How to Have Holistically Healthy Mealtimes Through the Holidays

Ah, that time of year is here, yet again….the “Holiday Season.” My mother always told me that time
moved faster as we aged, and I now understand what she meant. Sending my youngest off to university this year made that really hit home. So, rather than speed through the holidays, let’s focus on slowing down a bit to optimize our health, physical and mental. This month our hints and tips will be around making mealtime a better time!

Tips from Tracy 

1. Eat your veggies first! When we sit down at a celebratory meal, or even just a weeknight dinner, the order in which we eat our meal can have a dramatic effect on how our body processes the food. Not only does it fill us up faster when we eat non-starchy vegetables first, but it dramatically lowers our post-meal glucose spikes – which can, over time, lead to insulin
   resistance and diabetes. Forgo the chips or bread and begin with a salad.
2. Chew each bite fully. This is a hard habit to get into, as we are a “chomp, chomp, swallow” kind of culture. Digestion begins in the mouth and, by chewing fully, we can get a lot more out of our food. Also, we slow the eating process down and eat less when we focus on chewing, as the body has time to recognize it is full.
3. Go for a stroll after meals. This is amazingly helpful for digestion. Just 15 minutes around the
   block is a great time to connect with family members, make the dog happy, or just spend a few
   moments to reflect on the day. The weather is cooling down, there is no excuse!

Hints from Heather

1. Practice Blessings. Many of us have a ritual at the dinner table of saying a prayer or a blessing before eating our meal. A blessing before meals doesn’t always have to be a religious tradition. We know from Dr. Masura Emoto‘s work that when water is exposed to high vibration words like “love,”and then is frozen, the crystalline structure of the ice is overwhelmingly beautiful. Everything is energy and words carry an electromagnetic signature. We can use them to affect not only the people we are speaking to, but perhaps the actual food they are ingesting! I remember being profoundly touched by a book I read in high school called Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. In her novel, the protagonist cries from heartbreak while she’s preparing the wedding cake for her lost love who is being forced to marry her sister. During the wedding, everyone but she and her love grow sick after eating the cake. I wonder if this author knew that her symbolism is actually a true phenomenon?! When preparing a special meal for your people this holiday season, don’t forget to use the power of your emotions and high vibration words to infuse health-giving energy into your food!
2. Practice Mindful Eating. Tracy charged us in her Tip #2 to chew our food slowly. Not only does this aid with digestion, but it helps us stay in the present moment. When we stay in the present, we are strengthening our parasympathetic nervous system and strengthening our brain toward peace and calm. Practically speaking, mindful eating can be as simple as noticing the texture, smell and taste of your food. Try noticing the way that the food feels on your tongue. One way that I strengthen my overall mindfulness is to do my meditation outside while I ground with my bare feet attached to the earth. When I notice my mind drifting, I’m able to bring myself back to the feeling of the earth connecting with my feet. And each time I do this, I am strengthening the neural networks in my brain and nervous system to be in the here and now.  Now, I’m better equipped to be more mindful in every arena of my life, including mealtime. I explain more about my grounding practice in this video.
3. Practice Gratitude. It’s scientific! When we purposely look for things to be thankful for or that we appreciate, we release feel-good neurotransmitters, we grow the parts of our brain related to happiness, and we even improve our immune system. Often times when we sit down at the dinner table, we may generically ask our family members or guests, “How was your day?” Usually this elicits a robotic response of “Fine.” Instead, try practicing the “Three Good Things” exercise. Each person at the table takes turns saying three good things that happened that day. (And, I have found this is a sneaky way to get my teenagers to talk!) Look for daily opportunities to practice family gratitude activities. And, don’t miss our book review in this newsletter where I share my all-time favorite book on Gratitude!