How to be Healthy During the Holidays

The holidays are a fun time but also a hectic time. We spend more time traveling, we visit with family, and our routines can get completely thrown off. That’s why it is so important to consider our goals to be healthy and make a plan for a healthy holiday season.

I’ve mentioned before my personal struggles with being up and down in weight. I was super proud of myself after finally losing 50 pounds after having my son, but the good habits I started have slipped and the pounds are piling back on.  This is making me re-evaluate myself again and try to get back on track. Yes, I want my clothes to fit better. But more importantly, I want to have the energy to be able to keep up with my preschooler, and focusing on healthy goals this holiday season will help me be a healthier mom.

This post was sponsored by Optimum Nutrition as part of an Influencer Activation and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

Set Healthy Holiday Goals

Staying on track is easier to do when we have set goals in place to help us. Goals are part of mindfulness, and keeping our healthy goals on our minds during the busy holiday season helps us to keep them. It is also important to think about our priorities. Why are we doing what we’re doing? Are specific health reasons driving our goals? If straying from our goals could cause a setback in an illness recovery, having these firm goals in place is even more vital.

If you’ve been following a particular diet eating plan, set goals to maintain this eating style. Think through what challenges you may encounter and come up with solutions to keep to your plan.

Add exercise goals to your holiday plans. Maybe schedule a family walk/hike after the bigger meals. If you’re a runner, plan for when you can go get those miles in while visiting family.

Some of your healthy holiday goals may be a remix of your regular activities and goals, based on a different and busier schedule. But if you’re starting something new – start “practicing” your goals early. If you set new plans for the holiday season, start doing those activities early to start forming your habits.

Be Mindful of your Holiday Eating Habits

I know it is so easy to slip up during the holidays and overeat or eat incorrectly. Sure, pies are all around us, and fancy home-cooked dishes full of comfort carbs are abundant. But it is important to be mindful of our eating, and not cause our bodies strain or discomfort.

Here are some ideas to help be mindful of our eating during the holidays:

• Eat smaller portions. We may want to try everything or take polite helpings of all the options offered to us, but that leads to overeating in a hurry. Smaller portions help keep us from overdoing it.
• If road tripping over the holidays, plan your travel stops to include restaurants with healthy meal options.
• Remember to drink lots of water, and less soda and sugary drinks.
• If staying in a hotel, ask for a hotel fridge. Grab some healthy meal options to stock in the room for meals between family gatherings.
• Pack healthy snacks for travel and on-the-go times. To help us avoid fast food drive-thrus on the way to family gatherings, we can focus on bringing better snacking options along with us.

A fabulous way to stick to healthier snacking is to grab some delicious Optimum Nutrition products at Walmart. They are as convenient as they are affordable, and are perfect on-the-go protein sources to help keep us full and reduce the amount of drive-through snacking we do.

Protein Crisp is a high protein bar ( 20g protein in each bar) with a delicious crispy texture. The flavors come in Count Peanut Butter Crunch and Salted Toffee Pretzel.

Protein Almonds are delicious chocolate coated almonds with twice the protein of regular coated almonds (each serving provides 10 grams of protein). These almonds are dipped in a whey enriched confection coating and dusted with cocoa, and let me tell you are absolutely delicious.  The flavors come in Dark Chocolate Truffle and Cinnamon Roll.

Protein Cake Bites are whipped cakes with 20 grams of protein per serving of 3 cakes. These cakes are a delicious and satisfying treat for under 250 calories. They come in four amazing flavors: Birthday Cake, Red Velvet, Chocolate Frosted Donut, and Peanut Butter Chocolate.

Focus on your Mental Health this Holiday Season

Definitely not least of all, we must remember to be mindful of our mental health.

Family drama over the holidays can get very stressful, and it is of utmost importance we remember to focus on our immediate families and honestly evaluate whether certain family gatherings are good for us.

Remember to Get Enough Rest

Sleep is vital for our health, and often long days of travel and late nights spent around the bonfire with a giant family could mean you don’t get enough rest. This is especially true when traveling with young children.

Young children’s sleep schedule may get altered during holiday travel, and just being in a new place can cause even good sleepers to be up all night crying. So be mindful of that and try to establish a routine pattern that is familiar even if the timing is different.

Here’s one travel tip: being jet-lagged is rough, also, and often causes insomnia. It can be easier to adjust by staying up to evening time in your new time zone and spending time in daylight and fresh air to stay awake until bedtime comes.

Focusing on health and wellness over the holidays can look like a variety of goals. We must remain mindful of our goals and habits to keep us feeling our best while allowing ourselves time to enjoy the holidays and time with our families.

How are you focusing on having a healthier holiday?