Holidays, Food & Mood – Episode 17

Holidays, Food & Mood – Episode 17

Holidays, Food & Mood – Episode 17

On Sunday morning, over on Instagram, I hosted a morning coffee chat to talk about Holidays, Food & Mood. It was a good chance to chat about some last-minute reminders heading into the holiday season but also a chance to interact a little bit more one on one with all of you. Instead of having a completely separate podcast this week, I decided to share the audio from the live. In case you missed it, you can stream it here.

This week I’ve had some great conversations in DMs with different people about how easy it is to ignore the simple things going on with our bodies. It’s easy to chalk stress up to the time of the year. Brain fog can be attributed to the to-do list that is a mile long.

However, this time of the year there are ways around pushing your body and brain to the limit. Everything going on around you isn’t perfect but by using food that your body reacts the best to, you can put yourself in a better position going through the holiday season.

How To Control Your Mood With Food

Find The Right Balance: This time of the year, the treats are everywhere and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. However, when we ONLY indulge in treats, it’s easy for our body to want to shut down. When we eat too much processed sugars, the good nutrients can’t get to where they need to go, leaving our brains to try and functino on what it has. This can lead to an increase in anxiety and brain fog.

By adding balance to your day with whole foods, you can indulge in the sweet treats while still helping your body function at it’s best.

Watch Out For Too Many Inflammatory Foods: Piggybacking off the balance note, watch out for too much of these inflammatory foods: corn, wheat, soy, dairy & egg. All of these can lead to an inflamed gut which can lead to your body not quite functioning properly.

Instead of Focusing On Weight Loss… Go Back To Basics: All of my clients have heard this one recently. Focus on what you can control and stick to the basics. Make sure you are getting a solid breakfast and including whole foods with each meal.

Keep Moving Your Body: As hard as it might seem right now, continuing through your morning routine or workout routine will keep your body on a schedule.

Focus on What You Can Control: Listen to what your body’s telling you. If your mood is starting to swing and you are struggling, take a step back, go back to basics.

What were your biggest takeaways?

 

ABOUT ME

Hey There, I’m Kristin! I coach women to make small changes in their daily nutrition to become the best version of themselves.

What is Your Body Trying To Tell You?

Pumpkin Recipes For The First Day of Fall

Pumpkin Recipes For The First Day of Fall

You may now proceed to drink your Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Just kidding, we need to have a quick conversation first. I know the PSL came out early (as usual) this year but I have refused to even think about Fall foods until today. While I’m not spending the day baking, I did round up a number of healthy pumpkin recipes we plan to dig into this Fall.

Happy First Day of Fall!

It’s Okay To Get On The Pumpkin Recipes Bandwagon

There, I said it. I never thought that would come out of my mouth. Truth be told, I’m not a pumpkin fan. A few weeks ago @OneUponAPumpkin shared this graphic on Instagram highlighting the benefits of pumpkin in your diet.

To break down the nutrition benefits she shared…pumpkin has:

  • Pumpkin has anti-oxidant content that helps protect from disease
  • High in vitamin C
  • Also high in potassium
  • AND high in vitamin A

Since I typically don’t just trust a single instagram post (you shouldn’t either). I dug into things further. It turns out, we really do need more pumpkin in our lives.

One cup of pumpkin not only is high in the nutrients above but also has:

  • 3 grams of fiber
  • 11% of your recommended daily B12 intake
  • 8% of your recommended daily iron intake
  • 2 grams of protein

Do you see now why I feel like I need to add more pumpkin into my life?

Healthy Pumpkin Recipes

Watch The Sugar When You Bake With Pumpkin

Now, I don’t expect you to eat a full cup of cooked pumpkin every day. However, something like pumpkin muffins can be a good source of vitamins and nutrients if baked properly.

Many pumpkin recipes I have come across are extremely high in sugar. This is where I caution the pumpkin baking.I’m sure by now you’ve seen memes or images shared around social media about the amount of sugar in a pumpkin spice latte. (Not to mention, a pumpkin spice latte doesn’t ACTUALLY contain pumpkin) Unfortunately that seems to be the case for most pumpkin recipes I come across most days.

The key to cooking with pumpkin is making sure you have REAL pumpkin to use in the recipe. Pumpkin purée is a good way to start. However, if your pumpkin purée is from a can, just make sure nothing has been added to preserve it. You can also make your own pumpkin purée at home.

Healthier Pumpkin Recipes

In order to help get more pumpkin into your diet this Fall, I rounded up a few pumpkin recipes that are made from pumpkin puree and do not have added sugar. I may even try to work my way through a few of these this Fall. As someone who doesn’t necessarily love pumpkin, these actually all sound delicious!

Do you have a go to pumpkin recipe? Where should I start?