“During the holiday season, it’s easy to forget that sometimes the best gift of all is simply the gift of time.”
~ Kate Klise
Creating a Healthy Holiday
Once upon a time winter was a peaceful season, a time of communal rest and renewal. Modern life has changed that dramatically. It’s now the busiest time of the year with the pressure to do too much, spend too much, and push our bodies to their limits. That’s not a recipe for autoimmune health, so let’s make a pact to do it differently. Here are some resources I’ve created to help:
A simple thing to do each day during the month of December. This article even has a printable PDF for your fridge.
50 Paleo AIP Christmas Cookies and Holiday Treats
Being on a healing diet doesn’t mean you need to miss out on the joy of holiday baking. For many families, it’s an annual tradition that builds memories across generations. Here are 50 delicious recipes to ring in the holiday season, including Gingerbread, Frosted Sugar Cookies, Hanukkah Gelt, Spritz Cookies, Fruitcake Bites, Peppermint Snowballs, and more.
50 Paleo AIP Holiday Gift Ideas
Do your friends and family want to support you this season, but don’t quite know how? Here’s a healthy wish list of everything from stocking stuffers and kitchen essentials, to health-focused charities and kind deeds.
15 Tips for Surviving the Holidays Well
Are you wondering how to stay on your healing diet at holiday gatherings? I share my best tips here.
5 Mantras for a Healthy Holiday Season
Finally, let’s choose some words of intention to guide us through this season. How do you want your holidays to be?
Credit: image at top of page from Pixnio.
Help! My husband and started strict AIP at the beginning of September and we have been in re-introduction mode for almost a month. It has been very interesting to find out foods that work or don’t work with our bodies –even though the outcomes are sometimes sad = goodbye eggs and dairy. Our extended family is well aware of how we are currently eating, so when we ate with another couple tonight, they were boiling shrimp and we were handling the sides. It was supposed to be just shrimp with lemon and that’s it. I found out afterwards they had used a shrimp/crab boil packet that not only had mustard seed (which we had not introduced yet) but also included: CORIANDER SEED, CAYENNE PEPPER, DILL SEED, and ALLSPICE!!! They also used an additional packet with: SALT, DEXTROSE, SPICES (INCLUDING RED PEPPER), NATURAL FLAVOR, EXTRACTIVES OF PAPRIKA, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE (FLAVOR ENHANCER), LEMON PUREE, SUGAR, AND LEMON JUICE. (I realize a couple of those ingredients are okay.) We were horrified to find that out after dinner. Neither of us said anything to them though.
So…. aside from crying…. Do we have to start another 30 day strict AIP again? Do we hope there was not enough on the shrimp peeling to affect us and move along as we are well into our introductions? I’m not sure my husband can handle another 30 days of AIP without some dearly missed foods. Do we wait a few days to see if there was enough to affect us? Do we just continue with the re-introductions and pretend this never happened? I don’t want to have a flare from this and I certainly don’t want to have one from being so stressed and distraught over this one meal.
What is advisable?
Hi Jenifer. I’m so sorry that happened. Unfortunately most people eat so much packaged food that it’s totally unconscious; they don’t even think about it. That’s a lot of extra ingredients and the nightshades are the biggest concern. If it were me, I would wait 72 hours and watch for symptoms. If he does flare, wait until the flare passes before doing further reintros. If he doesn’t flare, make nightshade spices the next reintro since they were included in this meal. That way you can confirm whether they are or aren’t a problem for him.
Thank you so much! We sure don’t need any more stress during the holidays. Here’s hoping you have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!! 🙂
Eileen, thanks so much for this thoughtful post. For decades, I was ruled by societal expectations that kept me running in manic circles, spending money I did not have, and spending time with people who depleted me. What’s more, I tried for many years to emulate women who “did” holidays best; as a woman whose strengths do not include crafting, I found myself falling short time and again. I was alway so relieved once the new year rolled around, and could not *wait* to remove all holiday residue from the premises. This post helps me consider the beauty of winter as a time of rest, refueling, and peaceful reflection. When, this year, I am faced with the perpetual question, “Are you ready for Christmas?” which is code for “Have you lost your freaking mind by now?” I will simply say, “Yes, I am,” and offer no explanations. I am ready to follow my gut, a practice that, it turns out, has my best interest in mind. Thanks for all you do.
Beautifully expressed, Deborah! Thank you so much for sharing. Wishing you a peaceful and joyful holiday season.