In this episode, Stacy and Sarah talk to Jaclyn Harwell from The Family That Heals Together on how to manage the holidays, how to indulge, and how to stay on a healing track when everything around you is begging you to fall off.
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The Paleo View (TPV), Episode 225: Jaclyn Harwell and Managing Holiday Indulgences
- Intro (0:00)
- News and Views (0:40)
- Stacy has avoided the flu lately, ducking and jiving like an Argentinian boxer! Must be that collagen, sleep and veggies!
- Meanwhile, Sarah’s trying to get her book ready for print! Preorder Paleo Principles now!
- Sarah and Stacy both seem to notice that they get sick less frequently, particularly with stomach bugs, than they did pre-Paleo
- Our guest today: Jaclyn Harwell from The Family that Heals Together! (6:02)
- We’re going to talk about how different families approach the holidays!
- Illness goes up during the holidays. Not just because of indulgences, but because of stress and other factors as well!
- Jaclyn started her blog because of all the healing in her own family thanks to Paleo
- As a teenager, she had a ton of health issues like joint pain, excessive tiredness, and hyperthyroidism
- Her first son had things like eczema and allergies.
- As a family, they started making small changes to improve their health and saw improvements, but they weren’t Paleo yet.
- Her oldest son started to show signs of ADHD and anger issues and she was still not feeling great.
- After third child, they went sugar and grain-free and it suddenly got her and her family’s health back on track.
- She feels that this diet is worth all the effort it takes to get it on.
- Jaclyn last year was trying GAPS diet around the holidays, and made the decision to enjoy the holidays without going off the track.
- This year, she will be able to indulge a little more.
- Sarah recommends breaking down changes for improvements into small increments, like going to bed fifteen minutes earlier to gain almost 2 hours of sleep per week.
- Jaclyn says that perfectionism defeats the inspiration to make any changes at all. Small increments will always be better than nothing!
- Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good!
- Figure out your priorities in your life first, then you can determine what you can indulge in. Only you can determine this, so there is no Black and White answer.
- Sarah defines people as either people who prefer to abstain entirely and people who are able to make occasional indulgences. She asks herself whether a choice will set her on a slippery slope or not. (By the way, my egg nog obsession proves that I should abstain entirely.)
- Sugar is a chemical that affects the brain and hits your pleasure centers. It’s very addictive!
- Unlike drug addiction, you can’t quit food entirely or you’ll die.
- We all want to participate in the social and emotional aspects of the holiday without losing our healing.
- Jaclyn has a ebook called Nourishing Holiday to help you through the holidays. Also see Danielle Walker’s Against All Grain Celebrations!
- Stacy recommends not losing the emotional and social part of the holidays because you are too obsessed with the physical aspects of the food.
- Practice will help you to climb back up your slippery slope and resetting after indulgences. Focusing on lifestyle factors and making sure to be nutrient sufficient will help you to keep indulgences in control as well.
- Jaclyn says to know your limits and keep within them to stay healthy
- Really great recipes that will feel like indulgences will help you stay on track.
- Keep your stress low. Don’t do activities or too many activities if they’re not going to keep you healthy.
- Find Jaclyn on Social Media!
- Stacy and Sarah remark that they can’t get too far into Twitter, though you c an find them both on there. Twitter is a scary, but wonderful place.
- Check out her guest post on Real Everything on Dessert Raviolis!
- Outro (44:43)
Cashew Chicken