Christmas Food Without the Crash: Prime, Process, Restore

In this Mini Mikkipedia episode, Mikki breaks down a refreshingly sane approach to Christmas eating — one that ditches guilt, detoxes, and “earning your food,” and instead works with your physiology. Using a simple three-phase framework — Prime, Process, Restore — Mikki explains how small, practical behaviours before, during, and after Christmas Day can dramatically improve blood sugar control, digestion, energy, and overall metabolic resilience. From protein-anchored meals and strategic movement to post-meal walks and nervous system regulation, this episode is about supporting the machinery that handles abundance — not punishing yourself for it. No calorie counting, no biohacker gadgets, no January regret. Just evidence-based habits that help you enjoy Christmas as a celebration, not a metabolic crisis.

Highlights

• Why Christmas food isn’t “good” or “bad” — and why behaviour ≠ character
• How movement primes insulin sensitivity and glycogen storage
• The power of protein anchoring to prevent dysregulated eating
• Why post-meal walks are non-negotiable metabolic gold
• How stress and guilt impair digestion more than food ever could

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Creators and Guests

Host

Mikki Williden

What is Mikkipedia?

Mikkipedia is an exploration in all things health, well being, fitness, food and nutrition. I sit down with scientists, doctors, professors, practitioners and people who have a wealth of experience and have a conversation that takes a deep dive into their area of expertise. I love translating science into a language that people understand, so while some of the conversations will be pretty in-depth, you will come away with some practical tips that can be instigated into your everyday life. I hope you enjoy the show!

00:00
you

00:02
Hey everyone, it's Mikki here. You're listening to Mini Mikkipedia on a Monday. And it is the Monday before Christmas if you are picking it up on December the 22nd. And at about this time of year, we've got a lot of things in play when it comes to food. We've got the people who are trying to quote unquote be good, or the people who are going to let loose and deal with it later, not even really think about it. Or of course the people who are about to jump on a January detox

00:31
So they're going to do all of the things in the lead up to January 1. The thing is, there is no such thing as good or bad around Christmas food. And I will clarify, I do think there are good and bad food choices, just full stop, I really do. But it is not about you and your behavior when I say that. What you do is not at all a testament to the character or type of person you are. So whilst there's no such thing as good or bad around Christmas food,

01:01
There is such a thing as smart metabolic support, small, simple inputs that help your body handle abundance without the crash, the bloat, or the three-day digestive hangover, which I know a lot of us can experience. And this might seem like it's damage control, but it's not really. And it's not about earning your dinner or undoing it afterwards. there's nothing, you know, I'm not like counting calories on your behalf to tell you how much this is worth in relation to what it is you're eating.

01:29
It's more about just working with your physiology instead of against it. And so I'm going to walk you through today a three phase protocol, Prime, Process, Restore, that covers the day before Christmas, the day itself, and the day after. It's like a little toolkit if you like. And these aren't hacks in the gadget sense.

01:50
And I don't want to say that they're biohacks actually, they're just behaviors. These are things that you can do with your body that create outsized metabolic returns. So you get a lot of bang for buck and they are all grounded in basic human physiology. So phase one, prime, the day before and the morning of Christmas. Cause I mean, let's be real about Christmas meal itself. If you're diving into something like ham, turkey, chicken, lamb, seafood, whatever it is is on your table, that's a good.

02:19
protein option, right? And the actual meal itself with an abundance of either cooked or salad vegetables depending on which hemisphere you live in and what your preference is, it's not overly bad. But there's a lot that can go in before Christmas and there's a lot on Christmas Day that can also go in. So this is what I'm sort of chatting to you about.

02:39
So the first phase is prime, as I said, this is the day before Christmas and the morning of Christmas day. Your goal here is simple. It is to optimize your insulin sensitivity and create glycogen storage capacity before the main event. So glycogen is our muscle carbohydrate stores and it is where carbohydrates go when we eat them until of course those stores are filled. And we do have a limited storage capacity actually. Once our glycogen stores are overfilled,

03:08
the body takes the additional carbohydrate that you've eaten and it converts it to triglycerides, which is a type of fat that we see in the bloodstream. Anyway, what you want to think about this primer phase as is you don't want to try to pour more water into an already filled cup. Same principle applies to your muscles and your liver. If they're topped up with glycogen already, incoming carbohydrate, as I mentioned, has nowhere to go except into that sort of storage capacity

03:37
or your bloodstream is elevated glucose. But if you create some space, some metabolic room, your body can handle the feast much more efficiently. So let's think about movement as metabolic priming. And of course this is about exercise, but think about it more as muscle contraction. Don't think about it as that you're burning calories off, but note that when your muscles contract, they pull glucose out of the bloodstream through a pathway that's completely independent of insulin.

04:05
It's called Glut4 translocation. Essentially, the muscle cells open up little doors and glucose walks right in and no insulin is required. This happens not only during movement and the effects last for 24 to 48 hours afterwards. So when you move the day before Christmas, you're improving your insulin sensitivity for the feast itself. And you're also depleting your muscle glycogen, creating more storage capacity for all of those roast potatoes and the pudding coming your way. Well.

04:35
Now it doesn't need to be complicated. You're not trying to smash yourself in the gym. Of course you're more than welcome to if that's how your personality lies, but know that you don't have to. You could even do something as simple as some bodyweight circuits. Three to four rounds of squats, press ups, lunges, higher reps, nothing fancy. You don't have to lift heavy. You don't have to do it for hours, but a little metabolic circuit would go a long way. Carrying heavy things is another way to do that.

05:04
shopping bags, firewood if you're in the northern hemisphere, kids, whatever it is. Think about it like farmers carries actually. Incidental load, so taking the stairs, walking uphill, playing outside. Like actually make an effort to move more than you otherwise would or as much as you usually would. And then you can sort of integrate little things whilst also taking care of that Christmas prep. So wall sits.

05:30
while the lamb is cooking on the barbecue or the turkey is cooking the day before. We could do those wall sits for a couple of minutes. Like how well can you do there? So essentially you're not burning off Christmas dinner in advance, but you are creating metabolic room for it. And of course, in addition to these other little things you might do, any kind of like endurance based stuff that you're doing that day is just going to leave you a little bit of extra room in the tank. Now the next thing is,

06:00
protein anchoring. And of course, I want you to think about protein the day before in the morning of Christmas. You want to keep these earlier meals simple and protein forward. So you guys know that I love, and I talk often about 40 grams of protein in a meal. It's not a magic number. It's just making sure you're getting what you need or whatever it is that you've sort of predetermined you need. You'll know it yourself if you count your macros and really lean into these protein forward slightly lower.

06:28
carbohydrates slightly lower fat meals. Now, some of you might want to do protein sparing and it's absolutely fine to do that. I would just say you just don't run the risk of being too aggressive with this protein forward approach so you don't like overdo it the next day. But the benefit of protein is that it maintains stable blood glucose. It doesn't spike insulin the way that refined carbohydrate does and it does help keep your appetite regulated. So whilst you are

06:56
prepping for the next day or the day if it's in the morning, the day of, you're not sort of leaning into the chocolates or the Christmas mince tarts or grabbing some nuts or chips or anything else that you're prepping. You're being really mindful of that. And in fact, having protein stabilizes blood sugar and allows you much more comfortably to avoid things you wouldn't otherwise want to be eating. And of course, protein helps preserve lean mass signaling. So your body recognizes that you're well-nourished.

07:25
It's less likely to trigger a hyperphagic or overeating response later. And it sets a foundation. You're not restricting. You're not white-knuckling it. You're just anchoring your day so when the feast comes, you're not ravenous and dysregulated. So, you know, the day before, as I mentioned, you know, keep it a bit lower in fat, keep it maybe a little bit lower in carbs as well. Have eggs and vegetables for breakfast. Add egg whites to your eggs. Have steak and salad for lunch or, you know,

07:53
even some ham or chicken, like have a good decent amount. 150 grams of cooked meat has over 50 grams of protein in it. It's pretty decent. Add in some starch to lunch if it allows you to feel more satisfied and gets you through the afternoon, particularly as you are being a little bit more active. For most people, this might look like, know, 200 to 250 grams raw weight of potato or sweet potato or something like that. So make the carbs that you do eat. Once it aren't hyper palatable,

08:22
meaning that they're not going to encourage you to eat more than you otherwise would. So as I said, sort of the morning of, this is an option, this is something to consider putting in as well. And so instead of having chocolate for breakfast, Christmas morning, or if you've got a brunch or something like that planned, don't get up at six o'clock and wait until 11 for the brunch. If you can chuck in like even like a protein shake or something like that, that'll just set the scene for a less dysregulated day, which

08:51
will just overall make you feel better. So I'm not coming at this from a, shouldn't do this and you shouldn't eat that perspective. I literally am giving you these tips, hopefully, so you feel better. So the day itself, phase two process, your goal here is to support real-time glucose disposal and digestive function while you're actually eating. So this is where small behaviors have huge returns. So there's some pre-meal activation. First up,

09:18
You want to move before you sit down to eat. So I'm talking five to 10 minutes of movement right before the meal. And I mean right before, not a couple of hours earlier. Why just before? Well, muscle contractions immediately before eating enhance glucose uptake for the next two to three hours. So there is research showing that just 15 air squats before a meal reduces postprandial glucose. And that is the blood sugar spike after eating by 18%. That's 18%.

09:48
from 15 squats. It's quite significant. So what does that look like practically? That's body weight squats in the kitchen while you're waiting for everyone to sit down. It's press ups against the counter. It's playing with your kids outside for 10 minutes. It's carrying serving dishes to the table. It might be going up and down stairs that are available in the house or outdoors or something like that. You don't need to make it something formal that you're doing. Just get your muscles firing.

10:16
The next thing that you want to consider on the day itself is structured eating and not grazing. So you do want to eat in distinct meals. And this is something which a lot of us in the health space talk about. When you graze continuously, picking at leftovers, nibbling on cheese, going back for another mince pie an hour later, you keep your insulin elevated all day long. That impairs fat oxidation, puts a constant burden on your digestive system, and keeps you in this weird half full, never satisfied state.

10:45
So your body doesn't know when the meal starts or stops. It's just constant input. Distinct meals give your system clear on and off switches. So sit down, eat your meal, enjoy it fully, then close the kitchen. Brush your teeth if you need to. Let your body process what you've given it before you add more. And if you want to try everything on the Christmas table, absolutely do that. Just make sure you're hungry for it. Try hard not to overeat.

11:14
because overeating never makes anyone feel good. So if you know that you're just really sort of getting through the Christmas dinner to go straight to dessert, absolutely reduce your portion size at the actual dinner so you've got room for that dessert so you are enjoying it fully to the best of your ability. And then we've got some post meal walks. So this really is non-negotiable. If you're only going to do one thing from this entire episode, make it this, walk after you eat.

11:43
10 to 15 minutes, no pace required, even a gentle stroll is totally fine, and it's profoundly effective. Walking after eating activates skeletal muscle glucose uptake through that same insulin independent pathway we talked about earlier. It slows gastric emptying, which means your stomach releases food more gradually, leading to a lower glucose spike. It stimulates GLP-1 secretion. That's a hormone that improves insulin sensitivity and satiety.

12:12
It reduces postprandial lipemia, which is the amount of fat circulating in your bloodstream after a meal. And it aids in that parasympathetic shift, which supports digestion. I've said this several times before, and everyone sees it, and it is true. If this kind of thing was a drug and you could bottle it, exercise, and put it in a pill, it would be first line therapy. And someone would be a gazillionaire. Thing is, it's not, but it is free.

12:41
It's accessible, it requires no equipment and it works every single time. So after Christmas lunch, get up, get outside, walk for 10 minutes, even if it's cold, if you can't do it outside, what can you do inside the house to get this 10 minutes of movement and do it even if you're full, especially if you're full. Your blood sugar, your digestion and your energy levels will thank you. One more thing, and of course everything is optional, but this particularly is optional.

13:11
but it's very effective, is digestive bitters before your meal. I'm talking about things like Swedish bitters, gentian, dandelion root, bit of compounds that you take about 10 to 15 minutes before eating. Raw apple cider vinegars also falls into this category. These stimulate hydrochloric acid production in your stomach. They increase bile flow from your gallbladder. They enhance pancreatic enzyme secretion. Basically, they tell your digestive system that food is coming and you need to get ready.

13:41
This is especially useful for rich fatty meals, which let's be honest, Christmas is full of them. Now, some people might think this is a bit woo, and I'm not sure why actually. This is traditional pharmacology. honestly like talk to any qualified naturopath and they will tell you this, but this has been used for centuries across multiple cultures because they work. So if you struggle with bloating, sluggish digestion, or feeling overly full after big meals, this is worth trying. Of course, you do want to try to

14:11
prevent yourself from having a super big sluggish too much of a meal in the first place. Anyway, a phase three restore the day after. So your goal here is simple. It is to return to baseline without punishing protocols. So this can be where people tend to derail. They feel guilty, bloated, sluggish. So they over-correct. They do fasted hit sessions for two hours. They go keto overnight. They skip meals. They start Googling juice cleansers.

14:40
You don't need to do that. Your body doesn't need any sort of punishment. It actually just needs consistency. So on boxing day, move, do what you might normally do. If you're not someone who generally exercises, this is not the time to go for a run, if I'm honest, but absolutely go for that morning walk. Get some sunlight exposure, but your legs do what they're designed to do. If you do normally train, awesome. And in fact,

15:05
Anyone like me who normally trains is probably training throughout and loves their Christmas training day and Boxing Day training sessions anyway. Do some mobility work, do some of that resistance work that I talked about earlier, those bodyweight squats, those kinds of things. Play, carry things, live normally, but just move. Be active. You're a human designed to move. But this isn't about trying to undo yesterday. It is not punishment for what you ate. It's just helping you.

15:34
Be consistent with what you already do. And if you do have that real sort of hung over feeling from too much sugar, maybe too much to drink, that kind of thing, again, be active. Just gently move. Eat simple. So return to your normal meal structure. I'm sure if you're listening to this, you already have a protein forward breakfast. You probably already eat whole foods with minimal processing. You're probably already making sure you're getting adequate fiber to support the transit. But I wouldn't do like,

16:03
just one meal a day as punishment or pivot to some other eating regime because of what went on yesterday. And I'm sure that that's not on the plans anyway, but just to reiterate, keep it light, listen to your appetite and what you have an appetite for. Eat when you feel hungry. Don't force down food at eight o'clock, but if you're not hungry for it, but when you do get hungry, have those same protein forward meals that are anchored with fiber. Just eat like a normal human being. You had a feast day.

16:32
and is now returning to their baseline. Also consider your nervous system, because it does matter. So when you're stressed, if you're feeling, you've got feelings of guilt or anxiety about what you've done. Food wise, which I hope nobody does, but I just know that's a thing that people experience. If you're sleep deprived or you're anxious, this will impair insulin sensitivity, digestion, sleep quality, and appetite regulation, particularly if you're throwing alcohol in the mix as well.

17:00
So you could eat perfectly, but if you've got this sort of elevated cortisol coming in from all of these other emotions and feelings, you can still feel pretty awful. So this is the problem when you eat too much. It's not necessarily the food actually, it's the stress about the food. So on Boxing Day, you want to prioritize settling your system and you want to prioritize that parasympathetic nervous system response. So get morning sunlight.

17:27
This helps regulate your circadian rhythm and supports cortisol clearance. Do some nasal breathing walks. Slow, so go for walks, keep them gentle, focus on breathing through your nose fully. So if you had your hand on your stomach, your stomach would expand as you drew your breath in and then hold it for a little bit and then breathe out. This type of breathing pattern helps engage your parasympathetic nervous system and helps shut off your sympathetic nervous system.

17:57
Get an early night if you can, like try not to like sleep in, try to be consistent with your wake and your particularly your wake hours. Even if you didn't get a great sleep, this will just help build that sleep pressure so you get another good, so you do get a good night's sleep the next night. But try to get to bed 20 to 30 minutes earlier if it works. Spend time on the floor, maybe you're doing some mobility exercises, maybe you're doing a little bit of plyometrics, maybe you're playing with some kids, reading a book.

18:26
that can also help with your nervous system regulation. If you can get in a body of water or see a body of water or see some green space as well, that also is known to help with your parasympathetic nervous system and allow you to switch out of that sort high-stress state. Even actually looking at pictures, there's good research to show looking at pictures of either green space or blue space, like the ocean, can help with that nervous system response.

18:53
And of course, this time of year, hopefully you've got people around you that you can laugh with, connect with, and enjoy their company. There's nothing like social connection to help your nervous system feel safe and less wired. Because your body processes excess better when it feels safe. If you're stressed, inflamed, and running on fumes, your metabolism doesn't work the same way. If you're rested, calm, and grounded, your body can handle Christmas dinner absolutely just fine.

19:22
To bring this home then, this episode isn't about earning your food as I've said or undoing quote unquote it afterwards. It's about supporting the machinery that processes it. Small signals like muscle contraction, meal timing, walking, rest have outsized metabolic returns. These are tools and not rules. You don't need to do all of them and you don't need to do them perfectly. So I just wanted to outline some simple strategies and even if you picked a couple of them.

19:51
that allowed you to prime your system before the feast, support it during and restore it afterwards, then you can absolutely enjoy Christmas for what it should be, which is a celebration, not some sort of metabolic crisis. And the thing is, that consistency beats correction every single time. So health doesn't pause for the holidays and you ideally will just be flexible enough to include them. The last thing I want you to consider is that consistency beats perfection.

20:20
every single time. When you are healthy enough, then your definition of health includes celebrations like Christmas and New Year, and it's not going to derail you. Anyway, that's what I've got for you. Hopefully some of it landed. I don't know. Some people hate stuff like this. I love thinking about stuff like this. Let me know what your thoughts are. I'm over on Instagram threads and X @mikkiwilliden, Facebook @mikkiwillidennutrition. Head to my website, mikkiwilliden.com. Book a one-on-one call with me.

20:50
Thanks, team. Have a great week.