Post-Holiday Weekend Exhaustion?

How are you feeling after the holiday weekend? Are you tired and exhausted and worn out from all the holiday excitement? Did you take a nap? Did the stress and chaos give you a headache? Are you rejuvenated and ready to go today?

I used to *need* a strong kick of caffeine just to get through the day - that afternoon slump around 3pm was awful. When I had several busy and/or stressful days in a row, I’d tell myself I earned a nap - and then I would prioritize that nap on weekends. I have never had a lot of luck with sleeping in (so I’m always up around the same time every day), but for a long time (years!) I would wake in the middle of the night, and lay in bed for an hour or more trying to fall back asleep. No matter when I went to bed, I wasn’t getting enough sleep. That constant cycle of being tired, and needing caffeine, and then being even more tired, and then getting a headache from being so tired, was…exhausting. 

I didn’t even know it was possible to break that cycle…but I did! I changed my diet. I prioritized myself. I am sleeping solidly and soundly 8-9 hours a night (yes, for real!) now. I take Natural Vitality Calm, a powdered form of magnesium, at bedtime and I swear it helps with my sleep. I haven’t had a headache in months. 

Look at my eyes in these pictures. There’s no filters on them. Look how tired I am in the photo on the left, with circles under my eyes. I wasn’t healthy! My sleep wasn’t healthy! I was so bloated and inflamed! 

Look at me on the right - awake, alert, and I feel like my eyes are brighter and clearer. It’s not just about surviving each day, it’s about living each day. Join me in living each day, I would love to share this program with you and help you feel amazing and get the good sleep too!

Christmas on Optavia

I love cooking and baking. I especially love the tradition I have with my children to bake holiday cookies - peanut butter blossoms, cut-out sugar cookies with frosting, snickerdoodles, oatmeal chocolate chip, and sometimes even more. We bake everything dairy-free, and often gluten-free also, and it is something we all enjoy. 

I'm not going to lie, it was REALLY difficult this year to not taste-test the batter (especially the oatmeal chocolate chip batter) or the cookies (the peanut butter blossoms are my favorite!) but I asked myself one simple question and it helped me refocus: "What do I want more - that cookie, that I already know how it tastes (and honestly, it's probably not as good as I'm imagining it to be), OR to keep feeling amazing and not destroy my stomach by eating foods it isn't used to?" The answer was simple at that point. Maybe some day it won't be simple, but this year, it was easy to choose ME over the cookies. It was easy to put myself first, and break that habit, and remind myself it was things like those cookies that got me to where I was in the first place. There is a time and place for choosing to indulge in a sweet treat, but I am not at that time nor that place right now, and I made a very conscious and intentional choice to NOT taste-test the sweets this year. 

But what about dinner? 

I know there are tons of ways to create Optavia-compliant holiday meals and side dishes. Several are listed here. Much like Thanksgiving, I just don't have the same sentimental attachment to holiday foods that a lot of people seem to have. I don't need the meat and cheesy side dishes. As a kid, I would only eat mashed potatoes (no gravy) and pumpkin pie and cookies. 

I know a lot of people make the conscious choice to go off-plan for the holidays, to splurge a little bit, or take small tastes of foods that they would normally not eat while following Optavia. All of that is fine, especially when it is an intentional decision. 

So what did I eat?

I had my five Fuelings - I added a dash of nutmeg to a creamy vanilla shake and it was delicious! - and I ate seafood and spaghetti squash, with salad, for my Lean and Green. It was yummy, it was filling, and it kept me in Fat-Burn!

Thanksgiving and Optavia

 I love cooking and baking. I love it so much, I spent the day baking five pies, cooking different side dishes, and enjoying being in the kitchen. 

I know there are tons of ways to create Optavia-compliant holiday meals and side dishes. Several are listed here. I just don't have the same sentimental attachment to holiday foods that a lot of people seem to have. As a kid, I would only eat mashed potatoes (no gravy) and pumpkin pie. 

I know a lot of people make the conscious choice to go off-plan for the holidays, to splurge a little bit, or take small tastes of foods that they would normally not eat while following Optavia. All of that is fine, especially when it is an intentional decision. 

I chose to remain on plan today. I didn't even lick my fingers (well, there's COVID to thank for that restraint also!) but I did not have a single lick or taste or bite of something that wasn't one of my Fuelings or my Lean and Green. Honestly, I didn't even really consider not staying on plan. Turkey doesn't like me, and I prefer to not feel like crap from eating foods that don't like my body. 

What did I make? 

My daughter and I made vegetable quiche for breakfast. She is dairy free, so everything we made today is dairy-free. 

We made a loaf of bread.

We made FIVE pies - three pumpkin pies, one apple crumb pie, and one pecan pie. (We have 4.5 pies leftover)

We made sweet potato casserole, and garlic mashed potatoes. 

We made bacon-wrapped scallops. 

We made candied pecans. 

There was stuffing, and turkey, and cranberry sauce, and rolls, and deviled eggs. 

There was a lot of food here. I'm sure all of it tasted delicious. We have a lot of leftovers (apparently I don't know how to cook for just my family - we could have easily fed 15 people with the food we have). 

So what did I eat?

I made myself a salad, with avocado and seared scallops and a drizzle of Walden Farms French dressing. 

And you know what? Scallops with salad and avocado is one of my all-time favorite meals, and I was perfectly happy and content to eat it today. It was delicious! 

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving meals!