Having a Healthy Holiday Season

Having a Healthy Holiday Season

Many people think that it’s not possible to have a healthy holiday season. That simply isn’t true. Yes, it can be tough with all of the food and the drinks and the stress and the food and the more food, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

Healthy Holiday Eating

You don’t have to go through the entire holiday season avoiding your favorites and starving yourself. The key to a healthy holiday is moderation. A good way to accomplish this is to focus on having your favorite, “must have” treats and avoid all others. If you feel like it’s not the holiday season unless you eat a gingerbread cookie, then eat a gingerbread cookie. But then stay away from all of the other treats that don’t mean anything to you other than empty calories.

Pay attention to your drinks as well. Fancy drinks with syrups and whip creams contain a lot of sugar and calories, so limit your intake of these. When it comes to alcohol, it’s always important to enjoy in moderation.

Reducing Holiday Stress

This can be a stressful time of year, but all of that stress isn’t good for your heart or your state of mind. In order to reduce stress, it helps to have a plan. Write down everything you hope to accomplish this holiday season and rank them in order of importance. Then come up with a plan for accomplishing all of these things. If you can’t fit everything into your schedule, drop the least important tasks. This will help you prioritize and organize your holiday season, which will reduce your stress.

Healthy Holiday Activities

The cold weather doesn’t mean that you can’t still get outside and be active! Come up with fun and healthy activities that you can enjoy with your family and friends. Not everything needs to be sitting around and eating! Instead, go skating or tobogganing or just go for a walk and enjoy the weather! Be sure to dress appropriately, however, and bring some water to ensure that you stay hydrated.

As you can see, you don’t need to choose between health and fun this holiday season. It’s certainly possible to have both! Happy Holidays!