Pamper Your Liver: Avoid Holiday Weight Gain, Part 1
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Please note I am not a physician, so this blog post should not replace medical care! I am just someone who discovered a liver virus the hard way and want to share the word about a widespread issue that many of us face. Hopefully you learn a bit here to not feel overwhelmed to talk to your doctor!
It seems like this time of year a lot of people throw caution to the wind, eat whatever they want, and figure they’ll fix it all with a New Year’s resolution. That’s always a miserable ending, though.
How about instead we focus on treating our bodies well, indulging where it’s worth it, and making a resolution in January to do more traveling or talk to friends who don’t live nearby more often?
The point is, nothing about the holidays (whether the enjoyment or the aftermath of it) should feel like punishment or something bad. And that can be the case if you nourish your body now and enjoy the things unique to this season…you will probably find you even enjoy all the festivities more!
So we will be going through a series of ways to avoid gaining weight (which, FYI, also makes you feel not so great) so that you can feel your best, enjoy everything from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, and enter the new year with goals you will actually look forward to!
Part one of avoiding holiday weight gain is pampering your liver.
Your liver plays a key role not only to your overall health, but it is also a major part of the metabolic processes of your body. Read more about how it works in my post on how to Supercharge Your Fat Burn with this Easy Strategy!
That means that when your liver is working efficiently, you will burn fat faster and more easily.
You can optimize your liver function by avoiding added sugars and sodium, but you know the big one that is a challenge for it.
Alcohol.
Don’t stop reading now! There are two suggestions here that are reasonable…even easy.
First, these days, there is an abundance of alcohol alternatives that ACTUALLY TASTE GOOD and make you not even miss the booze.
Whether you are hosting the party or going to friend/family party, you can stock your bar or bring with you non-alcoholic spirits or wines so that that you can still indulge and enjoy. As an added bonus, most of these drinks come in packaging that is just as festive as their alcoholic counterparts, so likely no one will even notice.
And if anyone tries them, there’s a decent chance you’re running out of them. (I look for any excuse to hoard things that I love!)
If you are looking to give alcohol-free spirits a try (and why not at least give it a try?), Amazon has many of my favorites!
They have an extensive selection of spirits and wine (including bubbles and rose!). There’s enough variety to allow you to get creative, and if you have a Prime account, it’s free shipping!
Also, it’s somewhat hard to find stores that sell alcohol-free drinks beyond Martinelli sparkling grape juice - that makes buying online the way to go!
In addition to Amazon’s non-alcoholic finds, I also adore Apothekary. I didn’t discover this company until halfway through my 90+ day break from alcohol, but Take the Edge Off very literally does that. I will never be without a bottle of that stuff again!
Currently, they are running a holiday deal for you to try some favorites with their Free Spirit Minis set! This includes Take the Edge Off, so it’s a great opportunity to try a few at once and in cheaper versions!
Secondly, and along with the first point, limit the number of days you drink.
(For more about the total benefits of limiting or avoiding booze, read my post here!)
If you only drink one or two nights per week, that gives your liver time to recover and run in its optimal state. There’s something called metabolic priority that guides the liver’s job, which means that it needs to take out the garbage first.
In other words, your body needs to process the toxins of alcohol before it can start filtering out the junk from food you ate and store the nutrients.
As a general rule, it takes 36 hours for your body to be able to burn fat after drinking since that job is given priority.
Limiting the number of nights per week you drink maximizes the time your liver spends in fat burning and nutrient storing mode and limits the time it spends in poison removal mode.
While you’ll also benefit your liver and see/feel results if you limit salt and sugar intake, the biggest bang for your buck comes from limiting booze.
Personally, my favorite alcohol-free mixer is Seedlip. It feels fancy, and you can curate really elaborate cocktails sans alcohol (I hate the word “mocktail” as any portmanteaux is offensive to my ears). In fact, one of my best birthday dinners was at a restaurant with a chef’s tasting menu with non-alcoholic cocktail pairings (all provided by Seedlip, hence my love for it). With delicious mixers and garnishes, you can have a really indulgent experience without the guilt and hangover the next morning!
FYI, this holiday season, rather than experimenting with a lot of new appetizers, I’m trying to create some interesting new faux cocktail recipes. (And I’ll share them on my Instagram as I go!)
If you want to try my experiments in faux cocktails, follow along here. If you have great recipes, I’d love to hear from you!
And after those nights when you did indulge in some bubbly (or eggnog, no judgment), there are five things to add to your next day that will help boost your liver recovery. Consider them your liver’s little natural helpers:
Lemon water.
Lemon water is good for so many things, but starting off your day with a glass is particularly good for your liver.
Lemons can help repair damage caused by alcohol. They may also help improve enzyme levels, and the potent dose of vitamin C helps your body produce glutathione, an antioxidant that helps with detoxification!
Coffee.
The magic drink that wakes you up has been linked to protection to your liver, even for those who have existing liver issues. Its ability to help those with liver problems or disease is linked to its prevention of the buildup of fatty liver deposits, which millions of Americans have after the covid lockdowns (and, fortunately, is reversible!).
Chlorophyll water.
The benefit in chlorophyll is that it helps detoxify your body, which is your liver’s number one job (in particular after a night of drinking).
When you give your liver support in doing its job for survival (i.e. removing substances toxic to your body), it can focus on turning on fat burning enzymes. That then becomes your liver’s number one job!
Another note about detoxification in general: with all the pollution and junky stuff in processed foods, toxins get stored in fat cells, so the more fruits and vegetables and chlorophyll you get, the more that stuff gets flushed out. You have to get rid of these toxins in fat cells before you can burn it!
Beet juice powder.
I wrote an entire post about the benefits of beet juice powder including but beyond liver health here. The good news is that you can find flavored versions if you hate the taste of beets!
Beets lower inflammation and oxidative damage in your liver. They also help prevent and reduce fatty deposits in your liver and increase your detox enzymes. They are a liver superfood that help repair and prevent liver damage. The juice in particular provides these benefits.
If you don’t have a juicer or want to go searching for a bottle of it (beet juice isn’t as common as orange juice, after all), beet juice powder or chews are great options. They’re easy, portable (no one wants to spill beet juice in their bag), and are available flavored if you don’t like the taste of beets.
So here is your first step in preventing holiday weight gain: pampering your liver.
Click here for a printable to hang on your fridge or keep by your computer for healthy things to do every day during the holiday season to prevent weight gain!
If you limit the number of nights you drink, switch to the abundance of delicious non-alcoholic options for parties, and load up on liver helpers on mornings after you do indulge, you will notice a change in the way you both look and feel!
If you want to treat your liver well at all your holiday meals, sign up below for my FREE Liver-Friendly Holiday Sides Menu, complete with shopping list and menu!
