How to support your gut after the holidays
Is your gut feeling off as you wrap up the holiday season?
Reasons for this include:
A change in foods you are eating, including more heavy meals and possible trigger foods
Drinking more alcohol, which disrupts gut permeability
Changes in routines, which can impact the rhythms in the gut
Poor sleep behaviors, including both not enough sleep and inconsistent sleep schedules
More stress with travel, family dynamics, and busy schedules
Less time for relaxation and self care
If you’re feeling off, know that there is likely a combination of things that have been contributing to how you feel and you’re not alone in that.
But what do you do about it?
Mistakes made trying to recover
One of the biggest mistakes you could make to recover after the holidays is go to extremes.
This includes:
doing a big cleanse
a supplement killing protocol
long fasting
restrictive diets
What to do instead?
Instead of going to extremes, the key is to get back into the routines and habits that were supporting you before the holidays, with an added focus on the changes that may have led to the symptoms you have now.
The best place to start is your sleep, because this will help your gut get back into rhythm, give your nervous system space to cool down, and set you up to work on your daytime routines.
The goal is to get at least 7-9 hours of sleep each night on a consistent schedule. This means your sleep and wake times are as close to the same time each day, with a 2 hour range. This will help support your circadian rhythms so your gut, hormones, and nervous system are also in a better rhythm.
Once you have your sleep schedules down, focus on your daytime routines. This includes eating consistent and balanced meals (yes, even if you need a schedule to stay on track), consistent walks and movement, and time for self care and relaxation. This is key before you start thinking about what foods to exclude or which workouts to add, because you can more easily build off of a routine than off of chaos.
If you’re looking for support and guidance of exactly what steps to take and how to troubleshoot the details based on your symptoms, the MASTER Method Membership is for you!
Do you want clear guidance to manage your IBS so you can feel confident in your body again?
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