Holiday health advice from a "health professional" in training

We just started December and you know what that means!

It's the mad dash to all the end-of-year holidays; Christmas, New Years', Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and a number of others. 

It's can be full of family, traditions, food, gifts, religious events, singing, dancing, shopping, you name it.

It can be easy to get swept up in it all. To feel stress over it. 

BUT STOP!

This is a beautiful time of year. There are lights, there are people wishing you well, there is love, there are traditions, there is family. It's a time of year to forget your troubles and just be present. So why do we get so wrapped up in the stress?

If this is you, getting caught up in all the stress, I want you to stop and ask yourself one question....

Is this necessary?

I'm serious. Is getting your kids all kinds of the best gifts necessary if it leads to stress? Is impressing your parents and showing them how "together" you are necessary if it leads to stress? Is being involved in every festivity necessary if it leads to stress?

The answer is NO!

And despite what holiday movies will have you believe (don't get me wrong I love holiday movies!) and the pressure you feel from everyone, you don't need to do the holidays this way. If we really stopped and thought about we could admit that's really not the point of them.

Okay, enough with the doom and gloom let's get to the good stuff, amiright?

Here are some of my favourite holiday health, wellness, and sustainability hacks to help you ditch the guilt and increase the fun:

1. Have a fruit or veggie at each meal

It's time to ditch the food guilt! Seriously, the holiday's come around every year and every year they are loaded with heavy food and treats. I'm not going to be one of those health people who tell you not to eat all the stuff during the holidays, to have some self-control and remember your goals.

Believe me, I have been there during the holidays, trying desperately to avoid all the temptations, remember my goals, obsess over my caloric intake, track all my eating, eat a little too much and then be filled with guilt for days. No, that's not the point!

So my tip for you is, just ensure you get at least one serving of a fruit of vegetable at each meal. Try to mix it up, have a different piece at each meal, get variety. Variety allows you to take in all kinds of different nutrients.

**A note: Many people think to skip the fruit, that because there is "so much sugar" in fruit it'll make you fat or whatever else they say. This is not true. Fruit while it does have sugar it is biologically not the same sugar. Fruit has a low glycemic index, which means that the sugar in fruit releases slowly in the body, so it doesn't cause the sugar rush and crash and it acts as energy that we burn off faster than we "pack it on."

 2. Shop small, shop local, shop sustainable

Want to feel good about your shopping choices if you're doing gifts this holiday (and if you don't do gifts this time of year this is good advice for whenever you buy things!).

🌱 Shopping local and small businesses means you're supporting people's livelihoods. People who really need it. You're helping them get food on the table and potentially get gifts for their family and kids. You can feel good about that!

🌱 Sustainable products decrease the amount of stuff that inevitably ends up in landfills after the holidays. Nearly 5 billion pounds of stuff ends up in landfills after the holidays.

🌱 Small businesses are more in need and grateful for your purchase. I'm not saying never shop on Amazon again but Jeff Bezos isn't happy dancing over every purchase like a small business owner would.

🌱 You can help educate your family on living more sustainably by getting them sustainable products. This is a critical time to be educated on sustainable practices and switch your products. Each year that goes by gets us closer to being "too far gone." Help get your family on board with sustainability by showing them how accessible it is at the "craziest" time of year.

🌱 Finally, you can feel good about your choices. All of these things combined leave you feeling good and alleviates the guilt. That's how you should feel this time of year. Joyful, happy, and GUILT FREE!

3. Keep as much consistency in your routine as you can

I know this can be a difficult one at this time of year and maybe your routine has to look a little different but don't give it up altogether.

Try to continue to get up at a semi-consistent time, do your morning routine, your evening routine. As much as you can.

Continuing to work on your mindset will literally help save your mind during this time of year. Don't give it up because "there isn't time." Yes there is, you have the same time you had last month you've just loaded more stuff onto your plate. So maybe instead of a 20-minute meditation, you just do 5 or 10 minutes. But this keeps you consistent and keeps it as a habit.

4. Stay active!

Yup, I said it! Let me start by saying being active isn't always about that hour long workout in the gym. Sure I do those but I also do lots of other things. The key is simply to move your body.

During the holidays we often fall into this pattern of inactivity. We lounge on the couch watching movies, sleep late, stay up late, and generally just want to be lazy (is this just me?). And that's great BUT get at least 30 minutes of movement a day.

Incorporate it into your day, into your traditions. Want to go look at lights? Park near a place that has lots and take your family for a walk. Have family over for various traditions? Add some dancing. Staying up late with friends? Include a game that gets you up and moving like Charades.

Just get some in and you can feel good knowing you reached that exercise goal for the day!

5. Drink lots of water

In amongst all the eating, drinking, fun, merriment, make sure you drink enough water.

Water helps aid in digestion, helps your body stay alkaline, keeps you hydrate and energized, helps you detox faster, and all kinds of benefits I know you know.

Believe it or not, drinking lots of water actually helps with bloating (I know you've heard "oh it's just water weight" but that's not from filling up with water). As I mentioned above drinking lots of water helps aid digestion. Water helps break down food so your body can absorb the nutrients. When your body can effectively break up food and pass it through we avoid having it clog our digestive tract and having the food sit in our systems struggling to get through. This is when you feel bloated and can lead to indigestion. So drink that water!

These are my top 5 pieces of advice for helping you get through the holidays feeling mentally, physically, emotionally, great! This can be a fun and exciting time of year if we let it.

Remember, don't get caught up in the "shoulds" of your respective holidays. Do things your way and don't feel you need to apologize or explain your choices. You do what is right for you and your mental health.

What's your best holiday health advice? Let me know by emailing me at [email protected] or by telling me on Instagram @skecreativemedia

Do you love this content and want to hear more from me? Join my weekly newsletter! I chat all about things business, health, sustainability, wellness, launches, etc. 

Click here to subscribe to the newsletter