Ideas to Help You Stay on Track this Holiday Season

Is your stress level rising? Are you living in the future, projecting about ways to create the perfect holiday season for loved ones and yourself?  

When I used to try to people-please family and friends, it made me feel overwhelmed and anxious. I've learned that my desire to make everyone else happy at my own expense is unrealistic and impossible. Getting bent out of shape about a situation I can't control is fruitless. Instead, this is how I let go of my expectations about having the "perfect" holiday and find Easy, Economical Ways to Really Relax.

Fear not. I also share tips that can help you re-set priorities for work, health, and social time this holiday season and beyond. My suggestions are designed to cut through magical thinking and see the goodness the holiday season has to offer. 

While you're reading, take into account that each idea has changed my behavior in a positive way. Scientific research indicates that when we engage in positive thinking, it helps change our perspective. Whenever we feel we're making progress, we're better able to recognize what's working and let go of those things that aren't.

If you're a person who's on the brink of doing too much, or has already overextended your resources doing things or being with people that actually don't add to your sense of well-being, listen up. 

Even those who sail through the holidays and maintain their balance despite the holiday craziness around them, may learn a new thing or two about staying healthy and happy right now. 

Practical Ideas to Help You Stay on Track this Holiday Season

Eat more meals at home. You’ll be less tempted to overload on salty, fatty, sugary foods. Prepare simple plant based whole foods instead. Make double batches of food. Freeze half and serve it on a night you’re too tired to cook. Plan to eat out and attend parties, but be careful with your selections. Limit outside food functions to one a day. In the long run, it’s better to prevent unhealthy eating and weight gain than try to cure it. 

Check in with Nutrition Experts to learn “The One Thing Top Nutrition Experts Do to Stay Healthy During the Holidays.” See this one too. How to Maintain Good Health this Holiday Season.

Read How to Use Your Journal to Create Self-compassion. This post shows you why journal writing can help you identify and process troubling emotions. When you're able to write things out on the page, it helps you feel less vulnerable and overwhelmed. Knowing what emotions come up about a situation or person is the first step in resolving conflict within yourself. For tips that help you develop self compassion, click the link above.

Allow for down time every day. Give yourself permission to nurture yourself, before you feel hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. Practicing self-care habits like meditation, yoga, or chatting with a friend, is a requisite that restores your sense of well-being. See more at Self-care Activities to Encourage Optimal Health and 6 Ways to Shower Yourself with Kindness. 

Schedule short spurts of physical activity before breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Small doses of exercise like bike riding, hiking, walking, and swimming are pleasurable and good for you. Time spent away from the kitchen and chips and dips reduces snacking. Exercise speeds up metabolism, and helps to improve circulation, digestion, and elimination. It also helps stave off moodiness.

Reserve Time to Socialize. Attend a concert, movie, or participate in a spiritual or religious function with friends or family, rather than focus on food as the activity for the day. 

Say “no” when you need to by bowing out of tasks you really don't want or need to do. Target and follow through on what’s most important to you. In the long run, setting boundaries with others and yourself by understanding you have a finite amount of time, energy, and money to work with, avoids building up resentments and stress about holiday visiting and gifting.

Get Adequate Sleep. The American Heart Association encourages you to “Try to get six to eight hours of sleep each night. If you can't sleep, take steps to help reduce stress and depression. Learn to use the color indigo and the third-eye chakra to help you get sounder sleep.. Also note, physical activity may improve the quality of sleep and life in general.

Plan to work early and balance it with play. Work in spurts by learning how to practice a 20-20-20 pattern. Every 20 minutes disengage from your computer screen or desk by standing up and looking at what’s going on 20 feet away from you. Do this for at least 20 seconds. Then get back to work for another 20 minutes. This habit saves eyesight, prevents eye and body strain, and keeps you at the top of your game. Also see “4 Ways to Find Work-Life Balance During the Holidays.” 

Reward Yourself by Saving Room for Healthy Treats, those that don’t contain empty calories from additives and fillers. Try out this delicious recipe from Ilene Godofsky at the Colorful Vegan Kitchen, Vegan, Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Sweet Potato Bread. When all else fails, keep calm and carry dark chocolate. It helps every situation, has nutritional value, and it's place in my life needs no explanation.

Beat the holiday blues, and know when they're something major. I've discovered through my own missteps and pain from experiencing the holiday blues, to be diligent with self-care. When I'm consistent with exercise, don’t skip or overindulge at mealtimes, follow through on work requirements, and meet personal needs for relaxation, it’s easier to prioritize my time. If I remember to don't have to do everything to perfection or by myself (I can ask for help), I'll maintain a positive outlook and have time and energy to connect with others.

  

How do you deal with stress and maintain balance during the holidays?

What holiday activities do you enjoy and which ones could you do without?

Do you have tips to help us stay on track this holiday season? Please share them in the comment section below. If you feel this post can help others, please re-share. I'm sending my best wishes for a HAPPY, HEALTHY, HOLIDAY SEASON!

The Quote for today is from Joyce Meyer. "I believe that the greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you."  

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How to Maintain Good Health this Holiday Season

Citrus fruits contain loads of Vitamin C and are especially good to eat during cold and flu season

Enhance joy this holiday season by aligning your mind, body, and spirit. If this seems like too much of a challenge to you, you’re not alone. According to a study from Weight Watchers, the average American gains around 7-10 lbs. between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

The holiday blues and seasonal affective disorder plague others. Learn what Maude Purcell LCSW, CEAP suggests to help you outsmart the holiday blues at Beat the Holiday Blues

Are you one of the those people who have unrealistic expectations of yourself and others or a preconceived notion of how the holidays should turn out? Has entertaining, party going, gift shopping, and life on the run become a drudge or thrown you off center? There is help for you.

Here are 4 ways you may wander off from a healthy course and 4 remedies to fix them.

Excuse # 1: Everyone strays from their routine, especially since it’s a stressful and “so much happening” season.

Remedy #1: Talk about feelings as they come up, rather than stuff feelings with foods, over-spending, or a frenzy of activity. Limit commitments, holiday events, or preparations to things you really want to do and only add extra things if they won’t tax your sense of well-being. Choose to be with the people who matter the most to you and bow out of situations with people, functions, or customs that have less meaning for you. If you feel bent out of shape or anxious, meditate or do deep breathing exercises to bring you back to your center.

Excuse #2: I have no time or energy for exercise.

Remedy #2: Fit exercise into holiday activities, by parking your car as far away from stores as possible and use the stairs instead of escalator or elevator at the mall. When you can, walk to shops, post office, or food shopping instead of driving. Stretch at your computer, on line at the bank or farmers’ market, or in bed before you get out of it in the morning. Include the playground, park, roller or ice skating ring, biking, skiing, and walking in family fun activities for the holidays. Give exercise gifts like a spa day or gym membership to yourself or others.

Excuse #3: I’m too pooped to cook. This excuse may create a dangerous situation, because you’re likely to grab snack or junk foods instead of real food or overeat in a restaurant. Most foods sold commercially include ingredients like soy oil (unless it’s organic it’s likely to be GMO), artificial sweeteners, high sodium , oil laden sauces, and sugary dressings.

Remedy # 3: Shop for holiday presents throughout the year. That way there's no last minute rush. Cook up batches of food and freeze to use when you’re too tired to whip up something that day. If you go to a restaurant instead of cooking, make sure to eat smart when you eat out. Here’s a link to a blog post that will help you do just that. Eat Out Eat Smart

Excuse # 4: I’ll start to diet in the New Year. In days gone by, I've said this to myself in hopes that it would postpone the pain I'd feel from disciplining myself to push away from the table and stop eating unhealthful foods. I also thought stalling with a start date gave me permission to gobble down that basket of bread right now. But I did feel the pain, as I patted my middle section and felt where all that bread went. That’s not all. The day after a holiday party and three cups of Eggnog, I felt bloated, unattractive, lethargic, and cranky from sugar and simple carb overload.

Remedy # 4: Change your mindset to change your behavior around food. Look at what you eat, when you eat, why you eat, and perhaps you’ll conclude that prevention is more effective than cure. Researchers have found that it’s advantageous to make this a priority the minute you realize you need to clean up your food eating act. You won’t have regrets for maintaining a bad habit or guilt from procrastinating. I have noticed when my awareness level and motivation is at a peak, the momentum keeps me going longer and stronger. Be gentle with yourself if you have a food slip, but start anew to notice what foods you crave or gorge on. Ask yourself when, where, and under what circumstances do you eat unhealthily? Set a health improvement goal rather than just considering weight loss or gain. Using this self care technique makes you a winner over and over again. 

Here are 2 Websites that address emotional eating...

Website of Debbie Danowski and Website of Geneen Roth

Keep in mind the winter holiday season coincides with cold and flu season. That’s why it's important to ward off illness and energy drain by eating nourishing foods and filling yourself up with the love, peace, brotherhood, and light that Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa holidays convey.

Be well. Live well. Lead a colorful life. Happy Holidays Everyone!

The quotation for today comes from Geneen Roth, Author of Women, Food, and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything. “Freedom from obsession is not about something you do; it's about knowing who you are. It's about recognizing what sustains you and what exhausts you. What you love and what you think you love because you believe you can't have it.”

Order a copy of Colors of Joy: A Woman's Guide for Self-Discovery, Balance and Bliss. It's packed full of activities to help you start off 2016 on the right foot. Click right now to order an Autographed Copy of Colors of Joy .

This post is a revised version of one that appeared 12/21/14.
This post appears on the Special Holiday Edition of the “Healthy, Happy, Green & Natural Party” Blog Hop! and was the Healthy Feature at the Live-it-Up-at-the-Healthy-Happy-Green-and-Natural-Party-Blog-Hop-93/

This post is part of PIN WORTHY WEDNESDAY #63
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This post appears at Inspire Me Monday #206 – Week Of December 13, 2015