As the holiday season rolls around each year, it can be difficult to find balance—to enjoy the celebrations of the season without losing your wellness routine. But “wellness” isn’t just about clean eating and burned calories. Being truly well is a lifestyle; it’s consistently feeling your all-around best.
At AquaVie, we want to help you find balance this season, starting with these five easy tips for feeling your best throughout the holidays.
1: Keep Moving
It’s understandable that your regular workouts may not fit into your busy holiday social schedule. That’s okay! The best thing you can do for your body is to incorporate at least 25-30 minutes of active movement into your day. There are plenty of easy ways to do this!
- Post-dinner walks around the neighborhood
- Short morning hikes with the family
- At-home yoga flows
Looking for a quick training session? AquaVie trainer Katherine recommends integrating a pyramid workout into your busier holiday weeks. Pyramid workouts are a fast way to get in a good sweat, and can often times be completed with little-to-no equipment at home!
2: Keep Your Regular Habits
Take a deep breath. There’s no need to stress over decadent foods and larger portion sizes. Fight the fear of holiday foods by maintaining your regular eating habits. Eating regularly will keep you from throwing your body—and your blood sugar—into misalignment. Two things to keep in mind:
- Do your best to eat at the times of day you normally would.
- Don’t starve yourself to “make up for” bigger, heavier meals. Restricting your food intake could throw your blood sugar out of whack and cause more harm than the meal itself.
3: Keep Moderation in Mind
Now is a great time to tune into your body’s signals. Instead of restricting what foods you can or cannot have from the holiday spread, allow yourself to eat freely. But pay close attention to how your body feels as you eat. As you feel full, stop eating. This way you can eat what you like, without feeling too full.
4: Keep Cooking
Part of the joy of this time of year is the ability to share meals made special by loved ones. One way to keep wellness in mind amid all of these delicious meals is to contribute your own (perhaps healthier) dishes. Love mashes potatoes but not the heaps of butter and cream that go into it? Volunteer to bring your own to the party.
Plus, don’t forget to keep cooking in mind on the days you don’t have holiday gatherings to attend. Try making a hearty salad like this one here.
5: Keep Getting A Good Night’s Sleep
Depriving your body of rest will make it harder to keep other aspects of your routine on track. An off-kilter sleeping schedule will affect your ability to eat at your regular times and could, if exhausted, affect your ability to keep your body moving. Making sure to rest at regular times will keep your body feeling well overall throughout the holiday season—and beyond.
Want to get a personalized wellness plan for the New Year? Looking to get motivated with a group fitness class? Find more information about private training sessions and our variety of classes offered at our website.