be guilt-free through the holiday season. One that I have adopted in my house, and I do use during the holidays, is mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. And I didn't even tell my kids or my husband I was doing it. They know at first.

It's different, but they ate it, so that's one of my favorites. I'm sure, Jenny, you have a ton of things like that, though. Oh, yeah, I call it stealth health. You don't tell anybody that you're doing it. Just show up with a healthier version of something else. My family knows by now. They're like, is this clean, free, dairy-free, flavor- free? And I'm like you got it, but yeah. There's a lot of recipes that that can make some adjustments to and it's not going to change the overall flavor or the way that it comes out.

And that's what I really tried to do in that holiday book. It's just modify what we already love and make it not as heavy or not as much like process. So yes, that's awesome. Moving on to a few more things that you may not know about. I know that some of the stuff I've talked about is kind of obvious and we all know. But one of my favorite tips are to use digestive enzymes. And I use them all year long. As we get closer to 40, you know, starting in our mid 30s and closer than 40 our own innate digestive enzymes really do decrease in your body.

That's the enzymes that our pancreas and our digestive system makes to break down our food. And when those decrease naturally, we start to have things like indigestion and bloating after we eat. Heartburn can be one of those, especially people that take GLP-1 medication like semaglutide and tear zephytide. This is kind of one my must-haves when you're on those medications and one on my most recommended supplements. So digestive enzymes basically replace our natural enzymes. that we lose as we age.

It helps to break down our food after we eat it. So you do want to take it, you know, one before a meal or you can do each meal, every meal you have.

Digestive Enzymes and Blood Sugar Support 13:19

They're very safe. Or you could use them when you're going to have one of those bigger, more heavier protein or heavier carbohydrate meals. So they help break down the food, but they also help you to absorb more nutrients. That's one of the things that can also happen when your digestive enzymes decrease in your body. You're not absorbing the nutrients that you're eating in you food. It just passes right through and you can wind up with some nutritional deficiencies. So using a good digestive enzyme can really help you to digest your food better.

And like I said, typically you take it before you eat a meal, especially one of those bigger meals. If you want recommendations on a brand, I'm happy to help. You can message me on Instagram or Facebook or even if you're a current patient. Simone Medical, please reach out in the portal and I'm happy to send recommendations. It is important to get a good quality digestive enzyme. I prefer pharmaceutical or medical grade supplements or really any supplements. So be careful picking them up at the dollar store, Walmart.

All right. So next, let's talk about blood sugar and how it affects our weight. When we eat, depending on any kind of food we put in our body, even protein, fats, carbs, anything, It affects our blood sugar. It raises our glucose and then our body produces insulin to attach to that blood glucose, take it into our cells to produce energy. But the problem comes in is when we eat carbohydrates, added sugars. We overeat, so we eat more calories than our body needs or more calorie than we're burning off.

Our blood sugar can stay elevated for a continued period of time. Insulin can rise and over time we actually can become insulin resistant when this is like a habit. And insulin resistance is a whole other issue that we can talk about. insulin resistance is a real thing that leads to inflammation. Insulin is our fat storing hormone. So over time, if you let this become a problem or a habit, it can really wreak havoc on your metabolism and your weight. A couple ways to take care of our blood sugar beyond watching our carbohydrate intake eating protein and healthy fats in a better ratio to that is taking a walk.

So it is proven that if you walk for 10 minutes after a meal, your blood glucose levels can decrease as much as 30 points. And that's huge. Um, yeah, so we, we want to keep our blood sugar under, you know, 120, a hundred would be ideal. And just, I'm not talking about go out and like power walk, just a stroll around the block with your favorite cousin or, or whoever your sibling is going to make a big difference. It also aids in digestion and helps you to feel better. Get that food moving through your system.

Um. So no matter how full you are, try. Go on a walk for 10 minutes, 10 to 15 minutes and I promise it will benefit you. Also, there's another little lesser known trick is apple cider vinegar. Have any of you guys heard about drinking apple, cider, vinegar regularly? So just one, you have Hannah, good, awesome. So one to two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar mixed in some water about 15 to 20 minutes before a meal can help slow down how fast your body absorbs the carbohydrates that you're eating.

It can keep your blood sugar way more steady, avoiding those glucose spikes and insulin spikes, even when you are eating a normal meal that contains more carbs or more ingredients than you would normally eat. It is important to mix it with water because straight apple cider vinegar can, it can damage your teeth and, and upset your stomach. So you want to make sure that you, you know, put it in, in water to do that. There are also some studies that show that regular use of apple cider vinegar, can help improve your metabolism and maybe even reduce fat storage in your body over time.

So I like it. It's cheap, good, and something easy that we can do. So a little bit goes a long way. Remember, just one to two tablespoons a bit before the meal can really help. All right. Next is stress. Stress while we're eating. Stressed during the holidays is kind of unavoidable. But if specifically when you're eating a meal, high stress levels can actually slow down your metabolism and your digestion leading to like discomfort and indigestion. So, you know, Basically stress shuts you down. Imagine, you know, when you're stressed out, your in fight or flight mode.

So it's basically like your body. I mean, we go back to like caveman days. Your body thinks that you are being chased by a tiger. And so it is not going to digest food. It is going take the blood away from your stomach to your extremities. in your brain so you can think faster, think better and run faster. So digestion is not number one when you're stressed out. Try to decrease your stress, especially before big meals. Believe it or not, deep breathing or meditating before, during and after meals can really help.

There is a, it's a four count breath is what I typically do. You can take four counts of your breath in, hold it for four accounts and let it out for for counts and you will not believe how much that does for an

Stress Management and Boundaries 19:38

immediate stress reduction and stress response. I'm also setting boundaries. We all know how important that is. Family can be tough sometimes around the holidays, but if you set your own personal boundaries before going into these situations, It's a lot easier to deal with things that are said that might typically be hurtful or stress you out. So definitely kind of have a personal pep talk before any situation that you might go into that that, you feel like might stress out and sometimes saying no is one of those boundaries.

If you know that there's, a situation, that's going to stress, out more than it's worth, say no. Also, being grateful we're coming up on Thanksgiving, you know, think about how grateful you are for the food that's in front of you and how great for you or that you're able to take in these. things that you can do to better your health. You're not sick, you are healthy right now. So just be grateful that have the mind and the body that do, to be able to implement these ideas. And last, my little tip on stress, I would love to share my favorite adaptogenic herb with you guys, and it's ashwagandha.

Ashwagonha is an Ayurvedic herb that's been used for, gosh, probably hundreds of thousands of years in Chinese medicine and beyond that helps with stress response. So you can take one, if you know you're going into a stressful situation in about 20 or 30 minutes, it's not going to knock you out. It's gonna make you feel drunk or stoned or anything like that. Just takes your stress level from like a nine or 10 to like five or six, which is useful. Pick up a bottle of ashwagandha before Thanksgiving if Family is annoying, and that might get through that.

Again, I can also help you with recommendations for brands that are good and trustworthy for ashwagandha, because you do want to make sure that you have a trustworthy pharmaceutical or medical grade supplement when it comes to that, all right. So moving on, alcohol. You guys knew I was going to talk about alcohol, right? So alcohol affects weight, it affects so many things. Drinking too much during the holidays can be a big issue for a lot of people. And it needs to be in the spotlight more how much alcohol affects every system in our body and can definitely contribute to weight gain.

So alcohol is a toxin. It is what it is. There's no healthy amount of alcohol. It is not true that a glass of red wine a day prevents heart disease. In fact, there was recently determined that there are no healthy servings for women specifically. And I believe that's true for men too. So the way that alcohol works in our body, is that we drink it and take it in and the body identifies it immediately as a toxin. And it does everything it can do to get rid of it, including shutting down digestion and shutting fat burning.

So it could actually take up to 36 hours for your body to process alcohol and during that time frame, you're not burning fat. So think about that. Every drink you have, just forget every effort that you're making, really. And it doesn't mean that it's not worth putting in the efforts to lose weight or just stay healthy, but this has been a super useful tool for me to really cut back and minimize my alcohol intake really over the last year, especially during this holiday season. When I learned this little tidbit, I actually stopped drinking for about three months this summer, and I lost nine pounds with zero effort otherwise.

It was pretty incredible. And just the energy levels that I got from that, no more bloating. Like, I just thought I had kind of a belly being in my 40s. I was like, Oh, it's my post mommy, you know, post baby, your belly. Well, that belly went away. Just by cutting out alcohol. So I just implore you to do an experiment Maybe you know make it a goal after the end of the holidays Jenny and I talk about this a lot and we have in the past You know, it can also lead to overeating when you're drinking your inhibitions go down you eat things you need more that you normally wouldn't you lose your Inhibition It can also cause blood spike, blood sugar spikes and drops leading to increased hunger and cravings and disrupted sleep.

So as if we, especially mamas, are not getting our sleep disrupted as it is. It's just a vicious cycle. A couple tips. If you do choose to have a glass of wine or something like that, I like to cut my alcohol with seltzer water. I'll do, you know, half a serving of wine with seltzer waters or replace that one altogether with Seltzr. There's lots of alternative drinks nowadays, like recess, there's like magnesium. Oh look, Jenny's going to get hers. She just cracked hers before we came in. Her magnesium drink, which it just, it chills you out.

Alcohol, Mocktails, and Holiday Drink Swaps 25:18

It's the best. So that's, those are a couple little tips. Also mocktails. We try mocktails a lot in this house because going from having alcohol, you know, a couple of times a week, just not wanting to do it anymore. I was kind of like, what do I do with my hands now? So she has been kind enough to kind volunteer to make one of her mocktail recipes tonight. So I'm going to let her go ahead and do that. Yeah, so just echoing everything that Lindsay said, once I learned more about what the alcohol was doing after it entered my bloodstream, besides just making me more fun, which is what I always believe, I'm like, way more fine with booze.

I was working out really hard and then I GirlMath says, if I drink on Saturday, I'm not burning any calories till like Tuesday or Wednesday. So my workouts before then, are they just null and void? So that was my mindset or how I started thinking about it. And so I cut way back as well because I like to cook and drink wine simultaneously. That was my entertainment, that was mommy downtime. And she did mention the recess mood. This is a magnesium-based drink and I swear on all things holy, I was like, man, this is not going to do anything for me.

It chills me out so much. It literally takes the edge off. I compare it to like one glass of red wine. That's what I, that's all I ever wanted whenever I was cooking anyway. Like, let me get that one last red one. Kind of take the age off now. Feel cool. And I'm not so uptight, but this has the same facts and I like it. Best to order. Wish I had a discount code. But order on bulk on Amazon. This is a grapefruit. And that's what I've been doing in the evenings. Also, they do make some mocktails mixed already, like polomas.

There's a margarita. I don't love the pre-mix. Just didn't like flavor. So, hence why I just made my own mock tails. And these, in The Cookbook, I did do several mocktail recipes, but you can also incorporate the apple cider vinegar in mock tail recipes. So if you're like, when am I going to do that? Like make yourself a little beverage beforehand and add the apple cider vinegar to your mocktail. And so two birds, one stone. I'm going show you guys one less product and then I'll actually make the one.

Curious, Elixirs, another, there's so many brands now and I really loving it. These non-alcoholic adaptogenic drinks. So They do have benefits to your overall health and they help you wind down and chill out without the extra booze. Can you guys even see my, I can't tell if you can see in my cutting board or not. Okay, so I'm gonna show you a cranberry orange spritzer. So like Lindsay was saying, what I do now when I drink, if I wanna have a glass of wine, like I'll do a white wine and then put some sparkling water in there with it and just cut it.

So, I'm not drinking as much, but I am still getting that little bit of the wine feels. But this one, this cranberry orange spritzer, we're going to rim the glass. So we've got to make it look fancy with some coconut sugar. Coconut sugar is less processed than the white sugar, and I going too. This is a microplane. If you've never used one of these, Add it to your Amazon cart. Basically you zest citrus, lemon, lime, orange. You can do it in food. I'm going to zest it, in my coconut sugar and then run my glass with it.

So it's going be just even more flavorful. But this is a good way when you're cutting out unnecessary ingredients when your cooking and you still want to add the flavor, adding like orange, lemon, lime zest to food really wakes up that food and adds that extra punch of flavor. So I'm a huge fan. because a lot of our condiments and sauces have a bunch of extra ingredients that we do not need in it. So I've just made my little sugar mix with my zest. I'm gonna take my glass and I am using honey to make it sticky.

Just put it on a plate and just roll your glass around. And I know bartender, so don't judge. And then you just put it in your sugar concoction. So we've got it is pretty. I mean, So looks festive. Everybody loves a good festive drink. Okay, and then we're going to do juice or orange and alive. So the recipe calls for orange juice, lime, cranberry juice. But I picked up, I know you guys have probably heard of poppy, these prebiotic sodas. There's a cranberries fizz and it is perfect for the holidays and mocktails.

So if you're like I'm not really feeling this whole mocktail situation that you are talking about, that's fine. You can still use the exact same recipes and make it a cocktail and put a little bit of vodka in there. Totally up to you. But yeah, I think it's easy to blame the holidays for the added stress and for overeating and over drinking. I know last year I went out of the country and filmed a TV show, like random. Never in my life. Has that ever happened? But when I came back, I was like so exhausted and stressed and like, wow, i accomplished something huge and I just let it all go.

I went on TV. i looked good for five minutes. And I drank and drank. and ate and gained a lot of weight. Then perimenopause started and that was my slippery slope of disappointment. until I got it together and met Lindsay. Not for that story time. We're gonna add some ice. It's already started to melt, but you catch my drift. And then we're going to put our fresh orange and lime juice into our glass. Then we gonna top it off with the cranberry fizz soda. This just gives it the bubbles and the effervescence that you like from a soda, cocktail, mocktail.

And this is really low sugar. So we're having natural sugars with the orange juice. That's what we really try to avoid is the added sugars, the fake sugars for the natural occurring. You're good to go. Cheers. Awesome. I wish I had one. Made one too. That is awesome. Thank you so much, Jenny. You're welcome. So yeah, so alcohol is a big one, obviously, through the holidays that we want to try to avoid. Sorry, one more slide. Jenny's at Mocktail Solutions. There's her with her awesome picture. Dairy-free milk.

And I'm sure that cookie was sugar- free too, Absolutely, vegan, gluten free, sugar free. Yep, that's right. So lots of ideas that we have talked about tonight that are just easy, like simple, not too stressful solutions to get you through the holidays on the

Holiday Program Offers and Closing Remarks 33:08

right foot towards January 1st. For sticking around through this whole thing, I have some pretty cool offers for you guys. And if there are any anybody new here that is not yet a Simone medical patient, I do have a brand new program. It's our holiday cravings program that does include GLP one medication, which are those weight loss injections that everybody talks about. The way that I do it a little differently at Simone Medical is that, I believe that the lowest most effective dose is what should be used.

I'm sure a lot of people have heard about microdosing and that is a great way to help get through the holidays curb those cravings, it can also help reduce craving for alcohol, which is another benefit. It's known to help with that. So I am offering a brand new program. I've never offered this program before. it's six to eight weeks and regularly it would be priced at $6.99 for that six-to-eight week program for semaglutide or $7. 99 for tear zepatide. The program includes your initial visit also a follow up visit with me during that time portal access to ask me any questions any time of the day or night I mean I check it before I go to bed and in the morning but still you have access Also a free copy of Chef Jenny's Holiday Cookbook with that.

So it is, I didn't even total up what all this is worth, but it's worth a lot more. Tonight I'm giving $99 off of either one of those programs. All you have to do is go to my website, simonemedical.com and schedule your initial weight loss consultation. Do need to it before Christmas Day if you can schedule that, and mention Code Holiday to get that $99 off to participate in this program. Also, current patients, I am not forgetting about you because you are my favorite and I'm here because of you.

You will receive 10% off of your next refill or next program and a free copy of Chef Jenny's holiday cookbook as well. So I would love to hear from you guys. I always available for questions about weight loss, functional medicine, BHRT. Thank you guys so much for coming Jenny. Do you have any any other remarks? No, I think at the end of the day, it's all about mindset and how you decide to go into the holiday season. If it is typically a very stressful time for you, like I invite you to just rethink it.

And I know I, It's hard for us to see everybody and we do all the things and I cook for every single one of those things. So a lot of times it can be a little overwhelming for myself. I've already established the fact that I won't be going here. I wont be there. If you want to come see me then you can come to my house or we'll be doing this meal and this is what I'm contributing. So just setting those boundaries like Lindsay said and just resetting your mindset around what the holidays mean and maybe making some new traditions or new memories instead of always falling into the trap of like ugh here we gotta go do this or do that for holidays.

So it's a beautiful time. Enjoy your friends and your family and sticking with your wellness throughout the holidays will serve you well once you get back to the grind because you never wanna be behind the eight ball. You gotta be in front of it. That's right. Stay mindful. Thank you guys so much. Have a wonderful night. Thanks. Thanks so much. Thanks for coming. Let me stop recording.