Guest post by Pam from Save Money, Be Happy
Whew! It’s hard to keep your healthy routines going during the busy holiday season.
However, don’t use this as an excuse to skip working out, eating healthy, and taking care of yourself. To help you out, here are a few tips for finding a balance between keeping yourself on track health wise and understanding that your normal routine may not work:
1. Get enough sleep.
I can’t stress this enough. If your sleep suffers, everything else will suffer. This is one area I need to work on myself–it is so tempting to stay up to get everything done, but I have to remind myself I’m just “stealing” quality time from tomorrow.
2. Drink lots of water.
It’s easy to indulge in Peppermint Mocha’s from Starbucks and rich hot chocolates right now, but remember to continue to drink water.
3. Eat a healthy breakfast.
Might as well start each day off with a home run this season. A few suggestions: oatmeal with some dried fruit, a veggie omelet, or sourdough toast with peanut butter and a piece of fruit on the side. All three of these will fill you up while keeping your calorie intake at a reasonable breakfast level.
4. Get a little exercise everyday.
Maybe you can’t make your normal fitness routine work in all the busyness right now, but you can do something each day. Open your front door, walk for 15 minutes, turn around and walk back. If you’re traveling, use the hotel gym or see if a local Y or health club will give you a free or heavily-discounted day pass.
Worst case scenario: do 10 push ups, 25 sit ups, and 15 squats as soon as you wake up and right before bed (that will take you no more than 10 minutes total). If you do something, even if it’s not much, it won’t come as a shock to your body (or your mind) when you pick back up exercising regularly in January.
Finally, don’t be too hard on yourself. It is a crazy time of year, people are busy, schedules are full. Just try your best to do a few things to keep yourself on track and if you mess up one day, start fresh the next!
Pam is a work-at-home mom of two (ages 5 and 7). She enjoys healthy living (nutrition, exercise, etc.), learning, saving money, and having fun! She blogs at Save Money, Be Happy.
I’ve found that when I’m drinking enough water that my skin feels absolutely supple and beautiful. I feel like I’ve got more energy and that I’m healthy – I can take on the world, where if I’ve had a diet of sodas and crud, I want to only take on the bed.
Good tips! I wish I had read these before I got my cold… A good reminder that it is easy to get rundown over the holidays and we need to take care of ourselves. Good article.
Last winter we were sick constantly from Dec-May and again in July including a hospital stay for my husband and daughter. I run 2-3 times a week (if I’m not sick) and last year, I obsessed about everything we ate. No sugar in the house and most of our meals were extremely veggie/fruit friendly. We avoid antibiotics unless absolutely necessary (a personal choice) and I even went to the Dr to get a physical hoping it could shed some light. Nothing seemed to help us and here we are in December sick again. I mean the entire month of Dec someone in the house has been sick. I find the only thing that does work is when we stay home away from the germs but that doesn’t keep us very sane. 🙂 I think I’ve just accepted that having small children and trying to go and do a lot does not put our health in our favor. So I guess the only “advice” I can add is to take time to slow down.
I like the advice to slow down – it is so easy to get too much on the calendar this time of the year!
Everyone should also invest in the following supplements:
1. probiotic pills- (1 or 2 per day, as directed on the bottle)
2. raw manuka honey- (1 tsp. every few hours at the onset of illness, or once per day for maintenance)
3. elderberry syrup- (1 tsp. every few hours at the onset of illness, or once per day for maintenance)
4. Multi-vitamin- (as directed on the bottle)
5. Lots of water!
This has literally cured me several times, I cannot afford to take them everyday, but I invested in all of these (found at health stores or Whole Foods), and I take them the minute I start feeling sick. If I do it right away- I do not get sick. If I start a bit late, it cuts down my illness to day or two instead of a week or two.
Trust me! This is one of those areas to invest in, and you will save in health care and doctors visits.
I’ve worked out 6 days/week for years now (yes, even on holidays like Christmas!). It’s such a great stress reliever, and once you’re doing it for a long time, it’s a habit just like brushing your teeth.
I have one of those huge trucker cups for water because I drink so much of it. It’s actually a great conversation starter, LOL. People are always asking me what’s in there and I tell them it’s vodka. 😉
I gained weight due to thryoid/adrenal/gluten issues about 3 years ago, and nothing my doctor or I tried was working. I recently started eating Paleo and the weight is just flying off. I highly recommend the Paleo lifestyle to anyone who is serious about being healthy and/or losing weight.
I totally agree ~ eating that way cured many many health problems in my family. Issues we thought were completely normal (like lack of energy due to getting older.) I love eating this way.
Eat meat in the morning – no sugar (including fruit and juices) and see if you have fewer cravings throughout the day.
Right with you on the water! Everyone should drink half your body weight in ounces of water everyday. You will be amazed at how good you will feel! We try to eat a raw fruit or veggie or salad at every meal and it really helps us stay healthier.