The holiday season can be joyful—and chaotic. In this episode, Emily and AJ share practical, realistic strategies to help you stay healthy, energized, and mentally grounded during the holidays without guilt or extremes. Drawing from their experience as nurse practitioners, fitness coaches, and parents, they focus on mindset, flexibility, and consistency over perfection.

Listeners will learn how to set realistic health "minimums," approach holiday meals without shame, stay active with simple movement, and protect sleep and boundaries. The episode closes with a grounded post-holiday plan to help you return to your routine feeling strong instead of depleted.

The holidays don't have to derail your health.

In this episode, Emily and AJ—nurse practitioners, fitness coaches, and parents—share realistic, guilt-free strategies to help you stay healthy, energized, and mentally grounded during the busy holiday season.

They talk about shifting your mindset away from perfection, setting simple health minimums, enjoying holiday meals without extremes, staying active with flexible movement, protecting sleep, and setting boundaries to avoid burnout. You'll also learn why the term "cheat meal" can be harmful and how to jump back into your routine after the holidays without punishment.

• Why mindset matters more than perfection during the holidays

• How to set realistic health minimums instead of all-or-nothing goals

• Smart strategies to enjoy holiday meals without overeating or guilt

• Why the term "cheat meal" can be harmful—and what to use instead

• Simple ways to stay active, even with a busy holiday schedule

• How setting boundaries protects your health, energy, and relationships

• The importance of jumping back into routine after the holidays

A grounded, practical conversation to help you enjoy the season—and still feel good doing it.

In this episode, nurse practitioners and fitness coaches Emily and AJ break down the truth about intermittent fasting (IF). While IF can work for some, they explain why it's often unrealistic for most people—especially active individuals—and lacks meaningful long-term benefits. Citing a meta-analysis of nine trials with 540 participants, they highlight that IF shows no long-term improvements in weight loss, blood pressure, or fasting glucose compared to regular calorie control. Emily and AJ emphasize the importance of glucose stability, cortisol management, and consistent, well-timed meals for sustainable fat loss, energy, and overall health.

"There is some truth to calories in and to calories out, but there's so much more nuance there and variability in person to person and your goals. I feel like that's a really hard blanket statement to make, which I unfortunately think is the way intermittent fasting is often approached. It's like this, oh, this is great. This is a wonderful fix. Just do this, but, and I'm sure there's some people out there that it works for, and they make it work because that works for their activities, their lifestyle, but when you look at actual data for the general public, it's just not realistic." - AJ

• Intermittent Fasting Basics: What IF is, how different fasting windows work, and why it's challenging for the general population.

• What the Research Says: Meta-analysis findings showing no long-term advantage of IF over traditional caloric restriction.

• Fueling for Active Lifestyles: Why IF makes it harder to meet energy needs, support recovery, and maintain muscle mass.

• Glucose & Cortisol: How fasting affects blood sugar stability, increases cortisol, and impacts fat loss.

• Sustainable Nutrition: The benefits of consistent meal timing, moderate snacking, and individualized nutrition plans.

• Practical Takeaways: Choose what's sustainable, focus on long-term habits, and prioritize fueling your lifestyle—not following rigid rules.

Reference:

• Effectiveness of intermittent fasting for weight loss in individuals with obesity

• The Response of the Hormone Cortisol

• The effect of prolonged intermittent fasting on autophagy, inflammasome and senescence genes expressions

Connect with Emily and AJ

Website: https://www.emilylevercoaching.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedellever/