We just recently discussed how the holidays can put a lot of demands on your time and daily routine. What we didn’t discuss, however, was the emotional strain the holidays can have on you, good or bad. The holidays are a great time, but they can often lead to us stressing about things. We might get a bit worried about not being able to get a loved one that gift they really wanted. We may get stressed about having to attend so many different functions and events. The holidays are also a time of great joy and love, which usually calls for a celebration, which means food!
The holidays, or any other day for that matter, can conjure up a whirlwind of emotions for all of us. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a glass of wine at night to take your mind off the tough day at work. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a sweet treat after dinner as you watch your favorite show before bed. We’re all human and we all experience emotions. We just have to be cognizant of what those choices are doing to us. We will often talk about enjoying a balance with our diets to our members. This, for most of us, should mean being strict with our diets during the week and taking a day on the weekend to enjoy an indulgence. I say for most of us because as we’ve discussed there are some of people who can eat whatever they want (not me) and some of us who might have to be very picky about the indulgences we do decide on.
The stress of day-to-day life is something we all deal with but that doesn’t mean that we have to make things worse for our health by constantly eating sugar-filled things or whatever your vice may be. We have to remember that sugar-filled things, alcohol (especially wine), has the ability to raise our blood sugar very fast and high. This causes hell on our hormones. Your hormones have a lot of functions, one of which is the feeling of reward we feel when we have one of our indulgences. This is why we do it. We feel a little stressed or just down about something and we decide to eat or drink something we love. We get a big rush of joy in the brain from dopamine and boom, no more feeling stressed or down. This, however, still means that our pancreas is busy releasing a ton of insulin into our bloodstream. And, again, too much insulin in our blood is not a good thing. And ultimately, will make us feel worse.
The main thing we want people to focus on is the effect these things can have on our bodies. We would be the first to tell you that we love doughnuts and cookies just as much as the next person, but we have to be realistic about what eating those every day would do to us!