The holiday "symptom trap" and how to avoid flaring up!

Let’s talk about what happens every year around the holidays:

You’re doing “fine”… and then suddenly you’re bloated, tired, not sleeping, your skin is acting up, your mood is all over the place, your joints feel stiff, your brain fog is back, and you’re sitting there thinking:

“Why does my body hate me?”

It doesn’t. Your body is communicating. (Always.)

And the holidays are basically the perfect storm of extra inputs—foods that don’t work for you, alcohol, sugar, late nights, travel, stress, weird routines, less sunlight, more indoor time, more chemicals/fragrances, and way less of the basics your body needs to stay balanced.

Also… can we please retire this idea that “it’s normal” to feel off after every celebration?

Just because your labs are normal doesn’t mean your symptoms aren’t physical and fixable.

Here’s the real issue: the holidays don’t “cause” the problem

They expose the imbalance that was already there.

Think of it like this: your body is a system that can handle life… until it can’t.

When you’ve already been running on low battery (or you’ve been living with mystery symptoms for years), the holidays pile on just enough extra to push you over the edge.

And then you spend January “starting over,” beating yourself up, and doing some trendy health thing that sounds good but doesn’t actually address why your system is reactive in the first place.

That’s not a you problem. That’s a strategy problem.

At Treat the Source, the whole philosophy is simple:

Stop chasing symptoms. Treat what’s actually driving them. The holiday reality nobody wants to admit...Most people don’t feel bad from one cookie. They feel bad because the cookie lands on top of:

• digestion that’s already struggling
• immune function that’s already overwhelmed
• inflammation that’s already simmering
• foods that are feeding imbalances instead of repairing you
• daily toxins your body is already trying to process

That’s why you can do “all the right things” and still feel stuck.

You’re not missing willpower. You’re missing the right order of operations—because healing works in layers, not vibes. (Yes, I said it.)

This is not about being perfect. This is about being smart.

Here are 7 simple moves that keep your body supported while you still live your life.

1) Anchor every holiday meal with protein

If you do nothing else, do this.

Protein is not just “a macro.” It’s repair. It’s blood sugar stability. It’s nervous system support. It’s the raw material your body uses to rebuild.

Holiday rule: Eat protein first. This one change alone can reduce that “I need a nap / I feel weird / why am I anxious” crash.

2) Don’t treat “gluten-free” as a free pass

A lot of “gluten-free” holiday swaps are still built on ingredients that can keep people inflamed and reactive—especially if digestion is already compromised.

If you’re doing a swap, make it count: 

• choose simple ingredients
• skip the ultra-processed “healthy” versions
• don’t replace one problem with another

3) Protect your sleep like it’s your job

Sleep is when your body does repair work. If the holidays wreck your sleep, your system becomes more reactive—fast.

4) If you’re already reactive, don’t “push through”

If you’re the person who feels worse every time you try a new supplement, protocol, cleanse, or diet… hear me:

That pattern often means your nervous system is not responding predictably yet, and you need a process that works with your body—at the pace your body can handle.

No forcing. No crashing. No guessing.

5) Have a “reset day” built into the week

One day between events where you go back to basics:

• protein + cooked foods
• water
• early night
• simple movement
• no extra “special” foods

That one day can keep you from spiraling into a multi-week flare. If the holidays always flare your symptoms, that’s data. It means your body is reacting to something real. 

And most of the time, that “something” won’t show up on standard lab work—because symptoms often show up earlier than labs do.

That’s why we focus on finding the interference, removing it, and rebuilding function with a clear system and an end game—so you’re not stuck in endless “managing.”

Because the goal isn’t to survive the holidays every year.

The goal is to get your body back to a place where a holiday meal is just… a holiday meal.

Not a three-day penalty. You don’t have to change your entire life in December. Just stop adding fuel to the fire.

Want help finding what your body is reacting to?

If you’re tired of normal labs + mystery symptoms + guessing, this is exactly what we do at Treat the Source—help you find what got missed, and build a plan your body actually responds to.

(And yes—healing is possible. You just need the right support and the right order.) 

If you are local to the Phoenix, AZ area, go to this link to find out more about holistic solutions to help reset and remove interference from your body so it can do its job properly. Pills just cover up symptoms—they don’t fix WHY this is happening. Isn’t it time to finally resolve it instead of managing it? 

If you are not local to the Phoenix, AZ area, then click here to check out all of your options! You’ll get the exact steps you need to take, plus support from me to guide you every step of the way! 

xo Monica 🦋 Treat the Source: where we reveal all of the hidden causes of your mystery symptoms!