The Holiday Health Cues You Need To Know About

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The Holiday Health Cues You Need To Know About

What cues is your body experiencing right now?

Are you hungry?

Do you need to hydrate?

Could you use some rest?

Listening to our bodies is necessary for our health. Just as nutrition and movement are vitally important, being able to identify and understand the cues that our body gives us is another key component to truly restoring our health.

Lucky for us, our body knows how to operate without us consciously telling it to. We don’t have to pick up our legs to make them move or tell our stomach to digest what we eat, our body just does it. While all that hard work is being done behind the scenes, we are able to live without the stress of keeping tabs on our organ’s to-do lists.

As we venture further into this Advent season and start to prepare both our bodies and minds for a new year, it’s important to recognize the cues our body is giving us. By recognizing these cues and knowing how to adapt when they come about, we can truly understand our own bodies and what it takes to support them properly.

Grab your notebook, you’re not going to want to miss this…

 

Cues you need to pay attention to…

Outside of the obvious cues like pain and discomfort, these 6 cues are critical to evaluating your overall health and wellness:

      • Hunger 
      • Mood
      • Stress 
      • Cravings 
      • Energy
      • Sleep 

Many times we dismiss these cues and excuse them as just normal reactions to the events of everyday life. Been craving dessert more recently? Haven’t been able to sleep well for a week? Most people don’t even question these slight changes and if they do, it’s easy to pin the blame on an external factor. While using excuses may serve as a band-aid initially, the longer we ignore these cues the more harm they will have on our physical and mental health.

Rather than ignoring the cues, ask yourself why they are showing up? Think about the nutritional choices you’ve been making, the ways you incorporate movement throughout your day, and the mindfulness habits you practice.

Note: take a minute and reflect on your own connection and awareness to these cues: what patterns in your lifestyle cause these cues to appear? 

 

What happens when you ignore a cue?

Leaving a cue for later might seem like a good idea at the moment, but when you do the same thing day after day, it can quickly become an issue if not addressed.

Think of it like this—you’re trying to drop a few extra pounds before Christmas day. But every time your husband asks about which in-laws house you’re going to first, it kicks your stress into high gear, leading your hand to the Christmas cookie jar. By the end of December, all those party cookies will be gone, and the scale will be the same.

There was a cue (the question from your hubby), the reaction (you getting stressed), and a result (you’re hand full of cookies).

You can see how these little cues, though small, can make deep impacts on our health, especially when we’ve been reacting to them the same for years.

If cues pop up more often as you have aged, that’s not unusual. In this season of life, women no longer have the same stress buffers that estrogen and progesterone used to supply, resulting in harder hits by stressors.

Cues can seem complicated, but it’s about understanding how to alter your lifestyle choices to align with your metabolic health goals.

 

The solution to our body’s cues…

Think back to that list of cues I mentioned:

      • Hunger
      • Mood
      • Stress
      • Cravings
      • Energy
      • Sleep

Take a moment, and rank these cues from 1 (low) – 10 (high).

While there are many factors that can influence each score, below I’ve included a few of my solutions for each problem area.

 

Low Mood

    • Think about your nutrition choices, recent quality of sleep, and stress levels.

 

Excess Hunger or Low Hunger

    • Eat three evenly spaced meals each day full of protein, fiber, and water.

 

Poor Sleep

    • If your not getting enough sleep, try a new bedtime routine, warm epson salt baths, calming tea, turning off screens earlier can help.

 

Excess Cravings

    • Make sure you are eating enough at each meal.

 

High Stress

 

Low Energy

    • Address nourishment patterns, sleep, stress.

 

It’s time to really listen to your body…

Cues are critical when it comes to your health and wellness. The more you understand about your own body, the more you can make lifestyle changes and adjustments to optimize your health and happiness.

As we continue to prepare ourselves for the Christmas holiday and new year, I encourage you to explore your cues, learn more about where they come from, and understand how you can manage them more effectively through the practices shared above.

And if you’re finding yourself in need of some guidance, support, and encouragement during this journey, the RESTORE Program is the place for you.

RESTORE is my 8-week health and wellness program that helps women RESTORE their metabolism and grow their mind, body, and spirit.

If you’re ready to start listening to your body and making real, foundational changes to building long-term health, sign up here for my next session of RESTORE starting January 7!

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