Name: Christmas brings big meals
Uploaded: 2025-12-26T18:16:42.676Z
Duration: 8 min 27 s
Description: Sports and regenerative medicine physician Dr. Daniel Savarino joins to discuss how to stay healthy without missing out on all the fun this holiday season when it comes to all the holiday meals and treats.

Sports and regenerative medicine physician Dr. Daniel Savarino joins to discuss how to stay healthy without missing out on all the fun this holiday season when it comes to all the holiday meals and treats.

Dr. Dan Savarino, a sports and regenerative medicine physician, provided guidance on how to enjoy holiday meals while maintaining health and fitness. He emphasized moderation with festive foods and drinks, recommended continuing exercise routines, and advised against abandoning healthy habits between Christmas and New Year's to prevent excessive weight gain.

Dr. Savarino also discussed the importance of balanced nutrition, meal timing, and setting realistic New Year's resolutions. He highlighted the benefits of resistance training, moderate cardio, and stress management techniques such as meditation and spending time with loved ones during the holidays.

Christmas brings big meals

Joining us now with simple ways to enjoy the holidays without totally derailing your fitness goals is Dr. Dan Savarino, a sports and regenerative medicine physician at One Oak Medical. Great to have you. Thank you for having me. Merry Christmas. So doctor, let's start with food for people heading into big holiday meals. What are the simple choices they can make without feeling like they're missing out? Sure. So I think the key is don't be too hard on yourself, you know, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, enjoy it a little bit. There are a couple things that I think you could do. A, number one, you know, your grandma or your aunt makes those Christmas cookies that you only get once a year. Have one or two, just don't have seven or eight, you know. Enjoy them, eat them slowly, get the satisfaction out of them rather than eating them really fast and then you wind up eating way more. I think maintaining your exercise during this time is very important, you know, while sometimes a rest week is good, now is not the time. You want to stay active and kind of burn some of those calories. And I think where a lot of people make the mistake is between Christmas and New Year's, you know, a lot of people just say, okay, well, I'm gonna just be completely off my diet for that week. You know, I say enjoy Christmas Eve, enjoy Christmas Day, get back into your routine and then enjoy New Year's Eve. Because if you're not careful, you can easily gain like eight to ten pounds in that week. And then like, you know, it's easy to put on, but very hard to take off. Well, Doc, I'm just going to put it out there. You had me at, don't be too hard on yourself. We could have ended the segment right there. Segment over. But a lot of people feel guilty if they don't work out, you know, hard this time of the year. What kind of exercise actually makes the most sense during the holidays? Sure. So I think just in general, the exercise that makes the most sense is resistance training. So whether that's weights, bands, you know, even sometimes if you don't have access, bodyweight exercises like pushups, planking, you know, burpees, that kind of stuff, because that's what's going to help build muscle. And that's what's going to help really burn those calories that you put on. And then I think adding a little bit of mild to moderate intensity cardio. So that's basically when you're doing cardio, but you could still hold a conversation. So that's really where the fat burning and cardio takes place. I think where a lot of people make mistake is they say, OK, I'm going to do this really intense cardio for a long period of time. And then what happens is that actually spikes your cortisol, which is your stress hormone. And then that actually makes you store more fat. So sometimes you're actually fighting yourself. I'm actually going to actually work out my biceps by giving a heavy fork. And I'm going to do some cardio by going shopping. I hear that also counts with respect to getting your calories eliminated. But Dr. Saverino, what about things like limiting alcohol and even intermittent fasting? We're hearing a lot about that these days. What's the easiest healthy habit that people can start right away? Yeah. So, you know, the advice that you always hear is moderation, you know. So, again, alcohol, have a drink or two, have a little eggnog, have a little Christmas punch. But realize that stuff is also full of sugar. And then also, if you have too much, what happens when you drink? You know, you you lower your inhibitions. You know, you're you don't make the best choices in the world. And then you wind up eating seven or eight of those Christmas cookies, you know. As far as fasting goes, I'm a big fan. I personally intermittent fast consistently. If you do that regularly, I would say that's a good idea. However, I would say now is probably not the time to start that, because what will happen is, you know, you fast all day during Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and your body's not used to it. So you're going to be really hungry and you're going to be ravenous when that food comes out. So I would say, actually, for those people, I would probably eat a small meal before the big meal. And so that way you're not super hungry. You know, Doc, I don't know if you're taking any more patience, but sign me up. Why? Because you start off. Don't be hard on yourself and have a couple of drinks. You're my type of doctor. I love you, man. But in just a few days, we'll bring in the new year. But do New Year's resolutions actually work? If they do, which ones are actually worth making? Um, I mean, if you look at the data, like 90 percent of New Year's resolutions kind of failed, you know. And I think it's just because, you know, you're doing it for the new year. You know, I think you have to really decide what you want to do and make it reasonable. You know, like if you want to lose 60 pounds in two months, guess what? When that doesn't happen, you're going to get discouraged and you're going to go right back to where it was, you know. So set very attainable goals. And then as you reach those, then you reach more goals, you know. So, you know, I think a hard and fast resolutions a lot of times don't work, but it's it's good to have a game plan. What about also I know not necessarily your expertise here, but in terms of like some of the mental health aspects of it, it factors in with sports and regenerative medicine, meditation maybe. Or what are you seeing people do to try to eliminate some of the stress that we're all feeling during the holiday season? You know, I'm always a big fan of things like meditation. I think it works great. You know, I think a lot of times, honestly, just being around your family, well, I guess it can cause some sometimes I think it does overall. You know, it's a calming effect to be around the people you love, you know, and, you know, again, just don't put too much pressure on yourself, you know, just enjoy the time. How do you actually eat in a balanced way? Because if you focus on what you like, you may not be getting the right nutrition. And then when you actually start looking at the chart, I become overwhelmed. Is it just a matter of try to eat the best way you can and also take supplements? What type of advice would you give our viewers? Yeah. So, you know, the key is balance. You know, a you know, the killers in this world are the added sugars. So obviously, you know, the cookies, the cakes, all that kind of stuff, you know, good carbs are good. But I still say do carbs in moderation, even though our recommendations is high carbs. I'm not I don't agree with that necessarily. I think good proteins, you know, lean meats, good fats like avocado and other types of healthy fats, you know, have a little bit of everything on your plate. You know, don't just be very carb heavy because, again, that actually the carbs are what make you gain weight and put fat on because it increases that that insulin. And then that stores the fat, you know, so just nice balance. Make sure you have protein with every meal. And I think that's really important. Doctor, you mentioned intermittent fasting. What about the timing of all of this? People say, oh, you know, I'll have my Christmas dinner at three o'clock. Maybe I'll have it at seven o'clock. There are different times. What do you recommend to your patients about good timing with respect to eating and being consistent during the holidays? Yeah, so I mean, I think three or seven is just fine. You know, some of it depends on when you typically go to bed. You know, I usually say don't eat too much between like two to three hours before bedtime because then, you know, you just go to bed full. It's very hard to sleep and it's very hard for the body to do all that work, you know, to digest all that food, you know. So so, yeah, you know, I don't think three or seven is they're both reasonable times, you know. Again, if you're going to intermittent fast, you might want to eat a little bit earlier so that you get you know, you're not starving when it's time. Yeah. The timing is very important in terms of when you consume food and beverages. Can you talk to us about staying consistent with that timing? If you eat and let's say nine, one and six, you should you do that or try to do that every day? Or does drastic like swings in the timing in which you eat affects your health? Yeah. Yeah, so it does. So, you know, I think, A, I'm not the biggest fan because I intermittent fast, so I don't eat at nine o'clock. I usually start in the afternoon and kind of go from there. I have a window of about four to six hours where I typically eat, you know. And then again, I think the key is just not eating too much late at night, you know, give give the body a little time to digest, move around. You know, if you eat a big meal and then go straight to sleep, you're going to pay for it. So much. Yeah. I remember the tossing and turning. That's why I don't eat like within two hours of going to bed. Thanks so much, Dr. Severino. And as I like to say, Merry Christmas, Dr. Dan, the man who says you can have a couple of drinks. I appreciate it. Thank you, Doc. Merry Christmas.

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