WELLNESS: Navigating the holiday social scene & staying healthy
Many of us are perplexed when it comes to staying healthy throughout the holidays. With the holidays comes this belief that we will inevitably over indulge, and it is a necessary evil that we will have to conjure up a New Years health resolution in response to our three-month holiday binge! Now, listen, I am not lecturing because we, especially I, have all been there. But look, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I am here to tell you that you don’t have to be stuck in that cycle for the upcoming holiday and new year season. Stick with a few simple actions that will ultimately set you up for success not just for the holidays but all year long. The key is to make small steps consistently. When you do this it compounds into big results! So, check out the tips below on how you can navigate the holidays and the holiday social scene to stay healthy! Let me know in the comments which ones you will commit to and make your non-negotiable, hopefully you build up to executing them all, but if not one is most certainly better than none.
Hydrate at all cost! When you wake the first thing you should do is down a glass of water. Hydration is one of the most important tools to health and your body gets severely dehydrated at night. You want to set yourself up for success out the gate, and this means getting your day started the right way!
A great way to get your system going, do a quick morning detox and reeve up your digestive system is to drink the Curated Elixir! This elixir is something that I drink every morning and I have my private clients do so as well. Many of them find that once they make the Curated Elixir a part of their morning routine, they naturally gain more energy, which is for certain a score for you during the holiday season! In addition, many clients have also told me that their craving for caffeine naturally subsided just after one week of mixing up the elixir! Try it and see how your energy levels will boost! This elixir features apple cider vinegar (ACV). Why? Because ACV has some amazing healing properties, starting with aiding and easing your digestion, battling inflammation. ACV also helps you to absorb more nutrients from your food, which is why you will hear about people drinking it prior to meals. For people who are pre-diabetic ACV is a great way to reduce your fasting and post-meal blood sugar levels!
The key here is you want to purchase an ACV that is unfiltered and organic. This is why highly recommend going with Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar.
Here is what you will need for the elixir!
(1) 8 oz glass of water
1-2 tablespoons Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar
Fresh juice of one lemon
A dash of cinnamon
1 tablespoon Raw Unfiltered Honey (you can adjust this just a bit, but don't go crazy!)
Mix all ingredients and enjoy! It is really like an awesome lemonade for your health!
PS...and when you are at your holiday parties, remember to take a drink of water before you refresh your cocktail!
This next holiday tip is somewhat related to tip #1. We are still talking morning routine here! And this is not going to be ground breaking, and in fact you may grimace when you read this but, you must, without fail, make certain that you are eating breakfast. Now, I am not going to tell you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but really...breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eating breakfast, one that is not full of processed sugar, is vitally important. When you wait to eat it severely affects your blood sugar levels and it is almost impossible to stabilize your levels throughout the day by playing catch up with your meals.
Eating breakfast also helps you from overeating throughout the day. So get in the habit. No more of this, “I don’t eat breakfast,” or “I’m not hungry in the mornings.” Eventually after you start the habit, you will be hungry and will not remember a time where you did not eat breakfast!
Holidays make us very social. In fact, anyone could be mistaken for a social butterfly during the season as we are all inundated with invites to holiday parties, and sometimes we may just invite ourselves! Nothing wrong with that, right, the more the merrier! Here is my tip for these social situations. Eat food BEFORE you head out to your party, no matter how long you plan to be there. You know, “swinging by” is never really just that, it turns into a couple of hours and thousands of caloric nibbles with the self-serve hors devours. So, in order to keep your goals and munchies in check make sure that you eat prior to partying. This way, even if you decide to eat at the festivities you do not over indulge and regret it later!
Okay, so while you are at the party nibbling, make certain that you are being mindful of what you are nibbling. This is my fourth tip...mindful eating and drinking. When we eat when we are distracted and not focused on actually eating, this can lead to overindulging. Often times, particularly at parties and social gatherings, we will just tend to want to have something in our hands, this is typically a dessert or cocktail. The issue here is that you are not actually enjoying that treat you are eating, it is just a pastime filler or in some cases a safety net. It’s the same thing we do when we eat chips on the couch watching our favorite television program. Before that 30 minutes is up we are done with the bag and don’t know when that actually happened.
Be sure that if you do select a Christmas cookie or slice of cheesecake to eat you actually think about eating it while you are eating. When you do this often times you will find that in the first two or three bites you are completely satisfied and you don’t particular want the entire pieces, or three pieces you put on your appetizer plate!
Okay, now here is truth time. Comment below and let me know which tips you will commit to executing this holiday season to stay on track and happy with your health goals and progress! Think of me as your accountability partner! And if you found value from this article, like and share this article with some you know will love it!