Holiday Survival Guide
🗓️ Is your December calendar being filled with holiday events?
Now that our lives are more or less like pre-pandemic, holiday parties seem to be back in full swing!🎊🍾🥳
As I talk to people about their holiday plans, there are often different reactions. Some are super excited about the holiday season, while others can’t hide the feeling of dread.😨
There seem to be two biggest sources of stress: family time and overindulgence.
*** Family Stress ***
Spending time with family can bring us back to our old, more ‘primitive’ self.
Even though we feel more mature as we get older, somehow, we go back to the childish version of ourselves and get into silly arguments or ego battles when we are with our family members.
So, for some of us, holiday season can create more stress than the feeling of celebration!
*** Stress of overindulgence ***
Some of you shared with me the dread of getting unhealthy (again) during the holiday season. Just thinking about all the rich (and delicious) food you will be consuming can make you feel bad about yourself. I hear people say “I give up during the holidays” or “I have no self-control!”
These negative emotions lead to the vicious cycle of eating more, exercising less, and feeling even worse…
I totally get it!
⬇️ Below I am offering a few tips to survive (and actually enjoy!) the holiday season.
1. ✋ Create space and boundary when spending time with family members (or anyone you have difficulties with)
When you spend a lot of time with your family and get into an emotional state, take action before it’s too late. You can take a “time-out” and go get air to shake off your emotion.
If you are not able to leave, take a few breaths and notice the feelings in your body. Do you feel it in your belly? Chest? Explore your emotions and see if you can figure out what is bothering you.
Often times, it is the primitive fight or flight reaction that you experience- by acknowledging the feeling, rather than fighting it, you will create a sense of ease and hopefully be able to respond to the situation more skillfully.
2. 🥗 Make or bring a few healthy dishes to holiday parties
If you feel like you always end up eating unhealthy food during holiday meals, come up with a few healthy but delicious dishes and bring them with you. Or host the meal so you have more control over what you are serving. This way, you know that you are still having something that is good for you, AND other people will appreciate different types of food!
To my family’s Greek holiday meals (which tend to be very decadent), I always bring my favorite Brussel sprout dish (see below for the recipe!) and a big autumn salad. I enjoy many other dishes, but it is always nice to have something that you know is super fresh, nutritious, and delicious! And people now ask me to bring these dishes because they have become their favorites.
3. 💕 Practice joy, not guilt
I say this a lot in our Mind-Body Reset program. Eating unhealthy food AND feeling guilty makes it even worse than eating unhealthy foods while enjoying them.
Guilt is toxic to our mind and body. It will make you feel like you are not good, which in turn will lead you to choose less healthy options. Have you had an experience where you failed at something (or had a stressful experience), and went straight to alcohol or junk food to numb your feelings? It’s the same concept.
Instead, remember that holiday season is a time of celebration with friends and families, and enjoy the occasion fully. You can always get back to a healthy mode afterwards!
4. 🖋️Make a concrete plan to get healthier for the new year
Every January, a lot of people make a New Year’s resolution to get healthier. The most common one is “I will lose XX pounds!” or “I will exercise every day!”
Unfortunately, most of these ‘resolutions’ fall off after a few days because they don’t come with any concrete action plans. It is actually very important that we start thinking about New Year’s intentions in December.
Intentions and goals are two different things- one is result-oriented and the other involves something you can start doing today.
As a coach, I always encourage my clients to start thinking about what they want in the future, then in 5 years, then in the coming year. We then come up with concrete actionable plans to be able to implement right away.
When you already have a plan to do something in January, you don’t have to dread the holiday season. In fact, you can fully enjoy it knowing that you’ll be taking care of yourself shortly!
This is why New Year’s Reset is always the most popular and sell out fast.
If this sounds good, please join me :)
Simple Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients (serves 6)
2lb Brussel sprouts (trim the stem and cut in half)
4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Optional (1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar & 1 teaspoon honey)
Directions
In a baking sheet, spread the sprouts, coat with olive oil, season with salt & pepper and roast at 425F until edges are nicely brown and crispy (oven temp vary so you might have to adjust it)
If you like, drizzle balsamic vinegar and honey
