5 Tips for keeping healthy around the holiday season

Eat anything in moderation

Don’t overload your plate, rather take small portions of the foods you love.  You can always go back for more if you want.  Take your time eating and socialising with your family and friends.  Enjoy the food, it is not a race to get as much food in your body as possible. 

Use the same 90/10 approach to the holiday season by selecting healthy options most of the time and integrating the foods you don’t usually eat into the menu.  You will be surprised how this helps and you don’t feel like you are depriving yourself in anyway.

Homemade instead of store bought

Homemade dishes are always the best option as we know what ingredients we have used to make it.  There are no preservatives, extra sugar or bulking agents added to the dishes.  Most of the time we are using fresh ingredients and adding herbs, spices, natural sweeteners which our bodies can deal with. When you are eating homemade meals and desserts they are filled with wholesome and fresh ingredients, so you feel full and more satisfied. 

Have you ever heard of making a healthier version of the things that you love to eat.  Really what this boils down to is that you are using fresh and wholesome ingredients, instead of having store bought which includes more bulking agents than the real ingredients.  Your body therefore feels like it is not getting enough, so you are filling up on more of the same and still not feeling satisfied. 

When you are getting the nutrients from wholesome food your body will thank you for making these choices, and you won’t feel the need to continuously eat to fill yourself.

Add more vegetables to your plate

When you are putting out your food divide your plate into a quarter meat, quarter potato and half vegetable ratio.  There is lots of fibre and nutrients in the vegetables which helps our bodies with digestion.  This way you are also getting the foods that you crave as well, at the same time helping your body along with some health choices.

Having this combination is a game changer and you will see a huge difference in how you feel during the festive season.  When you are not filling your body with wholesome food you see changes in digesting, sleep and over all energy levels.  This has a huge affect on how your feel when you get to the end of the holidays.

Relax and get enough sleep

The festive season can be stressful as there is lots of planning and tasks that need sorted pre to the week of festivities.  Make sure you get some down time and enough sleep to recharge yourself.    Take naps if you need to and go to bed early if this is what your body is telling you.  Take the time out to relax and do nothing, watch TV, or read a book. 

Listening to your body is so important and relaxation and sleep is something that your body needs on an ongoing basis.   We spend best part of our lives running around, sticking to schedules, dealing with anxiety and stress, and we forget we are human and need some downtime.

You want to come out of this time relaxed, rested and know that you enjoyed your time with family and friends. 

Take walks to get your body moving

Relax around the holiday season but also gets your body moving and burning the calories you consume.    Instead of driving everywhere trying walking or riding your bike.  We get so use to jumping in the car to pick up a few bits at the shop which is within walking distance.  It will make you feel so much better if you go out for short walks in this time to get the body moving and using more energy. 

Also taking the time to go on planned walks to get fresh air and time to yourself is amazing for the body at anytime in the year.   In the festive season we tend to spend a lot more time stationary and eating during different planned events, so planning a walk in this time will work wonders for you.

We can enjoy ourselves in this time and don’t need to deprive ourselves, just remember to take care of yourself at the same time.