Mikaela Snooks Dietitian & Freedom Coach

Eating past fullness when you have a table of delicious, special holiday food can actually be an enjoyable and memorable component of holiday celebrations, if you allow it to be. You may choose to stop eating when you hit "comfortably full" - which would be closer to a 7/8 on the Hunger Fullness Scale- and that’s fine too! I want to encourage you to simply prepare yourself mentally throughout the month that it is OK to occasionally get too full and you don't have to worry a...bout it having long-term consequences for your health. It's the bigger picture of what you do most of the time that plays a part in your long-term health. When or if it happens, you can remind yourself: "I anticipated this. This is normal. This is OK. This feeling will pass. That was such a special meal." Find all six holiday self-care tips here: https://www.mikaelasnooks.com/post/holiday-self-care

Next up in our holiday self-care series, part 2: Make sure that you are nourishing your body adequately each and every day. This means not fasting and saving up for big holiday meals, but instead nourishing your body consistently and steadily with an inflow of energy from all the macronutrients (fat, protein, carbohydrates). Try to approach this self-care item with compassion, care and respect. ... For additional tips on nourishing your body, it may be helpful to revisit my blog post on adequate nourishment: https://www.mikaelasnooks.com/p/adequate-nourishment-basics To help keep your mind on track with this goal, you can use a mantra like: I respect my body. I will care for my body. My body is relying on me to nourish it.

Over the next two weeks, I’m going to share my simple holiday self-care tips here on Facebook as a four-part series. Part 1: Take space when you need to and feel your feelings. Taking space has many applications, but an important one I want to highlight is that you can walk away and leave a conversation that is not supportive for you, or verbally set a boundary of topics that you will not discuss (dieting, your body, your plate of food, weight, etc). On the blog, I share mor...e examples of the kinds of things or situations you may need to take space from. https://www.mikaelasnooks.com/post/holiday-self-care Whatever it means to you, take the space you need. Secondly, feel your feelings. Feelings this holiday season may be conflicting, confusing or difficult to name. Be so gentle with yourself as you give space for yourself to move through whatever you may be feeling. Your feelings are important; they give you so much insight into yourself and the world. They deserve to be noticed and honored. It may be helpful to have support as you feel hard feelings, so consider reaching out to a therapist or trusted friend or family member. Journaling or painting can be another helpful way to process. If you have a favorite way to process your feelings or an activity that helps you, please share it in the comments!

Take it easy, take it easy Hi there! Savannah, here. I’m the gal in overalls dancing in this reel Quick introduction: I’m a Registered Dietitian in the US. I also practice from a weight-inclusive, non-diet approach. I work with Mikaela doing some virtual business admin and content creation, so you might see my name or face around Instagram and the blog!... This week we wanted to encourage you to Take it Easy on yourself. Be flexible as you work on flexibility with food, bodies and movement. The path won’t be easy or linear. It will likely be full of bumps and u-turns and delays. Be patient with yourself and keep working. Remember that YOU are the expert on your own body. Trust yourself and trust your body. Be flexible with your food and exercise plans, routines and patterns. This flexibility is one of the wisest, most caring and healthy things you can practice. If you missed it, this month’s blog post was alllll about flexibility and freedom: mikaelasnooks.com/post/flexibility-and-freedom Leave a comment with one of your favorite songs that helps you feel relaxed and easy going.

Take it easy, take it easy Hi there! Savannah, here. I’m the gal in overalls dancing in this reel. Quick introduction: I’m a Registered Dietitian in the US. I also practice from a weight-inclusive, non-diet approach. I work with Mikaela doing some virtual business admin and content creation, so you might see my name or face around Instagram and the blog!... This week we wanted to encourage you to Take it Easy on yourself. Be flexible as you work on flexibility with food, bodies and movement. The path won’t be easy or linear. It will likely be full of bumps and u-turns and delays. Be patient with yourself and keep working. Remember that YOU are the expert on your own body. Trust yourself and trust your body. Be flexible with your food and exercise plans, routines and patterns. This flexibility is one of the wisest, most caring and healthy things you can practice. If you missed it, this month’s blog post was alllll about flexibility and freedom, and you can find the direct link in my profile! Leave a comment with one of your favorite songs that helps you feel relaxed and easy going. #ditchthediet#nondietdietitian#dietitian#RD#weightinclusive#bodytrust#intuitiveeating#haes#healthateverysize#bodykindness#bodyimage#bodyacceptance#nutrition#health#healthy#selfcare#selflove#selfcompassion#curiosity#allbodiesareworthybodies #flexibility #freedom

Feeling flexible and free in our own bodies- what does that look like?? No, I’m not talking about being able to touch your toes or go streaking through the woods. Feeling freedom and flexibility in our bodies means we aren’t making choices with the intention of manipulating our bodies. We view ourselves with kindness, respect and care. We live our life in accordance with our values and practice accepting and caring for the body that results from this life. We engage in hea...lth-promoting habits without focusing on how it impacts our body shape or size. We let go of expectations that we have for how our body can or should look now or decades down the road. We practice expecting the ebb and flow of our body throughout a monthly cycle or the seasons of life. We visualize living IN our body instead of appraising and evaluating it from the outside. We practice gratitude to our body for all it does for us, instead of criticizing it based on appearance. We care for our body by dressing it in clothes that fit comfortably, by feeding it what it needs to be fully nourished and satisfied and by moving it in a way that promotes joy and energy. Flexibility with our bodies is truly the centerpiece of all we’ve talked about this month. Flexibility and freedom with food and movement are going to hinge on whether or not we feel gentle, compassionate or perhaps neutral towards our body’s size and shape. When you are able to begin embracing flexibility with your body, freedom in the other categories will likely begin to come much more easily. Head over to the blog to read more about each of the three categories. You’ll also find action steps for beginning to embrace freedom and flexibility with your body. https://www.mikaelasnooks.com/post/flexibility-and-freedom

Flexibility and freedom around exercise are hallmarks of joyful movement. These two characteristics of movement can be good benchmarks to help you assess if you are compulsively exercising or if you are exercising in a healthy, health-promoting way. Wondering where you fall? Consider the questions below: Do you have the ability to miss a workout without stressing about it?... Can you decide to take a rest day without it making you anxious or guilty? Do you prioritize getting enough sleep over getting up early to exercise? Do you finish exercising and feel energized? Are you able to listen to your body when it communicates to you what kind of movement it feels up for? Do you avoid exercising when you’re sick? Or choose a really gentle form of movement like light stretching? Does your movement align with your values? If you answered yes to most of those questions, it sounds like you’re implementing flexibility and freedom in your movement! If you answered no to a couple questions and are interested in learning more about how to have more flexibility with exercise and movement, I recommend heading over to the blog. It goes into more depth on this topic and list some steps you can take to begin transitioning to a more peaceful, joyful relationship with exercise. We also discuss how freedom with movement is connected to flexibility with food and with our bodies. https://www.mikaelasnooks.com/post/flexibility-and-freedom