Holidays can challenge our healthy lifestyles. From Halloween to New Years Day, there are expectations of ourselves, our family, and others. There's more to do too, such as shopping and cooking traditional foods, shopping for, wrapping, and sending gifts, creating holiday cards, writing and mailing cards, attending events, traveling and visiting friends and family, cookie swaps, holiday lunches with friends and co-workers, school concerts, holiday parties, etc. It goes on and on! Many of these additional holiday events are of our own choosing, and some we may feel are obligatory, or must do because it is tradition. Sometimes we just go into automatic pilot at holiday time, instead of being intentional. Remember it's okay to create new traditions, or do things differently if it is no longer serving you.
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. When I was growing up, my family always celebrated Thanksgiving with lots of relatives coming for a big turkey dinner with all the traditional fixings. I loved having everyone together, and still do. Most Thanksgiving holidays, we ordered pizza for lunch so we didn’t have to prepare another meal while cooking the “big” meal. Relatives usually started arriving around 1:00 pm with pies and bakery cookies. I loved helping with the cooking and getting the house ready for company. The best part was when we all finally sat down at the table together. I’d look around at everyone and smile with genuine love, happiness, and gratitude. After our relatives left, we’d take out the leftovers around 10:00 pm and have a second dinner! Not the healthiest way to go – but I didn’t know better then. So food and love and family all went together.
Maybe this sounds familiar? Everyone has their own unique journey, but for many of us, perhaps you can relate to my story. Now that I have my own family, we still like to have relatives come for Thanksgiving. For me, it just doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving without family around, but over the years and situations with relatives – illness, mobility, relatives being out of state, it’s harder to get together.
Feelings of confusion and disappointment have crept in over the years, and now finally acceptance. We had to find another ways to enjoy the holiday, and each year continues to be different based on family circumstances.
What comes to mind when you hear the words “Help yourself?”
Back in the day, the only thing that meant to me was – help myself to the food. Maybe help yourself refers to a buffet of food, or maybe it has new meaning to take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and doing what you need to be healthy and happy. Like the flight attendant on the airplane says "Put on your own oxygen mask before you help others."
A few years ago, I did what I thought was the unthinkable and had a restaurant cater some of our Thanksgiving meal. Last year, I did something similar and had Wegmans do all of the cooking. After all, I still have to polish the silver, iron the tablecloths, clean the house, and the list goes on. I love to do it, but at what cost to my health. I'm going to enjoy my family and not be stuck in the kitchen.
There are many ways of coping and making things easier on ourselves during the holidays. Here are 5 simple strategies for managing your health through the holidays.
1. Eat a Healthy Breakfast
Continue to eat a healthy breakfast every day. Just because you know you are going to have a big holiday dinner with dessert, doesn’t mean you should skip breakfast – you might overindulge later. AI like to prepare my morning smoothie or overnight oats the night before so I don't have to take time out in the morning when I am busy running errands or taking care of out of town visitors. When I do have visitors an egg bake prepared the night before means that breakfast just needs to be heated in the oven in the morning. Add a bowl of fruit salad, or a warm apple and pear crisp, and breakfast is served.
2. Keep up Your Activity
Continue your usual exercise routine, or if it needs an upgrade, use the holidays as an opportunity for some new activity with the family. Perhaps take a walk or a hike before or after the big meal, or join a local Turkey Trot. If you don’t have a usual exercise routine, start slowly now by asking yourself what you could start doing. What kinds of activities do you enjoy? This time of year you could start with some functional activities like apple picking, raking leaves, and parking further at the mall when shopping.
3. Lighten Up Your Food
Plan your holiday meals with traditional foods but think about adding in a new vegetable dish, or substitute a vegetable dish for a healthier version. Think color when planning your meals to ensure getting a variety of vitamins, minerals and health benefits as well as a beautiful plate.
Here are a few suggestions.
Cauliflower mashed “potatoes” instead of mashed potatoes
Green beans almandine instead of green bean casserole
Baked sweet potatoes instead of mashed potatoes, or candied sweet potatoes
Here are a few other recipe ideas. You can find many of these under the recipe section of my website.
Green Harvest Salad with Walnuts and Pears
Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots
Poached Pears
Butternut & Kobacha Squash Soup
Pumpkin & Apple Soup
Apple & Pear Crisp
4. Plan to Feel Good
Plan to feel good after the Holiday Party by visualizing and mentally rehearsing your party plan. What will you eat and drink? What will you plan not to eat or drink? I like to let a friend or my husband know my intention, because if I say it out loud, I can hold myself accountable. Who do you want to catch up with? Who do you want to get to know better? Focus on the people and the celebration, and the food will take second priority. Visualize taking one plate and moving away from the table in order to prevent mindless munching. Then at the party, follow through on your plan. You can also plan to bring a healthy delicious dish.
Here are some things I like to bring to a party.
Bottle of Sparkling Water with lemon slices
Guacamole Deviled Eggs
Harvest Salad with Walnuts and Pears
Fresh Fruit Platter or Salad with Pomegranate Anvils – sprinkle in coconut, add mint leaves
Homemade Dark Chocolate Bark
5. Don't Miss Your Sleep
Stick to a good sleep routine. If you are tired, you will get run down and may get sick, and then you will not enjoy have fun during what could be a wonderful holiday season. When you are tired you don't make the best decisions either about your healthy food and planned activity. So get rest, even if the laundry isn't done, or the cards get out late.
There are a lot more items on our “to do” lists during the holidays. Getting enough sleep will help keep you healthy, balanced, and in control to make decisions to support your health. You might need to ask for help. I know you can do it better than anyone else, but at what cost! Get comfortable with having it done, and it's okay if it is not exactly the way you would have done it. Let it go for your own health. Delegate appropriate tasks to others, and decide what can fall away based on what is important. And you might have to redefine what you or others think is important.
What will you do for a healthy holiday season? What else you do to stay healthy during the holidays? I'd love to hear from you.