Healthy Holiday Strategies: Less Stress, Better Health, More Energy!

Guest Blog: By Carol Haggerty Reardon, Holistic Health Coach, RevitalizU.com

The holidays are a beautiful time to be with loved ones and celebrate life, but they can also be very stressful.

Between family, work and the social responsibilities of our life, obligations seem to get ramped up and energy drained, adding up to a higher chance of getting sick. It seems there’s not enough time to get it all in.  We rush around trying to fulfill all of these commitments and by the end of the Holiday Season we are exhausted, fatter and hungover in every way possible.

This year you don’t have to get sucked into the Holiday Stress Cycle and feel like you're running on empty if you follow some of my common sense tips:
 
Make YOU a priority.

Decide NOW how you want to feel and experience the holidays; instead of feeling energetically and physically hungover throughout the season, maybe you want to:

• Be calm and happy
• Not have extra body weight, maybe lose a couple of pounds…
• Feel rested
• Have good daily energy
• Stay healthy
• Spend time with people you enjoy
• Have fun

Easy to Follow Preventive Health Steps:

1. Stay hydrated by drinking at least 6 to 8 glasses of water a day. I’m talking water! Your coffee, tea or any other liquid will not fulfill this requirement. Good quality water!

2. Exercise at least 30 minutes each day. You will have more energy throughout the day if you exercise first thing. Don't have a gym membership? Just get moving! Do something you enjoy so you won't have any excuses! There are many things you can do:

• Turn on some music and dance in your living room 
• Go for a walk or run, rollerblade
• Snow? Cross country or skate ski
• Jump rope, hula hoop, rebound 
• Lots of exercise videos on DVD or YouTube to choose from! 
• Purchase sets of hand weights to do strength training. Again, find guidance from a trainer at the local gym or online.

3. Get at least 6 to 8 hours of sleep a night.

4. Eat REAL FOOD:

• Stay stocked up on healthy food at home
• Fruit, veggies, PLAIN yogurt, whole and sprouted grains, good sources of protein
• Limit the processed foods, sweets and bags of salty snacks
• If you do buy processed foods, purchase ones with ingredients you recognize. If you don’t recognize the ingredient, your body won’t either and will have trouble digesting it, taking more energy from your body, making you tired and unsatiated and more likely to overeat

5. Just keep walking! The holidays provide an excuse to put out more treats at the workplace, stores and even health clubs, just keep walking passed that candy/treat bowl or tray of cookies/cakes.

• Support your will power by carrying healthy snacks or a bottle of water with you  
• If you MUST taste, at least be conscious of how much you eat. A handful here, a cookie there will add up to overloading of sugar, fat, contributing to weight gain and low energy

Too many parties on the calendar? Learn how to pace yourself:

1. Eat a well-balanced meal (salad, veggies with grain or protein) before going out. This way if you end up at a party where there is only rich finger food, you’ll be less tempted and already have something in your stomach to protect you from over imbibing on rich, unhealthy food and alcohol
2. You don’t have to go to every party, so give yourself permission to say “no thank you”. But if you do WANT to go to them all, or some are business events you’ve committed to, don’t feel the need to stay until the end, just make an appearance, speak to the hosts and a few guests and leave after an hour
3. For every alcoholic drink you drink, have one or two glasses of water (flat or sparkling)
4. Alcohol isn’t the only thing that will make you feel hungover the day after! Sugar can have the same effect! Stay away from fruit juice or soda. If looking for a healthier drink or mixer, use sparkling water/seltzer with lemon or lime and add to good quality alcohol, like 100% Agave Tequila. Life is too short and too dear to drink cheap wine or alcohol!
5. Once at the party, make connecting and sharing with others a priority, not standing by the bar or food table all night.
6. Dance! It makes the party more fun and helps burn off the calories! So get the dancing started!
   
7. Once you get home, if you have overindulged, drink a large glass of water with activated charcoal capsules which can “capture” or bind-up harmful toxins and carry them out of the digestive system.
   

Have a Healthy, Happy and Fun Holiday Season!