Your Healthy Holiday Plan

As you may know I am not into telling you what to eat. There are a million of sites out that telling you a new magical food and telling you not to eat every food under the sun. I am not here to do that, but during the holidays I do want you to be healthy year round and sometimes the holiday season can feel like a battle field to try to stay healthy. You may want to come up with you own personalized plan for the holidays. Read through the list below for ideas:

1. You may want to scale back on the parties to get more sleep.
2. Spend a little more on presents to reduce your stress of going to the store.
3. Sign up for a local race or fundraiser with your family or friends, if it goes well you can make it a tradition!
4. Listen to the Bible during half of your lunch
5. Try to have vegetables at every party you attend
6. Sign up for a meal delivery service to have healthier options be convenient
7. Only have your favorite dessert at a party, if it is not your favorite, you simply pass
8. Help serve all the meals at a party- it gives you less time to eat (typically meaning less food, no one keeps offering you food since you are busy, and you are helping the host!)
9. Do a fun activity

• Go on a skiing trip
• Build a snow man
• Have a snowball fight
• Go on a hike
• Sign up for a holiday tournament

10. Decorate your house with DIY crafts

• Paper snowflakes
• DIY wreath 
• Make your own ornaments,
• Make your own Christmas jewelry
• Mason Jar Snow Globe

11. Make your own flavored almonds or nuts
12. Make a cute design with fruits and vegetables (snowman sticks out of bananas, a Christmas tree out of grapes or broccoli, banana and strawberries shaped into candy canes)
13. Eat 2 servings of vegetables every day
14. Drink X cups of water at a party
15. Get festive tea to have for dessert and get in the holiday spirit
16. Donate some time volunteer at a homeless shelter, go to the homeless in your community with your friends
17. Go shopping for someone else in need (be a cheerful giver)

It is easy to think you blew it and messed up, but the truth is you did not mess up. You did not fail. You are not a failure for eating food you did not like or gained a little weight. Your weight has never and will never define you. I want you to be healthy this holiday season and that may mean not following any of this. You could just be with your family and  friends giving your mind a break from calculating or figuring out exactly what to do. You know what is important in your life. If you in a season of feeling lonely or secluded, eating more food you do not consider healthy may allow you to feel more comfortable and interact more naturally with people. This interaction may be exactly what you need. Everyone is at a different place in their life and taking a step back from restrictive eating and embrace a more relaxed approach. Your healthy holiday plan may look very different than what you initially thought, but there is no reason to judge. Your plan may be focusing on keeping negative thoughts and self talk to a minimum this holiday season. Christmas is a great time of family reunion, but may also be filled with some difficult feelings. You may want to be extra diligent with journaling and processing feelings as this is associated with better emotional health. There is no right or wrong, for your healthy holiday plan! If you feel lost do not hesitate to reach out to me, I love connecting with people and helping them find their own path to getting healthy!

Enjoy the Season!
<3 Jessica