Healthy Holiday Habits
- Updated
6 Ways to Help You Keep Your Commmitment to Health During the Holidays
It’s Holiday time again! And with the arrival of the Holiday Season, we suddenly find ourselves surrounded by temptations making it easy to fall into unhealthy habits. Maintaining your health & fitness routine during the Holiday Season can be a challenge. Here are some Healthy Holiday Habits to help you keep a dedication to good health.
Prioritize Exercise
During the Holidays when you have a ‘to do list’ than seems eternal, it can become easy to sacrifice exercising. This is a mistake since exercise can help maintain your energy and keep your focus. Exercise makes you feel better about yourself (which is especially important during stressful holiday times). You’ll also feel less guilty about the occasional holiday indulgence if you know you’ve been maintaining your exercise routine. Make a commitment to yourself about how often you’ll exercise and work to live up to that schedule.
Have Healthier Options On the Menu
During the Holidays we’re tempted by abundance of delicious foods – many of which are decidedly unhealthy (Yeah, I’m talking about you Christmas Cookies). Try to add some variety to the holiday menu: Bring a healthy dish to a holiday party. Add a leafy salad to the menu at big dinner. Besides the traditional main courses of turkey/beef/ham have a vegetarian main course option available.
Never Go to a Party Hungry
Just like it’s a good idea to not going grocery shopping while you’re hungry, don’t go to a party on an empty stomach. Have a healthy meal beforehand so you don’t find yourself stuffing your face with unhealthy party fare.
Make Holiday Get-Togethers More Active
The Holidays are a great time to catch up with friends and family you haven’t had the opportunity to see in a while. But instead of meeting for dinner or drinks, why not try a healthier Holiday activity? Go for a walk and look at Christmas decorations or walk through your downtown shopping area looking at store windows. Go ice skating at your local park district rink. Just get out and do something!
Consider Your Exercise Options When Traveling
Holiday travel can get you away from your normal fitness routine. You may not have access to your health club or home gym. To maintain your fitness routine, plan your workouts before you go – maybe create a bodyweight exercise workout or HIIT workout that can be performed in your hotel room. Research the area you’ll be staying at to find a walking or hiking trail. Look for a hotel that has a health club.
Remember That It’s OK to Indulge!
Finally, no matter how healthy you try to be during the holidays, don’t be afraid to indulge in some of the less healthy fun. It’s ok to have the occasional big meal or another Christmas cookie. A consistent healthy routine makes the occasional indulgences just minor incidents.
And a Healthy New Year!
Keeping focused on your health and fitness will help make the entire Holiday Season more enjoyable and satisfying. You’ll have more energy, fee freer to enjoy the festivities, and feel better about yourself. And it will also set you up to enter 2023 with a positive outlook to achieve your goals for the new year.
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Additional Resources for Healthy Living
Unfortunately, there are a lot of web sites out there giving unreliable fitness advice. But there are also some great ones which we rely on when writing our articles. A few great resources for information you may want to also view include the National Institutes of Heath, the Mayo Clinic, and the World Health Organization.