7 Tips to Stay Healthy Through the New Year
We need to take extra steps to stay healthy through the holidays.
The holidays are always the hardest part of the year to stay healthy. Temptations are everywhere and, with all of the holiday parties and increase of activity in our schedules, it can be easy to lose track of your health goals. With so many amazing goodies surrounding us and with cold weather making it difficult to exercise, it can be so easy to get a little lax with our daily healthy routines. Who really wants to resist eating all the delicious goodies? None of us do.
With careful planning and thought, maintaining healthy habits can be accomplished. Below we list 7 tips on how to stay healthy through the New Year:
- Plan out your schedule. Our schedules can quickly get messy during the holidays. This makes it easier to forget to tackle things that need to get done. This is where a planner comes into play. Grab a planner and take some extra time to sit down and plot out when you will schedule in your exercise. Do it especially if you want to indulge in all the holiday goodies this season.
- Swap ingredients in holiday recipes to make them healthier. It wouldn’t be the holidays without baked goods, chocolate, and other assortments of dessert goods. However, unless you’re making it yourself, you have no idea how much sugar or butter is in them. This is where prepping your own holiday goods helps out, especially if you are watching what you are eating. Worried about eating too much sugar? Preparing your own recipes allows you to experiment with substitutions.
- Scope out food options at parties. There’s always a ton of food at holiday parties. Before digging into the food, check out what options are available. Looking at the options can allow you the chance to figure out what you’d already like in advance, but also allow you to plan out a more balanced meal. Want to be helpful? Bring a veggie or fruit dish to the party. I bet you that the healthy options will be limited and you’ll be helping others by providing a healthier option to desserts.
- Keep an eye out for beverages. With holiday parties and family gatherings, we see an uptick in alcohol and sugar consumption. Because of the wider availability during the holiday season, you have to be mindful of what you are drinking. Alcohol has extra calories and lower inhibitions, which makes you eat way more than you’d want to. Drinks like soda, hot cocoa, and eggnog have a lot of sugar in them. If you are interested in drinking, we definitely recommend alternating between water and the drink you want. You will reduce the amount of calories you are taking in, but also stay hydrated.
- Don’t fall prey to the food coma. This is our season for big meals and the effects post-meal can be a doozy. If you want to fight off a food coma, we recommend you start moving. It will be the thing you least want to do, but it’ll help you out in the long run. Go for a 15-20 minute walk after your meal. It’ll help out with your digestion, your blood levels, and help you stay awake.
- Reframe your expectations and keep them realistic. Sometimes you have to look back and ask yourself what is realistic this holiday season. None of us really want to diet or exercise during the holidays. Our schedules are very busy and there are just so many delicious things to eat. As a result, it can be immensely difficult to lose weight during the holiday season. If you don’t reach that goal, disappointment will occur. This is why you should keep your goals realistic. Try focusing more on maintaining your weight rather than losing weight.
- Be kind to yourself. The holidays should be our time to relax and enjoy the end of the year. However, this time of year has evolved to be stressful for many. Although we all want to maintain a good grasp of our health, holiday schedules aren’t always flexible. That is not something to stress out about. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to your limitations. Don’t let a missed exercise class or a craving defeat you this season. Just remember you can get back into healthier habits post-holiday season.
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