How to Stay Healthy During the Holidays

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It’s that time of year when we start asking ourselves and everyone around us how to stay healthy during the holidays. I promise that staying healthy during the holidays is possible and I’m sharing my stress-free tips!

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How to Stay Healthy During the Holidays

It’s that time of year! Whether you are ready to embrace it or not, the holiday season is in full swing and with SO many parties, social commitments, and wonderful food being shoved into our faces from so many different angles, we’re wondering how to stay healthy during the holidays. It’s possible, I promise!

I also promise not to give you super generic advice like filling your plate with mostly salad or eating a big healthy meal before you go to a party. I can’t stand that nonsense, because it doesn’t really work. As much as the holidays are a time where we need to be thinking extra hard about what we’re using to fuel our bodies, it’s also a time to rejoice in all the good food and friends and families around us. If you walk into a party with the expectation that you’re going to drink nothing but lemon water and somehow avoid the dessert table, you’re not being realistic (or are extremely disciplined). And then in most cases, you wake up the next day being really hard on yourself (ahem: hello self-care….we don’t need any of that nonsense in our lives!). Staying healthy during the holidays is possible as long as you give yourself a little grace, balanced with a little discipline and keep my favorite Health Warrior Mug Cakes handy!

How to Stay Healthy During the Holiday Season

At the end of the year, it’s like we’re hit with this trifecta of holidays back to back to back. Once the Halloween candy is finally gone, we move right into Thanksgiving prep and then Christmas is like a month-long party with every treat we covet somehow presenting themselves before our eyes. If you’re like me, you want to enjoy yourself, but at the same time, you’ve gotta make some choices that will keep your body on track as you navigate into the New Year.

Make it a family thing!

I know that during the holidays it usually means more time spent indoors because of the weather, so not as much activity and winter makes you want nothing but comfort food. One of my biggest suggestions for staying healthy during the holidays is to do it together as a family because there is nothing like using this as a teaching moment for the kids and having the people who love you most being the ones holding you accountable for getting moving and making healthy choices.

Don’t deprive yourself, ok? Promise?

I can’t stress this one enough, you guys! I wait all year long for the holidays because of certain foods that I know are being served. You will feel awful if you miss out on those foods! It’ all comes down to balance and you know what it too much or too little for your personal satisfaction. Depriving yourself will do nothing more than leading to overeating later. Please don’t forget to enjoy yourself.

Plan, plan, plan.

And speaking of balance…it all comes down to planning like a boss. For instance, if I know that on Thanksgiving I’m going to be eating like, I’ve never eaten before in the evening, I make sure to start my day with my favorite Health Warrior Mug Cakes, giving myself 12 filling grams of plant-based protein, 5 grams of fiber with only 6 grams of sugar to start my day. Then I workout, have a veggie-packed salad for lunch and am ready for an indulgent dinner. If you’re able to plan this way whenever you know that you have events in the morning or evening, you will balance out your calories coming in versus going out and feel better if you indulge.

Take time-outs when needed.

There are parts of the holiday season that can be downright overwhelming. There’s so much to think about, so many gifts to buy, decorating to be done – it’s endless. Whenever you feel like it’s all getting to be too much, pretend you’re a toddler and give yourself a timeout. You deserve it!

Think about your mental health just as much as your physical health.

This sort of piggybacks on my last tip, but it’s really important that staying healthy during the holidays (and every day really) isn’t just about healthy eating and working out, it’s about your mental health, too. If skipping out on an event where there are toxic people you don’t want to around makes you happy, then do it. If you need to say no to helping out at the kid’s school every week is going to be too much then don’t commit to as much.

Looking for more holiday tips? I’ve got you covered!

And here’s a little bonus tip: stay away from the scale. Looking at those numbers is like play pinball with your brain. They go up and down and then you experience highs and lows. Just stop. Give yourself some grace, mama, because you are doing the best job you can to get through the busiest time of year while thinking of everyone else’s needs. There’s no need to put more pressure on yourself. Loosen up, have a little fun and enjoy these special moments with your family.

XOXO,

Allison