As the holiday season approaches, many families struggle to balance celebration, culture, and health.
In a recent survey by Orlando Health, 39 percent of U.S. respondents reported worrying about how much they eat during the holidays. And a quarter agreed they should skip meals to “save” calories before a feast such as Thanksgiving dinner.
Dr. Lindsey Beauboeuf, a board-certified Family Medicine physician and founder of Mozaïk Lifestyle Medicine in Atlanta, offers a refreshing, culturally rooted approach to holiday wellness.
Beauboeuf specializes in lifestyle-focused primary care for Black and Afro-Caribbean communities, emphasizing mindful eating, stress management, and chronic disease prevention during high-stress, high-calorie seasons.
She also leads The Haitian Doctor, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing culturally relevant health education to the Haitian diaspora.
Beauboeuf said she noticed in her practice that when holidays come around, people put a special emphasis on holidays, which results in people feeling pressured and stressed.
“I’m not sure if it’s the culture here or capitalism, but I noticed in my practice, especially during holidays, there’s a huge emphasis on buying gifts and materialistic things, which causes families and people to feel pressured and stressed,” she said. “When you feel those emotions, your cortisol levels rise naturally, which causes your hunger to go up and food noise skyrockets.”
She also says to focus more on the joy and celebration of the holidays and why we celebrate them.
“For people like me who are born and raised in a different country, in Haiti, for example, food and holidays is more than just the calories,” she said.
Beauboeuf said this is a time to experience your culture because it tells stories and if you take the holidays for what is about, truly in essence, joy, celebration, community, family, lights, and you don’t focus on what’s on your plate, then it can help take away the guilt of eating too much or overindulging.
“There’s a lot of anxiety that comes with holiday seasons and there’s some displacement of that anxiety onto the food itself, and if you refocus, it helps,” she said.
If people cannot refocus, she says to be prepared like pregaming before a party.
“When it comes to food, this means don’t leave your house hungry because if you’re hungry, you’ll go to the function eating everything until you’re stuffed,” she said. “Also, eat plenty of veggies, proteins, and other food items that will keep you full for longer, so you’re not tempted to overindulge, and also remember to hydrate.”
She also says not to beat yourself up if you do overindulge because “things will happen”.
“You will overindulge, it’s okay. It’s not the end of the world, don’t beat yourself because you don’t do it every day, it’s the holidays, it’s once a year,” she said. “If you happen to overindulge or if you do too much, pick yourself right back up. You don’t have to eat everything you see at the dinner table.”
In a new national survey commissioned by Beyond Finance, 65% of the 2,000 respondents said it’s nearly impossible to know how much they can safely spend this season, while two-thirds (66%) say there is an unhealthy cultural pressure to buy gifts even when they can’t afford to.
That specific pressure has fueled a rise in what experts call “guilt-giving”, which is the act of spending out of obligation rather than desire, and “FOMO-spending,” where social comparison and digital influence drive impulsive purchases.
Beauboeuf also says to try to bake your food or air fry it and to move your body throughout the day.
“Stay moving if you get stressed or feel guilty. Take deep breaths, get at least six to eight hours of sleep, and just remember to enjoy your loved ones and remember the holidays are only once a year,” she said. “This is a time where you’re supposed to nourish yourself, your spirit, and your life.”
She also says to make real connections and not be around people who you don’t like or who bring negative energy. Growing up, she said, there were years where they didn’t even have a tree, but still celebrated fully with a lot of joy because they had lights outside.
“The biggest gift is your presence and the words you speak to people,” she said. “It’s the energy you bring, and it doesn’t matter what’s underneath the tree. It’s about what’s coming from the heart. My advice is for people to acknowledge what’s important, and that is something to counteract that holiday guilt and stress.”