Staying Sane and Healthy During the Holidays
The year has once again flown by and December is almost here. For many, this is one of the busiest and most stressful months of the year… Holiday shopping to do, more time with family (which has its own stress), and so many activities that only happen once a year. It can feel overwhelming to many of us.
In addition, for many of us, our diets change at this time and we eat more heavy rich foods or foods with lots of sugar in them, placing an extra toll on our bodies.
In this week’s blog post, I’d like to share a couple simple strategies to help keep you less stressed and stay healthy through January.
- Make sure you are still making time for downtime and relaxation. It can feel easy to be short on time and put rest and relaxation at the bottom of the “to do” list but if you are exhausted, irritable, or make yourself sick, how enjoyable will your holidays be? Even if you are just carving out 30 minutes to just breathe or take a walk in nature, it can be powerful and recharging to do that regularly.
- Set healthy boundaries for yourself. Don’t feel like you have to say “yes” to everything and everyone. If you are exhausted, sometimes you might just need to say “no, I can’t this time” and take some time to rest and relax. Also, be mindful of setting boundaries with people who are key triggers of stress (perhaps like certain family members). If you find yourself in a situation where you are getting upset, it is ok to excuse yourself.
- Keep up with drinking water. This is a time of year where we often overindulge in all sorts of things- alcohol, sugar, rich foods. By at least making sure you are drinking plenty of water (filtered if you can), you will be helping your body to keep up with clearing out the accumulation of toxins. The rule of thumb is you should be drinking half your body weight in ounces of water each day. If that is too overwhelming, scale it back some but try and push yourself a bit.
- Try and overindulge just a little less. It can be easy to feel guilty about what we are choosing to eat at this time yet hard to stop ourselves when so surrounded by it. Perhaps try and just cut back some and then don’t beat up on yourself for what you do eat. Or if you really realize that things like sugar are not making your body healthy, try and look for healthy alternatives to some of your favorite treats.
- Find ways to boost your immune system. Stress, overindulging, sugar… all these things are likely going to bring your immune system down and increase the risk of getting sick. Try incorporating natural remedies like eating vitamin C rich foods, looking for natural remedies at your local health food store, and again taking time for relaxation as ways to help support your immune system.
If you feel like you could use a little extra TLC during this crazy time, now through December 15, I’m offering 15% off a stress reduction and immune system tune up session with me. Give me a call at 503-347-0258 or use the scheduling system below to book your appointment.