Speaking of Women's Health
The Speaking of Women's Health Podcast is excited to bring you credible women's health information from host and Executive Director, Dr. Holly L. Thacker. Dr. Thacker will interview guest clinicians discussing relevant women's health topics and the latest news and tips.
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Speaking of Women's Health
Holiday Eating, Without The Guilt
The holidays don’t have to be a choice between joy and well-being. We invite you into a cozy Christmas Eve conversation that blends candlelight traditions with clear, doable strategies for eating well, staying energized, and sleeping better. From a nourishing breakfast to a colorful plate at dinner, you’ll learn how to slow down and savor your favorites.
We also share a one-minute breathing reset to melt stress and a warm, cinnamon baked apples recipe that makes your home smell like the season while keeping nutrition front and center.
If you’re ready for a holiday that feels lighter, kinder, and more intentional, press play and join us by the tree lights.
Hello and welcome to a very special Christmas Eve episode of the Speaking of Women's Health podcast. I'm Lee Clecker, your guest host and producer of the podcast, and I'm so glad you're here with me today. Now, before we dive in, I want to let you know that we're doing something a little different. Today, we're replaying one of our most loved episodes from season one, How to Eat Healthy During the Holidays. It's a topic that feels just as relevant today as it did when we first aired it in season one. Before we replay that episode, I want to add a few new thoughts and traditions to make it extra festive. I have to tell you, this is my favorite holiday of the entire year. There's something about the sparkle in the air, the warmth of the home, and the way people just slow down to connect that fills my heart every year. Christmas Eve especially holds a quiet magic. Whether you're baking cookies, wrapping last-minute gifts, or just sitting by the tree with a cup of tea or cocoa, it's a night for reflection, joy, and cozy traditions. The spirit of nourishment. Christmas is a time of abundance, love, laughter, and yes, food. But sometimes that abundance can leave us feeling sluggish or guilty. So let's reframe the way we think about holiday eating. Here's a gentle reminder food is a part of the celebration, not something to fear. The key is balance, mindfulness, and joy. Christmas Eve traditions. And so before we dive into healthy tips, let's talk about some of these beautiful traditions that bring people together. Candlelight services, maybe. Many families attend a late-night church service, often ending with everyone holding candles and singing silent night. I know it sounds like a Hallmark movie, but it is a moment of reflection and peace. And this is actually one of the traditions we started doing last year in our family. We used to do Christmas Eve and go to church early at four o'clock mass. As our kids are now older, we can do a late night mass. And it was just so beautiful last year. Dark, candles lit, calm, peaceful. So we're looking forward to doing that again this year and hopefully many more years to come. Another important family tradition throughout the country is the feast of the seven fishes. In Italian American homes, this seafood-centered meal is a cherished tradition. Another one of my favorites is opening one gift. Some families, you know, let everyone open just one present on Christmas Eve, usually pajamas or something cozy. And this just especially for uh families with young children, it can kind of uh give them a little bit of that Christmas present that they're looking forward to on Christmas morning and you know, hopefully calm them down so they can um wait for what the big guy brings them the next day. Baking cookies for Santa. So whether you're five or fifty, there's something joyful about leaving out a plate of cookies and a note for the big guy. Story time. Again, this can be for all ages, you know, reading twice the night before Christmas or the nativity story is a tradition that brings generations together. And in my home, I love to end the night watching it's a wonderful life, having something comforting to drink, and just a few quiet moments by the tree, lights off, candles on, just soaking in the stillness and reflecting on what I'm grateful for. So those healthy holiday tips I mentioned. Now let's unwrap a few practical tips to help you stay nourished and energized. So it's can be a long day for many of us. So start with a nourishing breakfast. Don't skip breakfast to save room for dinner. A protein-rich morning meal like eggs with veggies or Greek yogurt with fruit can help regulate your appetite and mood. Hydrate like it's your job between mald wine and hot cocoa. It's easy to forget water. So keep a festive water bottle nearby and sip it throughout the day. You could add cranberries or orange slices for a little holiday twist. Fill half your plate with color. So whether it's roasted Brussels sprouts, cranberry salad, mmm, that sounds good, or sweet potatoes. Aim to fill half your plate with veggies or fruits. They're packed with fiber and nutrients that help balance those richer dishes that we really love to enjoy on Christmas Eve. Savor, don't shovel. So slow down. Enjoy each bite. And this will help with the digestion and let you truly appreciate the flavors and memories tied to each dish. Move a little. A post-meal walk with family, or maybe a quick dance to some Christmas tunes can really help boost your energy and mood and really help with the digestion of that big meal you may have just had. So taking a mindful moment, I just want to take a quick moment to breathe together. So on these busy holidays when we're trying to pack everything in and do every tradition and you don't want to forget anything and you want to do everything, it's just sometimes you don't realize the stress you're carrying. You don't realize maybe your shoulders are, you know, up high to your ears. So I just want to take a quick moment to breathe together, to inhale the joy and exhale the stress and inhale gratitude and exhale guilt. So your body is amazing, and your holiday doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be real. Before we go into our replay of our episode, I want to share a quick and cozy recipe that you can whip up today or maybe even tomorrow morning. And most of the ingredients I would think you may have in your kitchen, which is why this is a great quick recipe. It's cinnamon baked apples. So you core four apples and place in a baking dish, and then you fill each with a mix of oats, chopped nuts, some cinnamon maybe, and a drizzle of maple syrup, and anything else that you think sounds yummy. You bake at 350 degrees for about 25 to 30 minutes. And then if you want, you can serve them warm with a dollop of Greek yogurt. So this recipe is festive, nourishing, and smells like Christmas in a dish. Thank you for spending part of your Christmas Eve with me. And as we revisit this special episode, I hope it brings you comfort, inspiration, and a little extra sparkle to your holiday. Remember, be strong, be healthy, and be in charge. Welcome to the Speaking of Women's Health Podcast. I'm your guest host, Lee Clecker, the executive producer of the Speaking of Women's Health Podcast, and I am thrilled to be back in the Sunflower House to host another episode. Today I want to feature one of our guest columnists, Alexis Supon, who has written three fabulous columns on speakingofwoman's health.com. Alexis works in the Cleveland Clinic Center for Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine, and she is a registered and licensed dietitian, and she splits her time between seeing patients individually and speaking to groups on specific health and nutrition concerns. Alexis wrote her first guest column for speaking of women's health, and it was titled How to Get Started on Eating Healthy. She shares simple ways that we can start to eat healthier. So it's not overwhelming, and it's a great topic for us to talk about with the upcoming holiday season, where it will get really hard for some of us to resist all those delicious and decadent foods. So Alexis talks about how you can improve the way you eat starting in the new year. However, you can start anytime that you feel that you are ready. So that means if you have the motivation to improve your health, start now. The question is, how are you going to take this motivation though and turn it into action? Which that's always the difficult step, right? So to turn motivation into action, you need to start with a plan. Without a plan, your motivation is simply just your desire. But with the plan, your motivation and goals can become reality. So let's start with making a healthy meal plan. For someone who wants to eat healthier, making a healthy meal plan is an excellent start. A meal plan is where you map out what you will eat for each of your meals a few days ahead of time. So you're planning ahead, which gives you the opportunity to pick meals that are nutritious and that will work towards your goal of improved health. So whatever day of the week you feel like is a good day to start and to map out this meal plan. Maybe it's Sunday for you, you have the day off, you work Monday through Friday, or maybe you have a crazy busy weekend schedule and you know you might want to start on a Monday or a Tuesday. One study showed, though, that adults who meal plan and know what they're eating for the following few days are more likely to have greater food variety, better diet quality, and a healthy body weight, which just makes sense. I mean, if you take a few minutes out of your day just to think about what you're gonna eat tomorrow and the next day, of course you're gonna be able to say, okay, I'm gonna have a salad for lunch, I'm gonna have some salmon with a green vegetable for dinner, I'm gonna have my oatmeal with, you know, some kind of fruit or a yogurt at breakfast. You're thinking about good foods that you can put into your body. When we're rushed, you know, you're after work coming home from a long day of work, you've maybe got to get the kids somewhere. You're just gonna grab whatever you can that's easy and quick. So you're not taking that time to really think about what you're putting in your body. So the key to a good meal plan is to make it realistic and sustainable, which is easier said than done. Uh this year you can, or whenever you're starting, so it's the new year, or it's now, you can try to avoid those crash diets and cleanses that promise fast weight loss. Instead, just try to follow a healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet, which reduces your risk for several chronic diseases. So here is Alexis's quick guide to meal planning. Number one, write out your plan. So she says sit down once a week and start to jot down what meals you will eat for the upcoming week. So be sure to choose healthy meals with lots of vegetables, and see a dietitian if you need help learning what a healthy meal looks like. Be sure to also consider your time, budget, you know, especially with the way prices are now at the grocery store, location, and taste. So don't choose something that you don't like. You know, there's so many options out there. You know, if you need to add a vegetable to your meal, don't pick, you know, onions if you don't like onions, or don't pick broccoli if it hurts your stomach. You know, there's so many different um options out there. And also be mindful of using leftovers, you know, and keeping meals simple and using convenience foods or takeout when needed. So if you're just no on Thursday, it's going to be a crazy day for you. Go ahead and you know do takeout, but make sure you're just choosing wisely. Her second step for quick guide to meal planning is meal prep. So have one or two days of the week where you prep for the following days. And this step is important because as studies show, people who spend time on meal prep, they have a higher quality diet and they spend less money on food. Step three, remind yourself every day of your goals. That way it just keeps you motivated. So now that you have your plan, be sure to remind yourself why are you why you are going to eat healthy and adhere to your plan that day. Think about your motivations, maybe write them down or say them aloud each morning if that also helps you. So those are her three steps to quick guide to meal planning. One, write out your plan, two, meal prep. Three, remind yourself every day of your goals. So she does offer more tips to help improve your nutrition. So, in addition to the meal planning, there are other good changes that you can make to help improve your nutrition and your overall health. The first is practice time-restricted eating, and this is when you only eat within an 8 to 12 hour period each day. This has the potential to, she mentions, improving your heart, your brain, liver, and gut health. So this is actually doesn't seem very overwhelming if you say wake up at 6 a.m. But maybe you like to have just some water in the morning or you don't have time in the morning to eat, you start your 8 or 12 hour period at 8 a.m. and then you can go to say like 8 p.m. or 6 p.m. I mean, so that's actually a very easy seems to me, I mean, not overwhelming and something easy to start doing. Um, her second tip improving nutrition is keeping unhealthy foods out of the house. So people who keep unhealthy foods in the house are more likely to have a higher fat diet than those who do not, which of course, again, just you don't make sense. So try to keep your home environment one that encourages healthy eating. If you keep snacks around for the kids or your grandkids, maybe rethink if that's something you need or even want to be doing. Are you setting up your kids and grandkids up for a high sugar diet by keeping fruit snacks or candy or whatever it may be around? Um, and then consider improving the quality of your snacks and your family's snacks to help improve their health, your health, and start getting good eating habits for everybody. Um, I know it's hard because you know, my kids are like, oh, you know, can I have a dessert with my lunch when they pack their lunches and they'll ask me to pick up those, you know, cute little rice crispy treats or things that you can just pop in. And it's so easy, especially with you know, you're a mom and you're maybe packing kit your kids' lunches every morning, and there's you know, three kids, or even if your high school kids are packing their own lunch, you know, they don't have a ton of time in the morning to really, you know, cut up vegetables and fruit. So, you know, for them, grabbing something that's already packaged is easier. However, even teaching your older kids to, you know, cut up their fruit and vegetables like the night before and have it in a container, and that way in the morning they can just grab it and pop it into their lunchbox. And that can go for all of us too when we take lunches in for work, or if you work from home, you know, just having something already prepped and just being able to grab that healthy snack is gonna just be overall so much better for you than a pre-packaged processed um food. All right, so let's get back to this list here from Alexis. Uh, we are on step number three or tip number three to improve nutrition, and her third tip is to limit or remove other negative influences. So, for example, the commercials you may see or um ads on social media where it influences how we can eat. Um, so when we see commercials for food, we eat more, and that's been, I guess, proven in studies. Um, consider you know, getting off all social media and cutting back to only 10 minutes a day. She also mentions, in addition to cutting back on social media, is to try to avoid all commercials by watching commercial-free TV and movies or avoiding the TV altogether. So there are many ways you can start eating healthier, no matter how you decide to make those changes. Just be sure to give yourself a specific plan that you can easily follow and meet your goals. You know, don't start off crazy. Just, you know, in each month, maybe have a meal plan where you do allow yourself like a cheat day or a cheat time of the day. Um, because if you just try to go full-on, completely healthy, plant-based foods, um, it's gonna feel overwhelming if that's not something you've done in your, you know, in your life before. So I'm gonna jump to Alexis's second column that she wrote on speakingofwomen's health.com. And this was called Three Things to Eat and Three Things Not to Eat Before Bed. So I don't know about you out there, but I tend to be a nighttime snacker. So I'm go, go, go during the day, and then finally you sit down at night, you have a moment to relax, and you're like, wow, I'm really hungry. And that's because we probably haven't eaten enough of our healthy calories um during the day, and then our body's starving at the end of the day. Bad habit. So that's definitely something on my list to work on. Um, but Alexis um wrote this great column, and it's again really easy to kind of follow her steps of these three things to eat and not to eat before bed. Um, she talks about how nighttime snacks can be a very beloved thing by many people, including myself, whether it's milk and cookies, popcorn, or a nightcap, many of us have a favorite treat before bed. So choosing the right food or drink before bed is an important part of a healthy daily routine. So before we review all these healthy options, um, she wants to talk about timing. So timing is everything with evening eating. Nothing should be eaten within two to three hours of going to bed, as anything closer can cause disruptions to our sleep. And I know Dr. Thacker has done many podcasts on sleep and the importance of sleep. So we do not want to do anything to disrupt that. Um, so for any food or drinks below, so give yourself time between eating these foods that we're going to talk about and before laying down. Um, we're going to talk about three great things that you should and can have before bed, and then three things that you'll want to avoid. So, what to eat or drink before bed. Number one, she suggests a soothing caffeine-free drink. So, a cup of tea can be an excellent late night option, of course, decaf. And the right cup of tea does not have to have to add any undesired calories to your day, and it can even help improve sleep. So, there's some teas called passion flour, lavender, and valerian root teas, and they're great options because they help aid sleep. Um, you can also check out bedtime tea blends that they have at the store, as they often contain a mix of different herbs that help promote sleep. Golden milk is also a smart option for late-night drinking. It's packed with anti-inflammatory ingredients, and it can be the perfect choice for anyone looking to boost their antioxidants, which is great at this time of year, or lessen chronic pain. So if you have chronic knee pain, back pain, any kind of pain, um, golden milk can help with that. And especially probably before bed. Um, I know I've got I've got a lower back pain that it just seems every time I'm laying down in bed, I just can't get comfortable. So I should try this golden milk and see if that will help. Um, her second um food or drink that she does suggest to have before bed is a filling dinner. So a filling dinner is an important thing to have every evening as it will keep you satisfied so you don't get too hungry and make poor food choices later in the night. So a meal that contains a healthy lean protein is a good option as protein provides a long-lasting feeling of fullness. And healthy lean proteins can include fish, tofu, uh, white meat, poultry, and beans. All right, the third, what to eat or drink before bed, is nuts and seeds. Uh, because most nuts and seeds contain magnesium, a mineral, and melatonin, which is a natural hormone. And both of these sleep-promoting compounds. They can be found in unsalted pumpkin seeds, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, which makes them all great choices for an evening snack. And nuts and seeds are calorie-dense foods, so it's important to stick to just one serving. Um, so portion out a small handful, which is roughly about one-fourth cup. And actually, that's goes back to the meal planning, too, that she talks about in her first column. Because if you put that one-fourth cup of those um seeds and you know, put them in little containers or baggies or whatever works for you, and kind of have them lined up in your pantry or cabinet, and then grab it, you know, in your evening when you're a little hungry, perfect, right? And easy. All right, so we're gonna talk about the three things that you we should not be eating or drinking before bed. And the first one is a snack out of a bag, box, or container, which I'm sure most of us are guilty of doing very often. It's convenient, we're busy, there's a lot going on. Um, so light late night snacks are often chosen to satisfy cravings. Like, so when you've got that extra burst of hungry before hunger before bed, it's usually something that you crave, right? Your mind's just like, oh, I cannot, I just want this and I can't stop thinking about it. Um, so while having a snack to satisfy a craving is okay, eating too many servings can be detrimental to your health. So a smart way to help control portions is to never allow yourself to eat foods out of multiple serving containers. But instead, put everything on a small plate or in a small bowl. So if you just have to have some potato chips, you know, you just can't stop thinking about your body's obviously craving salt and whatever. Put that in a little bowl. Don't just take the whole bag and sit on the couch and start watching your Netflix or whatever you're, you know, you're watching on TV. Um, but take that few like 30 seconds just to put a little handful in a cup or a bowl, and that way then you still can satisfy that craving and but not have the guilt of just sitting there eating and you don't even know how much you've eaten out of the bag. Uh, the second item that she suggests to not eat or drink before bed is alcohol. So while it can seem like alcohol helps with falling asleep, it can lead to poor sleep quality. So instead of a nightcap um before bed, consider a glass of red wine with dinner. So you're having that wine with that full meal filled with protein and not a glass of you know, alcohol at 10 p.m. at night, right before you're gonna go to sleep. The third item that she suggests not to eat or drink before bed is sugar. So it's no surprise that eating sweets at night is unhealthy. While most of us know it can be a poor choice for someone trying especially to lose weight, many of us actually don't know that it can disrupt sleep. I mean, all three of these things we're talking about is like sleep disruption. So, and sugar is shown to have a connection to poor sleep quality and insomnia. So instead of trying to avoid all sweets and then giving in late at night, allow yourself a smart option, such as an ounce of dark chocolate covered almonds or oatmeal, maple, and raisin cookies after dinner. And we have a great recipe on speaking of women's health for these oatmeal, maple, and raisin cookies that you should definitely check out. We're gonna dive into Alexis's third column on speakingofwomen's health.com. And this is called How Your Diet Affects Hormones and Menopause. Well, it's probably not something you think about like, oh, how I'm eating is going to affect my hormones, which then you know can affect menopause, but it does, they're all related. So hormones are the chemical messengers in our body that help coordinate our body's functions. And women have over 50 hormones in their bodies, and they're all essential to our health. So during menopause, our bodies start to produce less of the hormones progesterone and estrogen. And the decrease in these hormones can lead to health issues such as weight gain, increased cholesterol, and decreased bone density and muscle mass. And it's also the cause of common side effects of menopause such as insomnia, hot flashes, and night sweats. So does diet affect hormones? And the short answer is yes. But this must be clear. While our diet can affect our hormones, our diet cannot fix a hormone imbalance when there is a root cause besides poor diet. For example, if you have hypothyroidism, there is no special diet or food that can fix this. So if you're hoping to treat an underlying hormone issue through diet alone, you are out of luck. So if you suspect you have a hormone imbalance, please speak with your doctor. For those dealing with the hormonal changes associated with menopause or perimenopause, lifestyle changes can help alleviate side effects. So avoiding highly processed foods, which we've talked about during the early part of this podcast, avoiding highly processed foods, which can negatively affect our hormone and balance, is an important first step in improving hormone balance. So instead of highly processed foods, choose to eat a diet rich in whole foods like the Mediterranean diet. So this diet is rich in vegetables, whole grains, fruits, seafood, healthy fats, and the Mediterranean diet discourages the foods that cause inflammation and negatively impact our hormone balance, which is those added sugars, the refined carbohydrates, and processed foods. So are there specific foods that women should focus on during menopause? There are certain food groups and nutrients that are shown to be helpful to women in menopause. Be sure to consume adequate amounts of these foods. One, whole grains. Eating mostly whole grains instead of refined grains will help keep your cholesterol and weight in healthier ranges. Two, dairy. If you aren't lactose intolerant, including some dairy in the diet, can be a great way to consume protein, calcium, and vitamin D, which will help maintain your bone density. So vitamin D is hard to get through diet alone. So talk to your doctor to see if you need a supplement. Three, colorful fruits and vegetables. Um, ideally those that are in season, because that will help increase your variety. So getting a wide variety of fruits and vegetables can not only help you avoid menopause-related weight gain, it can also help improve your gut health. So two big things that women have to deal with in midlife. You know, that weight gain, especially in the stomach area and gut health. I mean, it's just as we get older, those hormones, here we go again, they really just take a number on our bodies. So try adding in probiotic foods such as kimchi and miso to improve your gut health even more. The fourth food that Alexis recommends to eat during menopause is phytoestrogens. And these are compounds which mimic estrogen in your body, and they can be shown to lessen hot flashes. Those are foods like broccoli, carrots, soy, and um also red clover, red raspberry leaf, and black kohosh teas. They're all really good drink options as well that have those compounds. Coffee also contains phytoestrogens, but just keep that to one or two cups a day. The fifth um food to focus on during menopause is protein. Protein is important for sustaining muscle mass, which we naturally start to lose with menopause. So stay strong by including fish, poultry, dairy, eggs, beans, chickpea, pasta, and soy in your diet. While changes in hormones are natural, women can lessen the symptoms by maintaining a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet, like we talked about the Mediterranean diet, exercising regularly. So, you know, when it's beautiful outside, try and get out there and get a couple walks in, even if it's 10 minutes in the morning and maybe 10 minutes during lunch and 10 minutes in the evening. You know, if it's hard to kind of find that half hour, um, breaking it up is will get you the same results. And see a doctor to help manage any hormone imbalances. I want to thank you for joining me on this episode of the Speaking of Women's Health podcast. I'm so happy to be able to be a guest and share with you these wonderful tips from our women's health experts like Alexis. And we are so grateful for your support, and we hope you will consider supporting the podcast by sharing it with others, donating to our Speaking of Women's Health program, or leaving a five star rating and review. And I want to thank you again, and I look forward to seeing you next time as a guest podcaster in the Sunflower House.
