Your Healthful Holiday Survival Guide.

KAWARTHA LAKES-It’s December now and the holidays are officially upon us. Doesn’t this time of year always seems to sneak up on us a little bit?

So, in light of this magical (and demanding!) time of year, I wanted to discuss some holiday survival tips to get you through all the parties, family stuff, cooking, baking, and shopping. Because we all know, even though on the outside everything is holly-jolly, some of us get really worked up this time of year. And stress takes away from what this season is supposed to bring-joy, love, and happiness.

Read on to find out how to enjoy your holidays instead of burning out!

1.) Have realistic expectations: we all want to have the perfect Christmas season with the huge gourmet meal, perfectly constructed appetizers, deeply felt connections, and the most thoughtful gifts. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. The holidays don’t have to be perfect and it’s important be open to the fact that crazy stuff happens and chose to focus on the good instead. Perfectionism can kill even the most holly-jolly seeming person because depending on everything going 100% right at all times is just not realistic. This kind of mentality sets you up for failure, leading to depression and anxiety around the holidays.
By setting realistic expectations and going easy on yourself and your family, you can dim down the stress levels and amp up the joy!

2.) Be smart about your money: let’s face it, it’s easy to get swept up in the good marketing tactics all around us this time of year. Food, gifts, decorations, and events all cost A LOT of money. This time of year, people tend to just throw all caution to the wind and spend, spend, spend, leading to a totally broke January where we’re all just clinging to the afterglow and wondering where all our money went.
Keep this in mind: money can’t buy happiness.

Have a huge family to buy gifts for? Why not suggest a Secret Santa? It takes the pressure off and it feels so magical to watch everyone open their gifts and guess who it was from.
Finally, think twice about marketing. This time of year is especially bad for ads blasting in your face at all times. Try to tune out the outer noise and focus on what is truly important.

3.) If you feel lonely or have lost a loved one:  take the time to reach out to your community and different social groups this time of year. At Christmas time, everyone feels more charitable, loving, and connected. There are so many organizations needing an extra pair of hands to volunteer for toy drives, parades, church Christmas dinners, and family sponsorship programs. Use your gifts to make a difference and you won’t feel lonely. In fact, you’ll likely gain new friendships and create a new Christmas tradition.

4.) Don’t Forget Meditation: if you need to take a time-out, take it! With all the hustle bustle, it’s easy to throw this one out the window this time of year. But don’t.
Meditation is like a mini vacation for your brain. It’s the most important piece to self care. At Christmas it’s so easy to resort to another glass of wine or more Christmas cookies to stomp out our feelings of overwhelm and stress and many people do cope this way and that’s because yes, it will make you feel better in the moment. But if you don’t like hangovers or sugar bloat, then give yourself the gift of meditation instead.
Excuse yourself, step outside, quiet your mind, focus on your breath, get centred and then jump back in with a clear head. Trust me, it works!

5.) Don’t Fight Food in Fear of Weight Gain:  if you are a health focused person, it can be tricky to navigate around the mass amounts of food being shoved in your face. I used to dread the holiday weight gain and use “strategies” to avoid it. I would not eat all day waiting for Christmas dinner, and then eat all the things and more. Showing up to Christmas dinner ravenous is not smart because everything will look good because you are starving and that makes it harder to make good and balanced decisions.
With a little mindfulness, you can find balance this year rather than restricting only to end up in a food coma later. Tune out all the noise and tune in to what you are truly hungry for and savour it! ENJOY!

Enjoy your holidays and if you are looking to get a head start on those New Years Resolutions, check out my newest online program called 21 Days of Movement. This program is designed to improve your core strength, fix your posture, and get rid of your nagging aches in just ten minutes per day. Find it at http://www.sweathappywellness.com/21daysofmovement

Becky Sheehey is a Holistic Health Coach, and a Pilates and Movement Expert with a background in Kinesiology. She lives in Lindsay.