Amanda Wilde (Host): Naturally, we don't think of nutrition and holidays going together, and that is why Family Nurse Practitioner Gina Moore is here to address mindful eating during the holiday season and how to make healthy, attainable New Year's resolutions. This is Woodlawn Health DocTalk, a podcast from Woodlawn Health.

I'm Amanda Wilde, and it's so great to have you here, Gina. Welcome to the podcast.

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: Thank you.

Host: Well, let's start right in on some tips for being mindful of healthy nutrition during the holiday season.

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: So healthy nutrition, you don't really think about eating healthy with Christmas, New Year's, parties, things like that. But we can think about eating healthy outside of those times. So, if we were to think about the normal health, such as regular meals, basing meals on high fiber and protein, eating more fruits and vegetables, we can have any kind of meat like fish and chicken. You can have any kind of meat as long as you bake, broil, or grill it. We try to stay away from fried foods. We destroy a lot of proteins when we fry foods. We try to stay away from fast foods, again, we destroy the good proteins. We try to be as active as possible. And again, the water content is so very important.

And we try not to skip breakfast. Remember when we were little and our mothers used to say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That is so true. So it kind of jumps our metabolism and that is the most important meal of the day. So those are some healthy tips with the holidays, but it's healthy tips for healthy eating throughout the whole year as well.

Host: So you look at the food itself, you look at how it's prepared, and you try to keep your regular good eating habits, such as eating breakfast.

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: Balanced meals. Yes.

Host: Now is it okay to have a treat or is it a slippery slope and we should avoid all unhealthy food? I know there's both schools of thought. I don't want to deprive myself so I'll allow myself a treat but then there's also like, oh I had that treat now I've had some sugar and I'm just craving more.

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: I do not believe in diets. I believe in moderation of everything. I believe as long as you follow a healthy, balanced diet, it's okay to indulge in certain things. You can have your favorite food or snack. It's important to watch portion sizes. When you consume those treats or those things that you really enjoy, then you can occasionally consume those, what some people say, junk foods or treats, but the key is to enjoy them. Don't feel guilty, but then go right back to those healthy eating and balanced meals. Don't do it all day long, don't do it every day, but go back to balanced meals.

Host: Well how do you resist, you know, you're at work and your co-workers are bringing in boxes of candy every day for instance or homemade cookies. How do you suggest we approach that?

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: That's the tough part, because you're right, everybody, especially at the holidays, and in our situation, we have patients that are continually bringing in cookies and cakes and special things, especially for all of us docs here. And the blessing is, we have lots of staff so we can put it in our break rooms and share with everybody.

The patients who say, take this home to your family. Well, I used to have children, they're all grown, so now I don't have them, and my husband and I do not need to have those at home, so now I just give them to the staff and take them to the break room, so the problem is consuming those foods constantly every day definitely eliminates that healthy eating or the balanced meals. So it's really difficult. It takes a lot of willpower, but you just have to set your mind that you want to keep those balanced foods. Something that you can do is make sure you drink lots of water and you get lots of exercise. Balancing those two things, definitely decreases the craving for some of those snacks, you know, unhealthy foods.

Host: I was just going to say, does that decrease? And you just said it did decrease your cravings, which is really a good thing to know.

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: So, one of the things being a diabetic educator is it takes about 45 minutes from the time you start to eat till the time you're full. So, kind of think of Thanksgiving when you sit down and eat. You sit there for an hour with family and you eat and eat. And then by the time you get up, you're so full.

So a lot of my diabetics, I tell them when you get home and you're starting to prepare your dinner, get some celery out, get some peanut butter or apple and peanut butter, cut it up, start eating it. Then when you start preparing your meals, it takes a half hour, 45 minutes, and research tells us we eat so much less just by starting that process so when you sit down and eat, you consume so much less at dinner if you've already started that process.

Host: I absolutely love that suggestion because when I get home, I'm starving. So while I'm preparing dinner, I'll start eating. So if I eat something like an apple and peanut butter, like you said, it gives me energy and it just does keep those cravings down. So I, I will attest that that really, really works.

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: It does, absolutely.

Host: Well, now after the holidays, then there's the holiday slump. We're getting off all the sugar and the entertainment and all the fun stuff, and now we have the cold, dark winter to face. What are some things we might be able to do to avoid that holiday slump in January when it comes to nutrition?

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: Some of the things that we can do as far as the slumps is, I believe, take care of yourself. I think you should focus on yourself. I think you should just plan on exercising. Do your favorite activities, make sure you rest, exercise, relax. I think you should be realistic. Setting those New Year's resolutions that I'm going to exercise every day for an hour every day is sometimes unrealistic. So we start to exercise and then we miss a couple times and then we feel like a failure. So then we just stop. So if we could do simple goals such as I'm going to try to exercise 30 minutes most days of the week which usually is about five or three days a week and then you succeed at that and you're already in that process and you feel like man I'm really doing well; you may go up to four days a week and then you really feel well and you feel that energy that you're getting from exercise. So then you're going to go to five days a week and you feel your mood's changing and you feel that energy that you're getting from exercise and after about 21 days, research tells us that we've already set that pattern. So now you're craving that exercise and you're sleeping better.

You're eating better. Your weight's going down. So now you're seeing some of those end products of that exercise. So you're feeling better. And now that's something that you know, that you are attaining those goals that you've done.

Host: Right, and those external, internal changes really keep you motivated.

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: Absolutely.

Host: Well, you touched a bit on this, about not making unrealistic resolutions for the New Year's. What are some other things people should do when making healthy New Year's resolutions? I mean, I think the number one is make it realistic, something you really can do.

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: So, when we look at balanced meals, we need to eat more protein. Protein kind of slows down how fast sugar gets into our blood, so it basically, doesn't give us that burst of sugar, such as what a lot of those monster drinks and those drinks that people do. We should be planning our meals. Some people do meal preps, which I think is a great idea. We should basically avoid going to the grocery store hungry, we should be getting some good rest. We should try to decrease stress, which is really easy for us to say, and very difficult to do. I think that, mindful eating as far as if you touch back on, if you do have a cheat day or something like that, you have a cheat day, but then get back to those balanced meals.

And again, the most important thing that you could do for your body and health is water. People do not drink enough water and if you were 200 pounds, you should cut that in half and you should be drinking about a hundred ounces of water. We never go over a hundred ounces, but if you're a hundred and fifty pound female, you should be drinking about 75 ounces of water a day.

So, water is so very important to cleanse our bodies, and we just do not drink enough water to keep us healthy.

Host: I think, too, with all the traveling people do, I mean, I know I get really dehydrated with all the plane travel, so water is super important.

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: Correct.

Host: Well, Gina, thank you for this guidance to get us through the holidays in an enjoyable but healthy way, and also directing us to a healthy way of eating year round. Is there anything else you want to add to get us through the holidays feeling good?

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: I think one of the things that I tell patients a lot is food's only food. When you're full, you're full. It doesn't matter if you eat healthy or not. At the end of a meal, you're full. So eating healthy, you feel better, you have more energy, you sleep better, and your moods are healthy. So if you blow it, move on and the next day, be healthy.

Because food's only food, and a lot of times people let food control them. And you need to control and take charge of your life and you will feel so much better.

Host: So be kind to yourself and support yourself.

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: Absolutely.

Host: Thank you so much, Gina.

Gina Moore, DNP, FNP-BS, CDE: You're welcome.

Host: That was Gina Moore, Family Nurse Practitioner with Woodlawn Health. For more information, please visit woodlawnhospital.org. That's woodlawnhospital.org. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social media. I'm Amanda Wilde.

Thanks for listening to Woodlawn Health Doc Talk, a podcast from Woodlawn Health.