Thriving Through The Holidays: Real Food & Hormone Smart Strategies with Karina Baloleanu, CFNC

Nov 24, 2025
3 min read

Recorded live inside The Blood Sugar Method

The holidays can feel like a sugar-fueled, stress-packed sprint, but they do not have to!

In this special session, functional nutrition expert Karina Baloleanu, CFNC shares a refreshing, realistic approach to navigating the season without restriction, burnout, or losing yourself in the chaos.

Karina is known for her grounded, compassionate teaching style and her popular newsletter, where thousands of women learn how to support energy, digestion, and hormone balance through a root-cause nutrition approach.

See and subscribe to Karina’s newsletter here.

In this workshop, Karina walks members through the real food strategies, hormone-friendly habits, and simple nervous system tools that make the biggest difference when routines go out the window.

You will learn how to:

Minimize mood swings, energy crashes, and cravings
Stay grounded and centered even when holiday schedules are unpredictable
Enjoy holiday foods mindfully without slipping into “all or nothing” thinking
Support your nervous system and digestion through stress
Use practical blood sugar tools to feel steady and in control

This session is based on her popular guide Your Holiday Hormone Plan, and it is packed with takeaways you can use immediately.

Karina also shared two favorite resources for winding down and improving sleep during stressful weeks:

5 minute Yoga Nidra
10 minute Yoga Nidra

Inside the full recording, members also join the open conversation, where real women shared their challenges and Karina offered personalized guidance on stress, cravings, people pleasing, boundaries, holiday hosting, and more.

Top 3 Holiday Hormone Helpers

Three things you can start doing today

Here are a few of Karina’s simplest strategies that anyone can put into practice right away.

1. Anchor your plate with a PFF breakfast

Starting your day with protein, fat, and fiber is one of the easiest ways to avoid cravings and mood swings later. Karina teaches members to aim for 25 to 30 grams of protein at breakfast and to include at least one fiber source. Even during travel or holiday chaos, this one shift keeps blood sugar steadier all day.

2. Pause before the “second helping reflex”

Karina shared her signature grounding breath. Pause with one slow inhale and a longer exhale before deciding to go back for more food. This calms the nervous system, quiets emotional urgency, and reconnects you to physical cues. It helps you enjoy holiday meals without the roller coaster.

3. Support sleep so your hormones can recalibrate

Poor sleep makes cortisol spike and increases hunger hormones the next day. Even one night matters. Karina recommends two simple tools:

A 5 minute Yoga Nidra before bed
A 10 minute guided relaxation in the morning

Members said this one shift alone noticeably reduced their cravings and irritability.

These are tiny practices, but they create real stability during a season that often feels anything but stable.

One thing most women don’t realize about holidays and hormones

Karina reminded us of something we see in our community all the time. The holiday stress response is not just emotional. It is biochemical.

When cortisol rises from travel, hosting, expectations, or family dynamics, it directly increases your body’s need for quick energy. That is why cravings get louder, meals feel less satisfying, and it becomes harder to stop at “just one.”

Understanding this allows women to stop blaming themselves and start using tools that work with their biology instead of fighting against it.

A simple tool Karina shared

Before meals, take two minutes for the “Rest Digest Reset.”

Sit down
Relax your shoulders
Take 5 slow breaths with longer exhalesThis switches your body into the parasympathetic (rest and digest) state, which improves digestion, steadies blood sugar, and reduces overeating.

Members said this was surprisingly powerful during travel and holiday gatherings.