The holiday season is upon us (more or less) and certain themes are about to manifest as far as blog posts and social media goes. The big one, of course, is “holiday weight gain–how to avoid it!” and other similar. But there is more to gut health and the holiday season than just trying to watch your waistline between the end of November and the first week or so of January.
There are three realistic holiday gut health concerns that I will address in this blog post. Do you recognize any of the following? Take a look, and see if any of these resonate:
- Maybe you want to enjoy some treats but your digestion is so fragile that you’ll be lucky to have a cookie or two without your intestines rebelling.
- It could be that you are concerned about weight gain because you don’t want to start that ball rolling or you’re already struggling with your blood pressure or your metabolic health (pre-diabetes, anyone?) and you don’t want things to get worse.
- Or maybe you have decided to do something about less-than-good habits you picked up over the past few stressful years. Did you start a pattern of mindless munching to alleviate stress, boredom, and/or anxiety during the COVID shutdown era? Maybe you’ve become addicted to highly processed foods or convenience items that do your blood sugar no favors. Either way, it’s time for some change and you’re not sure where to start.
Let’s go through these three major themes one by one, and we’ll see what you discover about what you need in order to enjoy a happy and healthy season. The following might also help you to decide if a health coach is your best bet or if you’d get more from working with an acupuncturist.
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I. You can’t enjoy your food:
You want to be able to enjoy holiday treats, but food is not your friend. You either experience gas, bloating, irregular bowel movements, allergies, and/or food sensitivities in response to just about everything. Maybe you sneeze like crazy whenever you eat (that is called gustatory rhinitis and it may be part and parcel of a bunch of histamine issues related to food). Whatever is going on with you digestion-wise, you are bummed because you don’t expect to be able to enjoy any treats during the holiday season…and forget about having a good time at any of the festive dinners or parties on your schedule. Not happening!
There are a few ways to approach these issues. Are you willing (or able) to take a look at your eating habits and change a few aspects of it? Do you know where to begin?
A health coach can usually be the one to help you to shift habits. Acupuncturists who specialize in gut health and digestion will often be able to help you in a different way. A health coach can’t really go into the whys of your poor digestion (or at least, they shouldn’t) but it is within the scope an acupuncturist’s practice to identify your potential medical issues and address them accordingly. If you do opt for a health coach, you can increase the benefits of a diet plan by including acupuncture and Chinese herbs into your regimen.
Strengthening weak digestion is a bit of a project but it can be done, and if you start soon (like: now), you can be feeling better in time for holiday meals and parties. It is so nice to be able to enjoy special treats during the season, don’t you agree? So…get going and don’t wait! Set yourself an appointment with an acupuncturist if the primary issue is weak digestion that you hope to strengthen. If you already have some idea about how you want to work on your gut health but you don’t have a lot of willpower, then the health coach might be in your better interest.
If you haven’t thought much about it, “Gut & Digestive Health: Three Reasons Why It Matters & How Chinese Medicine Can Improve Yours” will give you some great information about what you can expect if you try it.
II. You don’t want to gain a lot of weight and spend the early months of 2025 trying to lose it all before “swimsuit season.”
The whole notion of holiday weight gain is kind of exaggerated. People don’t generally put on twenty pounds between the final weeks of November and the first week of January. Instead, it’s more like three-quarters to two pounds. The problem is that the pounds stay, and then the next year, two more pounds are added, and the year after that and the year after that…it’s like compound interest, only applied to your waistline, butt, and thighs.1
Aside from the weight gain issue, you also need to keep in mind your blood sugar. If you spend the holiday season drinking eggnog or sugary alcoholic beverages and eating rum balls and Mexican wedding cookies–or whatever sugar bomb treats that ring your cultural chimes–then you may tip into pre-diabetes. Or if you’re already there, you might upgrade into fully-formed Type II. The salty snacks, for their part, might just do a number on your blood pressure that will last long after January 1st.
How can your health coach or acupuncturist help you with any of these issues? Well, for one thing…the health coach can help you to prioritize and choose which indulgences you’ll enjoy and when (and how) to resist temptation. Meantime, your acupuncturist can support your efforts to keep your blood sugar and pressure under control via acupuncture and herbal medicine.
What do you need more help with? Your awareness, habits, and mindset? If so, that’s the health coach. If you are good with these, but struggle with the practical health aspect, then that’s the acupuncturist.
Either way, the investment you make in meaningful support can pay off later when you don’t need to go on Ozempic, metformin, or whichever blood pressure medication your doctor prefers. Plus, you can avoid the compound interest version of bodyfat.
Great investment, don’t you think?
Deciding where to start and who to start with can be a bit daunting. An older blog post but still a very good one on this theme is “Health Coach? Personal Trainer? (Which, What, When, and Why).” For some ideas about starting with an acupuncturist, see “Getting Started With an Acupuncturist: Why Wait?” On the subject of health coaches, refer to “Getting Started With a Health Coach: Why Wait?“
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III. You’re ready to do something about some of the bad habits that many of us picked up from the COVID pandemic and the stressful cultural moments we’ve collectively experienced:
I don’t know about you but I see a lot of patients (for Chinese medicine) and clients (for health coaching) who got into the habit of mindless snacking. I also work with people who find themselves addicted to processed food. It happens, and there’s no sense in feeling shame over it. You just need to find the right strategy and support to shift your focus to mindful (or at least reasonably healthy) eating. Yes, you can opt to step away from over-processed junk food or the mindless munching.
It really, truly does help to have a customized support system. As with the first two issues, your health coach is usually going to be there to encourage habit change and they’ll help you to identify useful avenues for parsing out what really matters to you. What are your goals? What stands between them and you? Where are your danger zones and how can you rely on your strong points when you feel ready to falter? The health coach is there for this kind of exploration and will be present for you with a can-do approach.
Your acupuncturist, meantime, will figure out if your current habits have damaged your health. If so, we address that. Your acupuncturist will give you treatments to help with anxiety (if change makes you stressed) or weak digestion or the aforementioned blood pressure or sugar problems.2 We can help repair your gut and get your digestion humming. We can also help you to lose weight if that’s your goal. When you go for your acupuncture treatment, it should be restful and relaxing and like a mini-vacation.
The bottom line is this…
It is entirely possible to make your health a priority during the holiday season. It is entirely possible to enjoy treats and not blow your diet or wreck your gut health. But it helps to have a plan and it definitely helps to have meaningful feedback and direction.
What do you think?
The holiday season is a great opportunity to take stock of your current situation. It’s a perfect time to set some goals. If one of your year-end aspirations is to make some changes in your life, then the best time to start is today. You don’t have to revamp your whole life overnight, but instead–just start being aware and start making small shifts. By the time the new year rolls around, you will be well on your way!
So, what is it going to be for you? An acupuncturist, or a health coach?
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Dr. Paula Bruno, Ph.D., L.Ac., is a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, an AOBTA-CP traditional Chinese bodywork therapist, a health coach, and an author. She maintains an active and growing practice at her Austin, TX office. Dr. Bruno is also available for distance appointments for wellness consultation or coaching.
In her first career, she was a Spanish professor.
Dr. Bruno’s specialties as a Chinese medicine practitioner include: • Musculoskeletal health (acute or chronic pain relief; Ehlers Danlos syndrome & hypermobility support) • Digestive support, gut health, and weight loss • Aesthetic treatment, including scar revision • Men’s health • General preventative care and wellness support for all persons.
She is the author of Chinese Medicine and the Management of Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome: A Practitioner’s Guide. Dr. Bruno also maintains a second website, holistichealthandheds.com, with resources and information curated specifically for people with hEDS and HSD.
When you are ready to discover what traditional medicine plus a vibrant and engaged approach to holistic health can do for you, either contact Dr. Bruno or book an appointment online.
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Two Hearts Wellness does not accept paid advertising on this website
Note: Material on this web site site is not intended to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease, illness, or ailment. A Chinese medicine practitioner in Texas identifies syndrome patterns but does not diagnose illness. Material on this web site does not purport to identify syndrome patterns.
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- “Interventions for the prevention of weight gain during festive and holiday periods in children and adults: A systematic review” explains that children tend to gain more weight during the summer and during school holidays, while adults–no surprise–put it on during the holiday period starting at the beginning of November and ending after the new year. ↩︎
- Yes, acupuncture and other modalities of Chinese medicine can help to improve blood pressure and metabolic concerns. See “Effectiveness of acupuncture as adjunctive therapy in type 2 diabetic: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial” and “What to Know About Acupuncture for High Blood Pressure” for more information on these topics. ↩︎
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