Your ultimate holiday health cheat sheet
The holidays aren’t a time to obsess over food or punish yourself with exercise—you deserve to celebrate and enjoy the season. But it’s also one of the most hormonally challenging times of the year. Excess sugar, fat, late nights, alcohol, and stress can spike blood sugar, increase fatigue, trigger inflammation, and even raise cardiovascular risk.
Instead of saying, “I’ll reset in January,” it’s wiser and healthier to reset daily. Start today. Even a single day of overeating combined with poor sleep can affect your hormones, energy, and overall health for several days. What more if this indulgence continues on for weeks?
As a fitness and lifestyle coach, I’ve learned (and helped my clients master) strategies to stay balanced, protect hormones, and maintain energy, all while still enjoying the celebrations. So here’s how you can confidently face the season and enter the new year feeling your best.
1. Move daily (because holiday weight gain happens fast)
Exercising during the holidays stabilizes blood sugar, reduces stress hormones, and prevents weight gain from extra sweets, snacks, and alcohol. Even 500 extra calories a day can add four to five pounds in a month.
Daily activity helps offset these calories, keeps metabolism active, and restores hormone balance after indulgent meals. Start protecting your hormones and make daily movement easier, even during a busy holiday schedule:
• Instead of two hours watching TV, clean or organize your home: Doing household chores helps reduce sedentary time and lowers your overall stress
• Instead of two hours at the mall for coffee and cake, do gift shopping: Walk around the mall to save time and calories while finishing an important holiday task
• Instead of 60 minutes on social media, walk or exercise: Swap scrolling for stretching, dancing, or a quick bodyweight strength routine
• Instead of one hour gossiping, discuss health goals with friends: Turn idle gossip into positive, goal-oriented conversations while walking or moving together. Even short bouts of movement can make a noticeable difference in energy levels and mood throughout the holiday season
2. Avoid extra stressors as early as now (don’t wait til January)
If you are in your 40s, your hormones are more sensitive to everyday stressors such as sugar, sleep loss, and stress. This means that holiday indulgences, late nights, and busy schedules can affect your energy, mood, metabolism, and even weight more than you might expect. So as early as now, avoid or reduce everyday stressors before the season gets overwhelming:
• Gift giving: Finish shopping early or buy online to avoid last-minute stress, long lines, and overspending
• Travel planning: Finalize your itinerary well in advance. Extended travel can disrupt your exercise routine, sleep schedule, and nutrition, affecting both your fitness and hormone balance. Plan quick workouts or online fitness programs, schedule morning walks, and prioritize movement during sightseeing
• Finances: Complete payments, taxes, bills, or deadlines ahead of time. Worrying about money during the holidays increases cortisol and impacts your sleep, cravings, and mood
• Home environment: A chaotic home can increase stress. As early as possible, declutter, organize, or hire cleaners if needed to ensure your environment supports calm and order
• Social pressure: It’s okay to say “no” to gatherings or events that aren’t meaningful or necessary. Prioritize the activities that energize you rather than drain you
3. Apply these celebration food strategies at home when hosting
One of the best ways to stay in control during the holidays is to prepare celebratory meals at home. When you’re the one cooking, you can enjoy the season’s flavors without the excessive sugar, oils, and hidden calories.
• Make your lunches or dinners veggie- and protein-based: Build your meals around vegetables to boost fiber, support digestion, and stay fuller longer. On the other hand, protein—like chicken, fish, tofu, eggs, and lean meat—keeps you satisfied, and stabilizes blood sugar and hunger hormones
• Choose low-carb alternatives for evening gatherings: Keep carbs lighter at home. Also, avoid deep-fried dishes and creamy sauces. These are calorie-dense foods that spike inflammation and affect your sleep quality. You can also prepare sugar-free or low-sugar desserts, such as almond-flour cakes, chia puddings, dark chocolate options, or monkfruit-sweetened treats
• Practice portion control and the fullness rule: You might be eating more calorie-rich foods this season. Still, as long as you stick to your regular portions and stop when comfortably satisfied (about 80 percent full, not stuffed), you can stay on track
• Walk after meals to regulate blood sugar: Even a 10 to 15-minute walk or moving around the house to clean the dishes and rearrange the house every once in a while can significantly improve glucose control
• If hosting, prepare “pabaon” or take-home containers: I really find the approach of sharing leftovers with guests so effective, as it helps you avoid overconsumption in the days that follow
4. Accept food gifts with gratitude—but manage them wisely
Food gifts are a love language for many people—cookies, pastries, chocolates, fruit baskets, and specialty treats. Accept them with gratitude, but manage them smartly so your hormones (and weight) don’t get overwhelmed.
• Share extras during gatherings: Enjoy a small bite or a single piece to honor the giver, then divide the rest among family, helpers, or guests. You can bring sweets to family events or office parties, so everyone enjoys them and nothing piles up at home. You can also pre-portion chocolates or cookies into small bags, making them easy to give away
• Keep sweets out of sight: Store sweets in a cupboard or pantry so you’re not mindlessly grabbing them. Freeze cookies, pastries, or cakes to extend shelf life. This makes it harder to overeat
• One serving of sweets per day (at the maximum), preferably earlier: Eating sweet gifts earlier in the day (with activity to follow) reduces nighttime blood sugar spikes and helps avoid sleep disruption. You can also pair treats with protein and fiber, like a cookie with Greek yogurt or nuts, or a chocolate with a fiber-rich meal. This slows digestion and reduces glucose spikes
