Welcome to Fab Fit Friday Holiday Prep Edition-How do you stay healthy during the Holidays? This will be my first holiday season after my Crohn’s diagnosis and I am a little bit nervous about keeping to my diet and not feeling extremely deprived! I also worry that I will accidentally eat things I shouldn’t. This post is not going to be specific to staying healthy with Crohn’s during the holidays, it’s for everyone, what we ALL can do to maintain our health so we don’t wake up on January 1 with more than a drink hangover!
NUMBER ONE, for everyone this is the most important, whether you deal with dietary limitations or not! I have learned this one the hard way! PLAN AHEAD!! If you know you are going into a situation where there may be nothing you can eat, you need to eat in advance or take some easily transported foods with you. I am NEVER without something to eat in my purse anymore, I have been down that road too many times. It’s not fun to watch everyone else eat and have no access to anything that you can/should/want to eat. Even if you are able to eat the offerings at holiday functions, they may not be the most healthy so having something in advance so you aren’t confronted with cookies and other low nutrient foods when you are really hungry is a huge benefit.
2. Schedule your exercise in even with the busy holidays. Many times it is so easy to let your self care slide during busy times and this usually includes the holidays. If you usually go to the gym, do it!! If you exercise at home and you cannot do it with people in staying in your home, do a one month fitness center membership, you deserve it!! Or take a walk. Even at the mall.
3. Make a list. prioritize. What HAS to get done? Assign duties and let some things slide. Do you really need to clean the baseboards right now or can that wait until January? The things that really need to get done go on a list and you assign things to the others in your home too. I know this is hard, I struggle so hard with sharing the responsibility for these tasks, but during the holidays we all have to shoulder some responsibility.
4. Take care of yourself. We talked about this a little above, in the exercise area but there are other parts of self care that you should not ignore, and they are different for each of us. Slow, deep breathing helps to calm some people. Others stretch or go for a walk. Some of us love yoga. Some turn to prayer. For some, it’s a cup of coffee in the morning and a mug of hot chocolate at night, perhaps with a friend. maybe it’s lighting a candle and taking a bath. Or put in your favorite Christmas CD, sit on the couch and do nothing but listen. Hang around with people who make you laugh. If you HAVE to deal with someone or something who will take up a lot of your time, tell them ‘I have 20 minutes. Whatever it is that makes you feel good, do it!!
5. Make your holidays about family and friends and not about food and drink! I know it’s difficult, food is love and drink is sociable…but focus on the people instead of the consuming. Focus on catching up with friends and family. Try to avoid gathering around the dinner table for conversing – go visit on the couch, around the bar, pull out a board game. The further you are from the table, the less likely you’ll be to want to nibble or snack on something in a relative’s fancy candy dish.
How do YOU stay healthy during the holidays? What will YOU be doing this year to maintain your health and happiness through this season?
Don’t forget we are doing another Try It Out Tuesday Link Up next week, join us!!
xoxo
Heidi
I have to add another favorite today, Clare Bowen from the TV show Nashville cut her hair, big deal right? Well, her reasoning and her story make this a big deal. I have to confess I don’t watch the show, but you guys, this young woman is now one of my favorites. Here is the link, Please check it out.
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