Following the Wahls protocol is hard on an average day, let alone during the holidays. There's so much good food around, everyone is making their favorite dishes, and it can so easily feel like you're stuck with the same salad and the same smoothie that you eat every other day throughout the year. You don't get to indulge in the cookies, candies, pies, and the spreads of delicious food. So is it really worth it? Or should you just enjoy the holidays and start back once the new year rolls around? If this sounds like an ongoing debate in your head, you are not alone. And this message is for you. Let's talk about the strategies to stay motivated to follow the Wahls protocol so you can keep feeling your best all season long.

And my fellow MS sisters, if you want a more personalized approach to creating your MS diet and lifestyle, check out my private coaching program. It includes a comprehensive assessment, personalized strategies, and lifestyle support. Each month, I only accept three new clients. So if you're interested, apply now at Alenebrennan. com/coach. Now onto today's episode. There are 1 million people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the US. So that makes you one in a million. And you have a special purpose in this world that no diagnosis can take away from you. So if you are ready to reclaim your body, mind and life from multiple sclerosis, welcome to my MS podcast. I'm your host, Alene Brennan. I remember my first Christmas on the Wahls protocol.

It felt like everywhere I turn was another spread of amazing food, food that made my mouth water and my heart sad. It sounds so silly, but if you're listening to this, I know you can relate to that thought. Seeing all the food that everyone else got to eat but me was just a tangible reminder that I had MS. And now, my life had a new set of rules, one that were far more strict and quite honestly, more boring than before my diagnosis. Basically, I couldn't eat any of the good stuff anymore. And I really debated if I had the motivation to never eat these foods again. Like never? Never is a really long time. But yet, here we are with a chronic illness, an illness that doesn't go away.

So it makes sense that we need a diet that doesn't go away, especially if we're trying to manage some of our symptoms through the food that we're eating. I love the concept that food can change how I feel in my body and can help to create a healing environment in my body. Like that just feels really good. But I gotta be honest, it doesn't feel really good to know that I have to restrict food for the rest of my life. Like, I don't think people really grasp that concept unless it applies to them. Because other people do diets and they think that they've restricted food or they've limited themselves on certain things. But, really, they always had the ability to have a cheat day or slip here and there or take some time off and get back to it, like I said, at the start of the new year.

But when the consequence of stopping your therapeutic diet or the Wahls protocol or AIP or whatever it is that you're following, when the consequence is potentially, I mean, I want to say life-altering because that might sound a little dramatic, but that is exactly how it can feel sometimes. That's way more weighty than not being able to fit in your jeans or not look your best in your holiday dress. Like that's very different when you're talking about if this is going to change your ability to walk, change your ability to see, change your ability to have the energy and the mental clarity to get through your day, just normal day-to-day functions. Like that's, I have no other word for it other than that feels really weighty.

But then also being in an environment of the holiday season where, again, we're looking around and we're seeing all the amazing food. We're seeing all the, like I said, the cookies, the candies, the pies, like all of it. And we want to indulge in that too. Everyone likes to indulge during the holidays, don't they? I do. And now I have to feel like I can't, not only this season, but any holiday season moving forward because I have MS. Like that's the part that just always just, it's like nails down a chalkboard. And again, I remember the first year that I started following it, like Thanksgiving rolled around and I was like, oh, all right, I guess I'm gonna figure this out for Thanksgiving. And then Christmas was just around the corner.

So that too was like, all right, I gotta figure this out too. And maybe it was the rule follower in me that just kept me going. I think it really felt like I was going to get in trouble if I cheated. Like somebody would know if. I had a bite of my Uncle Joe's stuffing on Thanksgiving or French toast and cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. All the things that I craved and really wanted. It was like somebody was looking in on my kitchen if I were baking holiday cookies with the gluten and the milk and the eggs. How scandalous. But this first year, I honestly can say like, I was driven by fear. I didn't want to touch anything like gluten, dairy, eggs, anything.

And it was the fear of my new diagnosis and fear of what would happen if I cheated on the Wahls protocol. Would it trigger a new symptom or could it even trigger a flare? I didn't know, but I did not want to find out. So again, that first year, fear really kept me focused on following the protocol. Not saying that that was the right thing, but that's the reality of it. And I think many of you can relate to that because when you're newly diagnosed, there's just, there's so much emotion. There's so much you're processing mentally, emotionally, physically. Like it's just, it feels like a whirlwind that you are in. And fear can very easily dominate. So I guess this is one example where fear kind of did serve me because it really did keep me focused on the wall's protocol.

I was clinging to that. I was not deviating because I know many of you can relate when I share this next thought, but I felt like I would do anything, anything to stop this disease from progressing. So I ate all my veggies. The best that I could. I also had SIBO at the time, which made eating a lot of vegetables completely miserable. So that was a whole nother layer of complication on top of it. But I was determined. I was determined to stop this progression so that it didn’t take the life away from me that I had always envisioned for myself. So fear drove a lot of this determination. But here's the funny thing that I hear from so many people in our community.

Once you start to feel better, so maybe you’ve had a diagnosis, whether it’s new or decades old, you start following a therapeutic diet, whatever that means for you, and you start feeling better. And time kind of passes, and then you start to wonder, like, maybe you just got better on your own. Maybe it wasn’t actually the food. I mean, you've always eaten gluten and dairy before your diagnosis, but now you apparently can't eat it or all your symptoms will get worse. That doesn't make sense. Like, I believe that other people may have a sensitivity to gluten, but not me, right? Like, can you relate to this? That might be true for others, but maybe I'm the exception. I mean, hasn't this thought crossed your mind at some point?

Maybe I'm the exception. Maybe I'm not affected by gluten or dairy. And if that thought is happening around the holidays, it's so easy to convince yourself to, again, just take a break and enjoy the holidays by eating whatever you want. Maybe you don't have a reaction immediately, but then a few weeks later, you're feeling tired and foggy and bloated. And it came on so gradually that you didn't realize it was happening until it feels like you're back at square one. Again, if this sounds like you, you are not alone. I experienced this firsthand, but I also have worked with so many of our fellow MS sisters and brothers over the years, I hear so many of the same fears, thoughts, concerns, and this has to be one of the top ones.

You start to change your diet. You feel better. Time passes. You start to doubt, was it actually the food? Because it really couldn't have been food that made this much of a difference in how you feel. And again, like you ate gluten and dairy all your life and it never affected you then. So maybe you're the exception. And it starts maybe with an intentional or maybe unintentional bite back. But then that becomes a very slippery slope because then it gradually becomes more consistent in your diet. And it's so subtle. The changes that you feel, they're so subtle. You don't put the connection together until again, a couple of weeks later, you're starting to feel so crappy again.

Like the brain fog, the fatigue, the aches and pains, just moody and just like not sleeping well, not going to the bathroom, bloated, just all of it. We don't always put that connection together with the food that we are eating. But then it gets to a point where we're like, How did I get back here? How? How did I get back to this place when I had been feeling so good? Again, if this sounds like you, you are not alone. That's why I'm dedicating an entire episode to staying motivated with the Wahls protocol during the holiday season. There's so much I can share with you about this, but as I was preparing for this episode, I really wanted to give you what was most meaningful.

And the first one that came to mind might sound a little cliché because I'll admit I roll my eyes when I hear it too. So as I was thinking, I was like, 'Really? Really? This is going to be your first one?' But yes, because it's so important. And as always, the messages that I share with you are just as much for me as they are you. So any guesses on my first tip? Focus on progress over perfection. I know, I know. I've heard it a hundred times before too. Yet I'm forever holding myself to such a high standard that is often not realistic. And that constantly has me feeling defeated and discouraged. I start telling myself that I didn't try hard enough if I didn't hit it.

And I just need to do more. I need to be more efficient. More, more, more. Like I'll have this perfect image or perfect scenario in my mind. And if and when I don't hit it, which is more often when, because who hits perfection? Nobody. It's an illusion. But when I don't hit it, again, I tell myself like, you didn't try hard enough. You didn't do enough. You're not efficient enough. All these different things of not enough. And again, as I said, like I'm mentally telling myself this, these are the thoughts that are running through my mind, but yet I'm also living in my body and feeling the exhaustion of knowing like you couldn't have pushed yourself anymore. And that prompts the next thought. I just don't have it in me to do it.

Because the combination of the fact that I didn’t hit the goal and then feeling the fatigue, the utter exhaustion in my body has me telling myself the lie that I just don’t have it in me to do it. And this scenario can be applied to so many goals. It’s not just food. And what happens in this process? My goal gets pushed further and further away, as does my motivation to do it. Because who's feeling motivated to do something that feels impossible and it sounded like a nice idea and sure, who wouldn’t love to achieve this image of perfection, but it’s not realistic. So when I didn't hit it and I burned myself out trying to just get a quarter of the way there, that is by no means motivating me to keep going or get back on track.

So I recently shared that I've been reading a lot about mindset and I continue to be fascinated by it. Well, one thing I recently read is when you have a big goal set for yourself that feels like so far out of reach, your brain doesn't believe it's possible. It's too big of a leap. And because it's so different, it's such a contrast from where you are today, your brain has a hard time figuring out how to actually get you there. It starts to doubt if it's even possible. So it doesn't really look for ways to make it happen. But if you can help to close that gap from where you are today to where you want to be, then your brain can start to identify small incremental steps to get you there.

It's able to see more easily those first steps and all the little milestones along the way. It starts to see your progress as something that's possible. So it starts bringing your attention to opportunities throughout your day to make it happen. In other words, perfection discourages your brain from even trying. But when we focus on a realistic goal, something that more easily closes the gap from where we are today to where we want to be, when we're able to narrow that gap by setting a more realistic goal or focusing on the first milestone, your brain responds differently. Your brain sees that as something that's more realistic and starts seeking those opportunities to get you there. It doesn't get discouraged like it does with an image of perfection.

The greater the leap, the more skepticism your brain will have. Now I am all for dreaming big. That is not my message here today. Dream big, go for whatever it is that you want. I love the concept of big, hairy, audacious goals. Yes, but make sure that you're identifying ways to help close that gap now. Because haven't you set a goal before that you were initially so excited about, but there was some type of like internal resistance or doubt that you had of like, yeah, but I don't know that I can really do that, but I'm going to set this big goal. Again, set big goals. Yes. But set a milestone to reach first. That closes the gap for you and helps to get your brain on board so that it can start to identify the first steps, getting you to take action.

And that action builds momentum and that is what gets results. So stop focusing on perfection and start focusing on progress, the milestones that are currently within your reach. So bringing this back to staying on the Wahls protocol during the holidays, because let me tell you, I could take that conversation in a million different directions, all of which I'm talking for hours. So let me keep our conversation here today focused on the topic of this episode: staying motivated on the Wahls protocol during the holidays. So I would say instead of focusing on the nine cups every single day, that quite honestly, maybe you haven't ever reached on your best day. Just focus on getting one more serving of veggies than you did yesterday.

Or maybe you focus on putting a serving of veggies on your Christmas plate this year when you previously never made room for them before. Because you always piled on the stuffing and the sweet potatoes and the yams and all the other things. Maybe your progress this year is just making a little room for a serving of veggies on your Christmas dinner plate. Or maybe you focus on having some green smoothies throughout the holiday season. Not every day, but maybe two or three times a week. Is that something different than you're doing now? Because if you know you feel better when you eat leafy greens, I certainly do, but I don't always get them in. So a green smoothie is easy for me. So that's why I think of it from this perspective.

If that's something that resonates with you, then maybe you're having a green smoothie two or three times a week. That's something that your brain can grasp. P. S. If you need some good smoothie recipes, check out my five-day smoothie challenge at Alenebrennan.com/smoothies. It has recipes, shopping lists, tips on how to vary up your smoothies so that you can stop eating the same gross smoothies every single day. Don't eat gross smoothies. There are so many good smoothies in that smoothie challenge and I have a video for each of them. So go check it out if that's something that inspires you. Okay, so where were we? We were talking about all of the different ways that you can like set more realistic goals during the holiday.

So we're not obsessing over the nine cups every single day because quite honestly, that's not healthy on any day. But maybe you've been trying to kick your Starbucks habit and you decide that during the holidays, you're going to make your drink at home or just have it on the weekends. Because not only will that save you a lot of money, which there's your holiday gift-giving budget right there, but also you know that you just don't feel well when you have the drinks from Starbucks. Even if it's decaf or dairy-free, whatever it is, they have stuff. I don't know what it is. It's stuff. They have stuff in there that just doesn't make you feel good. So skipping your Starbucks is your step towards progress.

Or maybe there's a dish that you just can't wrap your head around not having this holiday season. So instead of making that one dish the downfall of your diet for not only that meal, but the entire holiday season, like if you can't have that one dish, then you might as well just decide that you're not going to follow the protocol of this holiday season. And again, you'll start back up in January. What if you took a different approach? Maybe you just decided that, okay, this one dish I'm not compromising on. I want it. And I'm pretty firm about that. And I'm willing to deal with the consequences of it. So maybe you have one small serving of it on your plate that you eat slowly and fully enjoy.

And then you focus the rest of the space on your plate with getting some extra veggies that day. So I guess my bigger point here is maybe you don't look at it as whether or not you're going to quote unquote, follow the protocol of the entire holiday season. Maybe you break it down to smaller realistic goals like the green smoothies two or three times a week or skipping your Starbucks habit. Like maybe it's having a serving of veggies every day at lunch because you've never done that before. And that at least ensures that you're getting some veggies in throughout your day. This helps to eliminate the lie of, well, if I can't follow the protocol this entire holiday season, I might as well not even try.

Not only is that a lie, but it's not a helpful mindset. That is not setting you up for success because, look, we know we can apply that to any time of year because there's Valentine's Day, there's birthdays, there's weddings, there's graduations, there's all kinds of different holidays throughout the year. And then there's busy seasons, there's the summer, like there's all these different things that we can find reason to tell ourselves that, well, it doesn't make sense. There's no way that I can do it now, so I'll do it later. Don't do it later. Your body needs you now. Your body needs you now. The other thing is that food takes time. It takes time to heal your body.

So this is something that you can't wait until you feel your absolute worst and then decide to change your diet and expect to feel better the very next day. It takes time. So all I'm saying is that this doesn't have to be an all or nothing approach. That can feel really discouraging. And sometimes it can feel so unrealistic that our brain struggles to make it happen. So remember, that which you focus on gets bigger. Focus on what is achievable. The two to three smoothies a week, or kicking your Starbucks habits so that you have a beverage at home, or having one more serving of vegetables today than you did yesterday. And here's the next thing. Celebrate all of the small steps that you take and the milestones that you hit along the way, because celebrating the small wins trains your brain to succeed again.

Did you hear that? Celebrating the small wins trains your brain to succeed again. Celebrate those wins. Yes. Okay, let's move on to the next one. Our first one, as I said, is focusing on progress over perfection. Next up, pay attention to the results. This is something that's so easily overlooked, but is really valuable any time of year. But it can help give you that boost of motivation, especially during the holidays. So regardless of what you eat, pay attention to how you feel after eating it. Not just immediately, pay attention to how you feel literally for like three days later, because it can take up to three days to feel the effects of certain foods in your body. And pay attention not just to digestion. I mean, pay attention to digestion, yes.

But also look at your mood, sleep, aches and pains, elimination, headaches. Food affects so much throughout your body. And this goes both ways. Pay attention not only when you eat something that might be outside your normal, quote unquote, like healthy habits, but also pay attention when you eat the foods that are good for you too, like the nutrient-dense salads and smoothies and side veggies. And when you drink lots of water, in a day. I'll be honest, I notice more of a difference when I feel like I'm on my game, so to speak, versus when I might slack a little bit. Those leafy greens that I talked about earlier getting in the smoothies, they can feel like a real struggle for me sometimes because the leafy greens go bad in the fridge so stinking fast.

And I don't really notice a profound difference when I stop taking them. If I'm not eating them consistently, but I do feel a difference when I am focused on getting them in every single day, especially a couple days in a row, my energy is undeniably better. That, that is where the best motivation comes from. It follows the concept that I talk about so often, action precedes motivation. My friend, motivation is a myth, just as perfection is. The idea that we wait for motivation to come before we take action is setting us up for failure. It's setting you up for failure. Stop waiting to feel motivated to follow the Wahls protocol or stop waiting to feel motivated to change your diet. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I have to keep it real with you.

If you're waiting to feel motivated to start changing your diet to manage MS or to follow the wall's protocol this holiday season, it's not happening. The temptation, especially this time of year, it's at its highest. There's food everywhere and it all looks good and smells amazing. If you're waiting until that moment to decide, You're not going to make the decision that's in the best interest of your health. Your taste buds are going to veto that vote. We think that we have to wait for the motivation to come to take action, but the reality is action precedes motivation. I can't say it enough. Action precedes motivation. In other words, you have to take action in order to get that motivation to come. The motivation isn't just going to magically drop in your lap.

You have to take action even when you don't feel like it, even when you're not motivated. But again, let's break this down into small, realistic first steps, like buying spinach so you have it in your fridge, then making the green smoothie. When you're focusing on the small steps, there's less resistance, so you're more likely to start sooner. And by starting sooner, you start to get results. And guess what comes with that? The motivation to keep going. When you pay attention to the results of what you're eating and how you're feeling, you're just naturally inclined to eat the food that makes you feel better and less of the food that makes you feel crappy. It's funny how that works, isn't it? So pay attention to the results.

Again, not just immediately after you eat something, because that's what most people think is going to happen if they have a reaction to a certain food. They feel like if they are not doubled over in pain immediately after eating something, that they're not affected by that food. And that's not true. It's not true. You may experience Changes in sleep, in mood, in skin, in aches and pains, in so many other ways for days afterwards. So pay attention to how food feels in your body. This has been honestly the biggest game changer for me in staying consistent with the protocol beyond that initial fear. I shared at the beginning of our conversation that the fear really drove me that first holiday season.

But what has helped me to maintain this diet and lifestyle for all the years that have followed is wanting to choose the foods that make me feel best in my body. Because food is so fleeting. Like, yes, it tastes good. And I want to enjoy good food. And that is part of what we do here as well. How I feel potentially for an entire holiday season just because of one meal. That is not worth it to me. I want to choose the foods that I know will give me the freedom, the energy, the ability to keep showing up to all of the holiday gatherings. Or if I want to feel good just sitting on the couch watching my holiday movies, I want to do that too.

It's not about always going out, but it's just feeling good, waking up, and feeling my best each and every day. Okay, so let's keep our tab going here. We have focusing on progress over perfection and paying attention to the results. Next, let's talk about the guilt that comes when things don't go exactly the way you had planned or hoped for. Maybe you ate too much. Maybe you felt like you were eating the wrong foods, or maybe you drank more than you wanted, or ate too much sugar. I mean, there are plenty of reasons to feel guilty about some of the choices that you made. But stop the guilt, my friend. Stop the guilt. Drop it. Guilt isn't doing your body any favors. Maybe a day, a week, a month, or maybe an entire year didn’t go your way.

Okay, it happened. Here’s the thing. The longer you focus on the regret, the longer you’re dragging this emotion out. It’s far more productive to focus on what you want to start doing differently. How do you want things to look moving forward? Again, maybe you ate too much sugar this past week. You made your first batch of holiday cookies and gluten-free or not, you had way too many. And that just opened a can of worms because it created stronger sugar cravings. So you end up eating the entire batch and now you're feeling like garbage. You are feeling every effect of that sugar in your body. Well, adding guilt, regret, or self-deprecation isn't exactly motivating you to make changes. And as I say all the time, that which you focus on gets bigger.

You can keep thinking about the sugar and the mistakes that you made, or accept the fact that it didn't go the way that you had wanted. So now your mindset is, 'I'm going to make a batch of hot apples and have them as my evening dessert.' And for any cookies that I make moving forward, I'm going to freeze the majority of them. So I'm not tempted to eat so many all at once. Drop the guilt. You don't need to swear off all holiday cookies. Find the best recipe to match the foods that you feel best in your body. So for me, it's eliminating gluten, dairy, soy, nuts, and egg. I can still eat really well without tapping into those foods. But my point here is regardless of what you ate, drop the guilt.

It already happened. This actually brings our conversation full circle because instead of the guilt, focus on progress. Focus on what progress you did make, even if that progress is realizing how tired and crappy you feel after eating too much sugar. That can be really valuable. I remember I had a client a number of years back and she had been making some really good progress in her diet. She went out on a Friday night with her husband and some friends, and they went to a local bar that is known for their amazing French fries. And she had them. And we happened to be meeting that following Monday. And she says to me, she's like, Alene, I'm so disappointed in myself. We all got a big basket of fries as an appetizer.

And I wasn't planning on eating them. But then they came. They smelled so good. And everyone was talking about how delicious they were. So I said, forget it. I'm having them. And I did. And I felt awful afterwards. I felt awful. And she was so down on herself. And I said, OK, so what did you learn from that? And she's like, I feel good. I feel awful eating the French fries. So how motivated are you to go back and have those French fries again? She's like, I'm not doing it. I'm never having them again. That's a big win. She could have continued to be down on herself because she ate the French fries when she didn't want to. And yeah, it wasn’t the best choice for her because they were made in crappy oil and all kinds of different things.

But she walked away determined not to eat them again. That's, that's a big win. That's, that's a big win. And that's what you focus on gets bigger. So if she's now focusing on what she's doing differently in the future, that's what you want because that is what you, you want to grow those thoughts. So focus on what you want, which again is why this brings this conversation full circle. Because instead of the guilt, focus on the progress that you have made. Okay, let's do a quick recap here. We are focusing on progress over perfection. We're paying attention to the results, both the good and the bad. We're dropping any guilt and we’re celebrating the small wins because celebrating the small wins trains your brain to succeed again. Now it’s your turn.

Let's keep this conversation going over at Alenebrennan. com/ blog. Share what helps you stay motivated during the holiday seasons. I want to hear from you too. And in the comment section, we get to tap into the collective knowledge of our entire community here. So my friends, I really hope that you learned at least one tip from this episode today that you can apply this holiday season. And most of all, know that I am wishing you happy holidays. Well, my friend, we've reached the end of this episode. Pick one lesson from today's discussion and put it into action now. It's time to reclaim your body, mind and life from multiple sclerosis. And for more resources, events, and programs, head over to alenebrennan. com. See you on the next episode of my MS podcast.