How Healthy Metabolism Party Over the Holidays

Today, I want to share with you a new favorite recipe for the holidays and walk you through how healthy metabolisms party over the holidays.

My friends in Canada will be celebrating Thanksgiving next Monday!

I want you to see that you don’t have to sacrifice the best parts of life that revolve around food at the altar of weight loss and weight control.

I want to show you that you can pull in foods, recipes, and menus that are fun, festive, delicious and they also help your body thrive.

Who has been on a diet in the past during the holiday season?  

Who has tried to maintain stiff rules.  Let’s say you’ve joined Weight Watchers and only have so many points to spend that day.  What do you do?

Do you just call it a cheat day?  

Do you just say, it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas or Halloween or whatever and it doesn’t count?  

Do you try to eat off a tiny plate or eat less?  

In the Freese Method we repair your metabolism to a place where you don’t have to make decisions about being on or off your diet during holidays and celebrations.  

Your body can handle the stuffing.  

Your metabolism can handle the gravy.  

You’re repairing your metabolism to handle food without gaining weight.   Which is a total paradigm shift from eating less to create a calorie deficit to lose weight.

There is a big difference between metabolic repair that gets your body to a place it can have pie vs. always having to watch your calories and be on or off a diet.  

What you should want is freedom, not just rules.

When you have a healthy metabolism you have so many choices and options on how you want to handle and move through the world with food over the holidays.  

When you are on a diet you have only two options.  Stay within your strict rules or stray from the plan and gain weight.

Our ultimate goal in the Freese Method is to have a healthy, flexible metabolism that can handle special occasions, holidays and bread without freaking out.

To control your weight long term your eating habits need to be sustainable and they need to promote a healthy efficient metabolism.

This is why we are not a type of keto diet.  Because there is not enough flexibility or sustainability with having to be in ketosis all the time.

But here’s the interesting thing. Once you have a healthy metabolism, all the pies, cookies, breads and rolls aren’t as desirable as they used to be.  They have lost their power over you.. 

You no longer crave bread or sugar. You have a very healthy neutral relationship with mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.  You have a very calm and peaceful relationship with food that you never had before.

We have a saying in the Freese Method, we say, it’s not that we can’t, it’s just that we don’t.  

Your brain is different with a healthy metabolism sending it healthy balanced signals.

With a damaged metabolism, your brain is driving these incredibly powerful cravings for the stuffing, the honey glazed carrots, the sweet potato pie with marshmallows on top. It’s like forbidden food that you just desire so much.

With that desire comes guilt and a naughty feeling like a small child who’s about to get in trouble.

With a healthy metabolism, you can walk through a beautiful spread of food, smell the smells, see the food, all of it, and remain calm and in control of yourself.  The feeling is easy going, joyful.  What will you pick?  Oh, how fun!  It has a lightness to it.

You aren’t stressed about gaining weight.  

You aren’t stressed about going off plan.

You aren’t stressed about losing control.

If you choose to eat the sweet potato pie you will be ok. Firstly, your body will be ok, because you have a metabolism that can handle sweet potato pie without going off the rails.  Your healthy metabolism will have insulin that will turn on and then, this is so important, turn off!

You will have planned to eat the sweet potato pie the day before.  You will have a plan for what you will drink and the other food on your plate.  You will know exactly how it will affect your body. You will have a plan on when you are going to eat it and how you will get into fat-burning mode, if you want to) after the meal. 

You know how to fill a plate that won’t wreck your metabolism, won’t produce more damage, nor will it be auster or sad.

You will know how to enjoy social settings without pressure or guilt.  You will enjoy your people and feel amazing about yourself. Not only in how you look, but in how well you are moving through the world and making incredible decisions for yourself.

To help you make the first incredible decision for yourself, I’m going to share a yummy and easy recipe that you can make for any of the upcoming holidays.

The recipe is Parmesan Brussel Sprouts.

Brussels sprouts are really having a moment, probably due to their incredible nutrient profile, but also because we are rediscovering them and cooking them better to bring out their natural sweetness.

And now is the perfect time of year to find the Brussels sprouts that are nice and fresh and crisp and sweet.

You want to find little sprout heads that are bright green, tightly layered without mold or cuts. 

If you don’t care for brussels sprouts, I beg you, try this recipe before you rule them out.  As part of the nutrient powerhouse cruciferous vegetable family, brussels sprouts are as healthy as kale and broccoli. 

If you cook them right, they can be unbelievably delicious.

For this recipe you’ll preheat your oven, and trim your brussel sprouts. Now we are going to leave these Brussels sprouts whole, so if you can, try and get sprouts that are all about the same size so they will cook evenly.

Make a big pot of water and turn on the heat to high and plop your sprouts into the water and bring to a boil.  Let the sprouts cook for about 8-10 minutes.  Check them often because we don’t want soggy sprouts, we want just soft sprouts. They need to still hold their shape.

Next, you’ll drain the sprouts and coat them in a tangy vinaigrette of extra-virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt and red pepper flakes.

Once coated in the vinaigrette we will spread them out evenly on a backing sheet lined with parchment paper.  Then we are going to grab either a measuring cup or a drink cup and we’re gonna press the sprouts a bit so they flatten out a bit.  This is why we needed them a little soft but not too soft.

Next, we’ll sprinkle freshly grated parmesan cheese over all our little smashed sprouts and pop the whole pan in the oven to crisp up for about 10 minutes.

The tangy vinaigrette with the salty parmesan is just perfect. 

That’s it! They look super fancy and they taste amazing!

Remember, the holidays do not have to become something you dread or fight against.

They can be something you look forward to and enjoy.  And not the kind of hedonistic enjoyment but sustained, calm enjoyment.  The kind of enjoyment where you know you will wake up each morning from Oct 1 to Jan 1 and feel great about yourself.

You can have that!

The holidays are actually a great time to join the Freese Method program as we will be going through these situations together. I can help guide you through all the parties, the social get togethers and you will have a wonderful plan that is not just celery.

If you would like to have the best holiday season of your life. It’s time to join the program!

Alright, everyone, enjoy the recipe and remember, you absolutely have what it takes to lose weight, achieve glowing health and never stress about food, even during the holidays, you just need to repair your metabolism first.