Staying Healthy During the Holidays

It’s the mooooost wonderful tiiiiiime of the yeeeeear. ♪♫♩

Yes it is!  The holidays are a time filled with beautiful weather (here in South Florida, anyway), and a time to make memories with your loved ones.  However, it can also be a stressful time packed with lots of traveling, last-minute shopping, and plenty of opportunities to overindulge and be underactive.  Now, no one is saying you should have a salad and go for a run on Thanksgiving.  The priority is to enjoy yourself and have an amazing time with your family and friends!

But the goal can be to indulge and enjoy your holiday season, while not going so overboard that come New Year’s you hastily make resolutions to suddenly become a health guru (more on this later) out of guilt. 

It’s not only possible, but it’s easy.  Here are some practical tips you can implement every day no matter the situation to stay on track with your health and wellness goals this holiday season:

1.    Prioritize movement: It’s fine to scale back on an intense exercise regimen if you’ve got a busy schedule, but there is always a way to get in some extra movement!  Research shows that going for a brief walk even as short as 15 minutes after a meal can aid digestion and burn some extra calories.  So skip the temptation to take a nap post-food-coma and opt for a walk around the block instead.

2.    Skip and/or mix and match leftovers: I’m not going to tell you to try to focus on healthy food for your holiday feast, what fun would that be?  But what you can do, is enjoy it and move on.  If you are in a situation where you are left with huge amounts of leftovers and can’t give them away to guests, a good strategy is to freeze half, and then have the other half in small quantities coupled with some healthier options.  For example, replace the turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes plate with a salad topped with some of that leftover turkey.  In short, pace yourself.

3.    Minimize stress: Stress can lead to elevated cortisol levels, which leads to increased weight gain (a good way to combat stress is by getting a massage, you know we had to mention it!).

So there you have it!  Staying healthy during the holidays doesn’t need to be hard, and you don’t need to make a lot of sacrifices.  Small tweaks here and there can make a huge difference.

And above all, don’t forget to prioritize enjoying yourself.  Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Healing Hands!

#healingshandsmiami, #therapeuticmassage, #corporatewellness, #massage, #wellness, #holidays, #healthylifestyle, #howto, #healthyholidays

You want to do it, but how do you do it?

Have you ever had a goal of making a positive lifestyle change? One that you really want to accomplish…but you just can’t seem to make it happen? Chances are the answer is yes. The problem here is that most people think it takes pure self-control and willpower to make a change happen.

However, that is far from the truth. Willpower is a finite resource, and self-control depletes it. So if you’re relying on self-control to make your desired changes, chances are it won’t get you very far for very long.

Not to worry. There are other tools at your disposal:

·       Stimulus control: the concept behind stimulus control is that people respond in a certain way to the presence or the absence of a stimulus, which can promote or inhibit a behavior. So for example, if you’re looking to cut down on junk food, remove it from your home. This way instead of relying on self-control, you can rely on being too lazy to go to the store to buy some! Conversely, if you’re looking to make it to the gym after work, keep your gym bag in your car with everything you need in the passenger seat (where you can see it).

·       Start with small incremental changes: a common mistake is to try to do too much too fast. While there’s nothing wrong with ambitiousness, think about it; if you currently struggle with being active, which are you more likely to do consistently for the next month – get to the gym 6 times in one week, or once a week? The key here is to start with ONE goal so small you can easily commit and adhere to it, then work up from there to avoid becoming discouraged or giving up.

·       Make a specific and actionable plan: Let’s say your goal is to make time for yourself on the weekends so that you can go into work feeling refreshed. Plan ahead to achieve that goal. Schedule that massage a week in advance and make sure the babysitter is available so that once the weekend rolls around you’re all ready to go.

The goal here is to make that lifestyle change into a habit. By combining these strategies you’re able to remove willpower from the equation and make lasting change – pain-free!

#healinghandsmiami, #therapeuticmassage, #corporatewellness, #massage, #healthy, #howto, #healthylifestyle, #goodhabits