Sugar-Savvy Holidays: Enjoy Gatherings Without Guilt
It starts innocently enough.
Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings. Holiday parties at work. Cookie exchanges. Family gatherings where Aunt Susan insists you try her famous pecan pie. Christmas morning cinnamon rolls. New Year's Eve champagne toasts.
Before you know it, you've spent six weeks on a blood sugar rollercoaster—and by January, you're dealing with brain fog, energy crashes, weight gain, inflammation flare-ups, and the nagging feeling that you've undone months of hard work.
If you're managing blood sugar concerns, prediabetes, diabetes, metabolic dysfunction, or protecting your cognitive health through nutrition, the holiday season can feel overwhelming. Maybe you've tried the "just be good" approach (which leads to resentment) or the "forget it, I'll restart in January" approach (which leads to metabolic chaos).
This Diabetes Awareness Month, I want to offer you a third option: strategic enjoyment without sacrifice.
You can fully participate in holiday celebrations AND protect your health. Here's how.
The 3 Biggest Blood Sugar Saboteurs Hiding in Holiday Traditions
1. The Grazing Effect: Endless Access to Food
Unlike typical meals that have a beginning and end, holiday gatherings feature constant food availability—appetizers, main courses, desserts, leftovers, "just a little something" every few hours. This continuous eating never gives your insulin levels a chance to come down, creating sustained elevated blood sugar and insulin resistance.
The Strategy: Create intentional eating windows. Choose 2-3 specific times during the gathering when you'll eat a complete, balanced meal. Outside those windows, sip on sparkling water with lemon, herbal tea, or enjoy conversation away from the food table.
2. The Carb-on-Carb Trap: Traditional Holiday Plates
Traditional holiday meals are carbohydrate-heavy: stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, pie. When your plate is 80% carbs, your blood sugar will spike dramatically—followed by the inevitable crash that leaves you reaching for more sugar to feel better.
The Strategy: Use my "Plate Power Method" (detailed below). Even at traditional gatherings, you can build a blood sugar-friendly plate without calling attention to yourself or offending hosts.
3. The Stress-Cortisol-Sugar Cascade
Holiday stress—travel logistics, family dynamics, financial pressure, disrupted sleep—floods your body with cortisol. Elevated cortisol directly raises blood sugar, increases insulin resistance, and triggers cravings for comfort foods. This creates a vicious cycle: stress raises blood sugar, which causes energy crashes, which increases stress and cravings.
The Strategy: Prioritize stress management as much as food choices. This is where tools like BrainTap, red light therapy, and sauna therapy become metabolic interventions, not just "wellness practices." (More on this below.)
The Plate Power Method: Your Holiday Meal Blueprint
This is the framework I teach all my clients for building balanced holiday plates that stabilize blood sugar while still tasting delicious and feeling satisfying.
Step 1: Protein First (40% of plate) Start with high-quality protein: turkey, ham, wild-caught salmon, grass-fed beef. Aim for a palm-sized portion (4-6 oz). Protein slows glucose absorption and keeps you satisfied longer.
Step 2: Healthy Fats (20% of plate) Add sources of healthy fat: avocado, olive oil on vegetables, nuts, olives. Fat further slows digestion and supports hormone production and brain health.
Step 3: Fiber-Rich Vegetables (30% of plate) Load up on non-starchy vegetables: green beans, Brussels sprouts, roasted cauliflower, salads, sautéed greens. These provide fiber that moderates blood sugar response and supports gut health.
Step 4: Smart Carbs (10% of plate) Now—and only now—add a small portion of your favorite carbohydrate: a scoop of stuffing, half a sweet potato, or a small dinner roll. Because you've already filled your plate with protein, fat, and fiber, this modest amount of carbs won't cause the dramatic spike it would alone.
Step 5: Dessert Strategy Wait 60-90 minutes after your meal before having dessert. This gives your body time to process the meal. When you do have dessert, choose one small portion of what you truly love, eat it mindfully and slowly, and pair it with a short walk (even 10 minutes helps with glucose disposal).
Handling Food Pushers & Family Pressure
This is where many people struggle most—not the food itself, but the social dynamics around it.
When someone says: "Oh, come on, it's the holidays! You can cheat just this once."
Try responding: "I'm enjoying everything! I'm just pacing myself." Or: "This all looks amazing—I'm savoring every bite of what I chose."
When someone says: "You're not eating enough! Have more!"
Try responding: "I'm completely satisfied—everything was delicious." Or: "I'm taking some leftovers home to enjoy tomorrow."
When someone says: "Are you on a diet? You don't need to lose weight!"
Try responding: "I'm managing some health stuff, but I'm definitely not depriving myself—look at this plate!" Or simply: "My doctor and I are working on some things. This is what feels good for my body."
Remember: You don't owe anyone an explanation about your health choices. Brief, confident responses without over-explaining work best.
The Travel & Routine Disruption Challenge
Travel and disrupted routines wreak havoc on blood sugar in ways people don't anticipate:
Sleep disruption increases cortisol and insulin resistance
Meal timing changes confuse your metabolic rhythm
Limited food control means fewer healthy options
Increased stress from travel logistics raises blood sugar
Dehydration from flying concentrates blood glucose
Decreased movement from long car/plane rides reduces glucose disposal
Your Travel Survival Kit:
1. Pack Strategic Snacks:
Raw nuts and seeds portioned in small bags
Protein bars (look for <5g sugar, >15g protein)
Jerky or meat sticks
Individual nut butter packets
Dark chocolate (85% cacao or higher)
2. Maintain Meal Timing: Try to eat at similar times to your regular routine, even if you're in a different time zone. This helps maintain your circadian rhythm and metabolic patterns.
3. Prioritize Hydration: Dehydration amplifies blood sugar elevations. Aim for half your body weight in ounces of water daily, more if flying.
4. Move Strategically: After meals, take a 10-15 minute walk. This simple act can reduce post-meal blood sugar spikes by 20-30%. In airports, walk the terminal. At family homes, offer to walk the dog or take a stroll around the neighborhood.
5. Bring Your CGM Data: If you're using a continuous glucose monitor, travel is the perfect time to gather data about how different foods and situations affect your blood sugar. This information is invaluable for future planning.
The Mindful Indulgence Framework
Deprivation doesn't work. Restriction creates rebellion. But complete abandon creates metabolic dysfunction.
The answer? Mindful indulgence with intention.
Before any holiday gathering, ask yourself:
What foods truly matter to me at this event? (Not what's there, but what I genuinely care about)
What can I easily skip without feeling deprived? (The store-bought cookies vs. grandma's homemade pie)
How do I want to feel tomorrow morning? (Energized or sluggish?)
Then make conscious choices that honor both your enjoyment AND your wellbeing.
Example: "I don't care about the dinner rolls, but I LOVE my mom's sweet potato casserole. I'm going to have a moderate portion of that, skip the other starches, and savor every bite."
This isn't about perfection. It's about intentionality.
Our Functional Medicine Approach: Support Beyond Willpower
At Gaining Health, we recognize that navigating the holidays successfully requires more than nutrition knowledge—it requires comprehensive metabolic support.
Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM): The holidays are actually the PERFECT time to use a CGM. You'll see in real-time how different foods, stress levels, sleep disruption, and alcohol affect your blood sugar. This data removes the guesswork and empowers you to make informed decisions. Many clients tell me that seeing their glucose spike after certain foods is more motivating than any lecture I could give.
Functional Testing: Before the holiday season hits, we can assess:
Fasting insulin (not just glucose—this catches problems earlier)
Hemoglobin A1c
Inflammatory markers
Hormone panels (cortisol, thyroid, sex hormones)
Gut health markers
Nutrient deficiencies
This baseline data helps us create a personalized plan for holiday success.
Stress Management Tools:
BrainTap Neurotechnology: The holidays amplify stress, which directly impacts blood sugar. BrainTap's guided sessions reduce cortisol, improve sleep quality, and support parasympathetic nervous system activation—all of which improve insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism. Use it daily during November and December, especially before gatherings or after stressful days.
Red Light Therapy: Supports mitochondrial function and cellular energy production, reduces inflammation, and improves insulin sensitivity. Just 10-15 minutes daily can make a measurable difference in how your body handles glucose.
Sauna Therapy: Improves cardiovascular health, supports detoxification, reduces stress, and enhances insulin sensitivity. The heat stress from sauna use actually improves your body's ability to handle other stressors—including holiday-related ones.
These aren't luxuries—they're metabolic support tools that can make the difference between thriving through the holidays and merely surviving them.
ReCODE & PreCODE Programs:
For those concerned about cognitive health, the holidays pose unique challenges. Blood sugar instability, increased alcohol consumption, disrupted sleep, and stress all impact brain function—sometimes in ways that persist beyond the season.
Our ReCODE and PreCODE programs provide:
Personalized nutrition strategies for holiday navigation
Ongoing support and accountability during high-risk times
Metabolic optimization to buffer against holiday impacts
Tools and resources for family education
Data tracking to understand your unique responses
Many clients specifically schedule their initial consultation before the holidays to get ahead of potential problems rather than trying to recover in January.
4 Sugar-Smart Holiday Recipes (Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free)
These recipes deliver all the holiday flavor and satisfaction without the blood sugar chaos. Each one has been tested with clients and gets rave reviews—even from non-health-conscious family members!
Your Holiday Action Plan: Start Now
Don't wait until you're standing at the dessert table on Thanksgiving to make a plan. Start now.
This Week:
Schedule any functional testing you need (labs can take 2-3 weeks)
Consider starting a CGM to establish your baseline before holiday chaos
Practice the Plate Power Method at regular meals
Stock your pantry with healthy snacks for travel
Week Before Holidays:
Plan your strategy for specific gatherings
Prep and freeze any recipes you're bringing
Schedule extra BrainTap, sauna, or red light therapy sessions
Get adequate sleep (7-9 hours) to support insulin sensitivity
During the Holidays:
Use your Plate Power Method at every gathering
Move after meals (even 10-minute walks help)
Stay hydrated
Practice your prepared responses to food pushers
Check in with yourself: "How do I want to feel tomorrow?"
After the Holidays:
Don't wait for January 1st—resume healthy habits immediately
Schedule follow-up testing to assess any impacts
Reflect on what worked and what didn't for future planning
You Don't Have to Choose
Here's the truth: You can enjoy the holidays AND protect your health. You can participate fully AND maintain stable blood sugar. You can indulge mindfully AND honor your wellbeing.
This isn't about perfection. It's about having a plan, making intentional choices, and giving your body the support it needs to handle the extra demands of this season.
The holidays are about connection, joy, tradition, and love—not about destroying your health for six weeks and spending January recovering.
Ready for personalized support?
Explore our programs and tools:
PreCODE Program – Protect your cognitive health through metabolic optimization
ReCODE Program – Address cognitive symptoms with comprehensive interventions
CGM Starter Kit – See your glucose responses in real-time during the holidays
BrainTap + Red Light Bundle – Support stress resilience and metabolic function
Comprehensive Functional Testing – Know your metabolic status before and after the holidays
Schedule a Free 20-Minute Discovery Call to create your personalized holiday navigation plan.
Your health matters—during the holidays and beyond. Let's make this your best season yet.
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