How to stay healthy during the holiday season is a real challenge especially for many health-conscious people. I want to stay healthy and I am an advocate for healthy living. But I love the holiday season, I’m sure we all do. I mean, who doesn’t? It’s the most wonderful and jolliest time of the year! It’s a time of celebration with family and friends.
But the holiday season is also a time of festivities, during which people tend to eat more, drink more, sleep less and are usually a little less active. It’s not surprising then that most, if not all people, will gain weight during the holiday season. Even the most disciplined ones may find it difficult to sustain their diet and fitness routines.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can have a great time all throughout the holidays without having to break out from your healthy lifestyle. So here are some tips on how to do exactly just that.
1) Stay active.
I know it can be hard to dodge all of life’s obstacles and stay active at any time, but finding the time to exercise during the holidays can be even more of an uphill struggle. You maybe tempted to ditch your work outs as tour days fill up with holiday preparations, parties and errands, but you still need to be active.
Exercise will help you deal with added stress and will also help you manage your weight through number of parties and gatherings you will be attending.
If this time of year seems impossible to fit in your regular work outs, why not try sneaking exercise into your normal daily routine. Exercise wherever and whenever you can. Walk home from work or do some stretching or strength exercises in your living room. Take the stairs and park further away to help you burn more calories. Take a short walk while on a break at work or ride your bike to the store to pick up some items.
You can even make exercise and work outs a family affair by walking around the neighborhood together to look at holiday decorations. You may also want to get the kids involved by organizing contests for them to see who can run the furthest or who can do the most push-ups. Playing hide-and-seek and other games with the kids are easy and fun ways to help the whole family stay active.
Being active has been shown to strengthen your immune system, decrease stress and help keep unwanted weight off.
2) Get plenty of rest and sleep.
The holiday season can be very tiring because of the shopping, gift wrapping and food preparation, which will eventually lead to increased stress and low energy. It can be challenging to clock in enough sleep during the holidays with so many events and parties going on and so many items on your to-do lists so try not to overbook yourself with holiday events and stick to a regular bedtime every night.
Getting enough quality sleep is a key to a healthy lifestyle. The more you lack sleep, the more you stimulate hunger. Lack of sleep will cause an increase in the amount of fat you store and lowers your metabolism.
It’s also important that you take time to relax because it’s not only the body that needs rest but the mind as well. You may want to give yourself at least one day in the next seven days to unplug, make no plans and really rest. Sleep all day or spend the day to read a good book. Your mind and body will thank you.
3) Wash hands frequently.
Keeping hands clean through proper hand hygiene is one of the most important steps to avoid getting sick and to prevent the spread of infections especially during the holiday season. Many conditions are spread from one person to another and throughout the entire community.
Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 30 seconds, especially during eating or touching your eyes and nose and after using the rest room. After washing, dry your hands thoroughly with a single-use paper towel and then immediately discard it to avoid cross contamination.
You can also reduce the instance of food poisoning by washing your hands and cooking surfaces. It is advisable to separate raw from ready-to-eat foods to avoid cross contamination.
4) Drink plenty of water.
Do you drink enough water on a daily basis? I believe it’s common knowledge that drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day helps promote weight loss and helps maintain ideal weight. Water also helps boost your immune system, flush out toxins, increase your energy and fuel your work outs.
The cold weather and indulging holiday party drinks can make you forget your need to drink water so you may want to bring a water bottle with you wherever you go to help remind you to stay hydrated. Water also helps keep you full so you won’t get to the holiday party and go for the dessert tray right away.
5) Stock up on healthy foods and snacks.
Make sure you stock up your cupboards and refrigerator with lots of healthy treats. With all the delicious foods available, eating too much may seem inevitable during the holidays. But just because there are more sweet treats, comfort foods and fun holiday drinks, don’t forget about the healthy foods such whole grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables. They are low-calorie foods and good sources of vitamins and minerals that can help your immune system strong.
6) Eat at home before attending holiday parties.
If you are attending a holiday party, eat small healthy snack before you go. It’s often tempting to skip meals in order to make room for food you’ll eat later but always remember the saying, “If you’re starving you may not make the wisest food choices.”
Also, never go grocery shopping while hungry and never attend a holiday party on an empty stomach. You will be less like to over indulge if you’re full of something healthy.
Conclusion
Celebrating the holiday season doesn’t have to mean over-indulgence, you can still enjoy the festivities while choosing to stay healthy. Make a commitment to do everything you can so you don’t add extra pounds and stay healthy without depriving yourself of all the fun.
Wishing you the happiest holidays and a blessed new year ahead!
It is really important to stay healthy during holidays, sometimes I just forget about using my car and just have a walk with my girl friend because that is also part of exercise. I love it when you talk of drinking a lot of water, one day I experienced pains on my spinal chord and on my kidneys .. . went to the doctor and given medication and was told to drink lots of water . I never used the medication but I was healed with just drinking lots and lots of water.
Right! Going for a walk at the park or to the grocery store instead of riding your car is a good form of exercise. You and your girlfriend can also go bike-riding during the weekends.
And you’re absolutely right about drinking lots of water. Water being the healthiest drink is needed by the body to perform its functions very well. I am a strong believer in the importance of drinking enough water that I wrote a separate post about it and the benefits it gives to our body and overall health.
You can check this out: https://stayhealthygetwealthy.com/the-importance-of-water-to-the-body
It is absolutely important to consciously make efforts to stay healthy during holiday seasons. Most people get carried away with the euphoria that they neglect the need to stay healthy amidst it all. Personally, the tip to stay active is the most adhered to, and it has been wonderful so far. Thanks for the tips Alice, its a reminder for me actually. Cheers!
Staying active even during the holiday season is very much doable. We’ll just have to find a way to incorporate it in our daily routine. Thanks for stopping by Samson.
Have a wonderful holiday season ahead!
Great tips you are giving here, even they should be considered as normal.
Drinking water, having enough rest, eating healthy, exercise — they are all known to help maintain a healthy body. What I also do is taking multivitamins to ensure my body has everything it needs and even more. So in that way I don’t need to be afraid to get sick.
Thanks for sharing it!
Hi Emmanuel, thank you for dropping by.
You’re absolutely right, these tips are not only good during the holiday season, but also in our everyday life.I just focused on the holiday season, which is just around the corner, because most people who are on a healthy regimen tend to forget everything. This is because of the parties that are hosted everywhere.
Taking multivitamins is advisable too in order to ensure that our body gets the necessary nutrients it needs to remain healthy and strong.People today live busy, busy lives and they can’t afford to get sick.
Thanks again, appreciate your comment.
Hey Alice! How are you doing today? I really enjoyed reading the blog post on “How to Stay Healthy during the Holiday Season” and it’s amazing because you’ve included tons of valuable information. I follow most of these steps not only during the Holiday Season but also during the time we go to work. These tips are really very helpful and I strongly recommend people to read this. Most of us use our health to build wealth but once they accumulate the wealth, they forget to spend it on improving their personal health.
Hello, thanks for reading my post and commenting, truly appreciate it.
You’re right, these tips to staying healthy do not only apply during the holiday season but we can also make them part of our routine. It’s really important that we take really good care of our health because once it’s gone we can’t have them back.
You made a very good point; people leverage their health in building wealth but once they become financially successful, they forget to re-invest it on their health.
This may sound like a cliche but I still believe that health is wealth!
I agree entirely with staying active during the holidays. We tend only to enjoy the holidays and forget to be active. I like your suggestion about eating at home before attending a party. Actually, this is my mothers-in-law’s base rule: “Never go to a party without eating at home.”
Healthy snacks are a great help as well, and when it’s about sleep, we do less during the holidays. We don’t care because the next day is a free day, no rush to jobs.
Your mother-in-law is a wise woman Dany. Other than having the tendency to over eat in parties, which is not good because most of the foods on the table are unhealthy, we also do not know when the host will actually start serving the food. So if we had our fill at home, with healthy foods of course, before showing up at a Christmas or new year’s party, we do not have to worry about our tummy complaining, lol.
Thanks for visiting.
Great tips Alice.
I know I personally have opted to not eat before attending a holiday gathering so I would have “room” for all the goodies. However, what usually ends up happening is I stuff myself and feel sick. I will have to remember to use that tip next year.
I used to do that too Patricia, I mean starving myself before attending holiday parties so I can eat every kind of food that is served on the table. But that was before I became more conscious of my health and the things I was putting into my body.
Today, I know better and I would like to share even the simplest tip I find helpful to others who wish to stay healthy even during the holiday season.
Good common sense information here!
I agree very much, we can make the most of the holiday season without necessarily neglecting our goal of staying healthy. I believe that it is important to be healthy. I love the holidays too and would like to enjoy it to the fullest. However, I do not want to go off the rails in my diet and exercise. It’s all about having a plan.
Thanks!
Hi Jacob,
Staying healthy is something we should not neglect even during the holiday season. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a great time during the holidays.