Live Healthy During the Holiday Season!
Don’t let the holidays morph from a joyous time spent with family to something else entirely. Follow these six habits to maintain a healthy holiday season. Improve your lifestyle this holiday season.
Enjoy the menu!
It takes time and some thought to plan the perfect outfit. It only takes a few moments to ensure you have healthy snacks handy to avoid unhealthy alternatives. Prior to attending an event, plan ahead, eat a high-protein snack before you go to prevent over-consuming. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you feel about eighty percent full. If you do partake in emotional eating, reach for those healthy snacks you stocked up on like edamame, popcorn, or fruit. No one feels good after downing a carton of Ben and Jerry’s. It is inevitable that the holidays come with heightened emotional highs and lows. Make sure you don’t eat your feelings.
When I was growing up, it was a rule to eat everything on your plate. As an adult, this is no longer a rule. If you don’t like something you don’t have to put it in your mouth. Give yourself permission to release your family rules and enjoy the menu. Make Choices that you will be proud for days to come.
Guard your time!
Time is the only thing that every person on the planet shares equally. Our family, Christmas started to become a struggle of who gets to spend time where and with whom. We were fed up, last year we un-invited our family on Christmas morning, until the afternoon. It was hard telling my mom she couldn’t come over until afternoon, but it was worth the result. It became less about the presents under the tree and more about eating good food and enjoying what we call a “slow morning.” This year the ritual remains, and we have created a tradition of our own.
Create your own traditions that protect your time and space that will produce memories that can’t be fashioned in chaos. The was a huge lesson on boundary setting and it changed the way we function. If you need time take it. If you need the space make it.
Be the present!
Slow down and take a moment to asses why you feel so (fill in the blank) rushed, tired, anxious. Maybe you have it all figured out, and if you do, I want to know your secret. But for the traditional nuclear family with two working parents with kids who attend before and after school programs and order groceries online with a drive-by pick up, it all adds up to increased stress. If your holiday season isn’t full of joy, now is the time to turn down the volume of life and look at what you need to accomplish verse what you feel you should do. Stop “should’ing” on yourself and let the rest go. Ahhh!
Spend your time with the people you love doing things that bring comfort and joy to your life. Remember, no present comes close to the gift of your presence. Abandon the gift exchange and be (the) present. Think about ways to give back to your community. Go downtown and serve the homeless dinner, or look for opportunities to serve the refugee population. Sing Christmas carols with your friends and family. Go be merry and bright!
Check your phone!
I dare you, upon arrival, check your phone for any emergencies then safely tuck it away where you won’t be tempted to look at it. Too much to ask? Well, picture this, we went out for dinner and I couldn’t help but notice most of the diners were buried in a phone or had it sitting face up next to them with the screen on. Many of them were not enjoying each other’s company. Watching this made me acutely aware of my phone habits, especially when spending time with friends and family. Smartwatches are no exception and can be just as distracting.
I encourage you to test yourself: set your phone out of reach where you can’t see the face and when it starts to ding and ring, notice how you feel before you go and bury your face in it. Can you allow it to go unchecked? Download an app that monitors how much time is spent on your phone. You may be surprised.
Use the phone’s power for good if there is something you need to be altered to set a distinctive ring tone, so you know when it is genuinely urgent. Turn off excessive notifications. Use your phone’s settings and silence the phone at certain times. Mine are set from 8 pm to 6 am to respect my personal downtime. We began a “no technology at the table” rule. Do what works for your lifestyle and schedule.
Partake in moderation.
If you are attending more parties than normal, the two things that suffer are primarily your sleep and enjoying too many cocktails. No one likes a hangover, and it doesn’t look good in that new dress you plan on wearing to the next party. Focus on maintaining your health goals by knowing your limits. Cocktails tend to be high in calories and pack a punch that oftentimes sneaks up on you. Who wants to be the drunk girl who is caught on video? Drink in moderation and only partake on weekend nights and holiday parties. Take advantage of Lyft or Uber.
If you know you will partake in the evening start your day with activities. Enlist your friends and family and boost your fitness by trying a yoga class, going for a walk/run, or rent some cross-country skiing gear. Being active is always more fun when done with friends then enjoy your well-earned cocktail.
Skip the shame!
If you get off track during the holiday season, get right back on course. The holiday season is for cultivating quality connections with family, friends, and co-workers. While it is a series of parties where indulgence is plentiful, think of it as a time to improve relationships and make some memories. The most important relationship being with yourself, be kind. Making healthy Lifestyle choices is the kindest thing you can do for yourself.
Everything is harder when you are tired. Make sleep a priority. Put the remote down; enjoy spending time with people you fancy. You can binge-watch your favorite shows over the holiday break. Do some self-care and enjoy the true meaning of holidays and celebrate your new traditions.
~Janine