Maintaining Healthy habits through the Holidays
So you’ve been working hard creating healthy habits and maybe some of them you are even starting to feel confident in how they are easily fitting into your routine.
First of all. GOOD JOB! Seriously. SO fucking amazing that you have
1. Made the decision to make a change for your health
2. You have started taking action towards that change.
That is beyond incredible and shows the amount of determination, strength, and perseverance you have. Creating new habits, is not easy to do.
Now we are in the holiday season - there are parties, family gatherings, and a lot of being in and out of our routine. It can be a disaster for any kind of habit - especially new habits you are trying to stay consistent with. While habits are actions that are seamless and don’t require much thought, they are easiest to maintain when our routine is the same everyday.
So how on earth do you stay consistent with your habits (especially new ones) during the holidays when your routine is really not the same? I have asked myself that same question.
SO many years I have said - ‘ah screw it, I’ll start again at the new year.’ Or - ‘No, I’m not going to start any new healthy habits during the holidays, it’s too hard.’ And when the new year would roll around, I found myself feeling sluggish, bloated, like I’d dug myself in a huge hole, and just not feeling myself. Not a positive way to ring in the new year.
What I learned after years of this cycle - Feeling like shit through the holidays is not worth giving up on healthy habits because it gets hard during the holidays.
Through trial and error and really learning how to LISTEN to my body, I have learned how to get through the holidays while still prioritizing my health and the habits that are most important to me. Now, I’m going to walk you through each step.
Establish your WHY. - Why do you want to prioritize your health this holiday season? Go deep here - How will it feel to have maintained your healthy habits and not feel like you’re starting from scratch come Jan 1?
Connect with your body, daily - It is easy to disconnect from ourselves during the holidays. However, that also makes it easier to NOT want to prioritize our healthy habits. Lean into connecting with your body daily. Asking her what does she need, what is going to help her feel her best, and if nothing else, just sitting in 5 minutes of quiet and BEING with her. That connection is invaluable not only to your health, but to creating habits you can maintain.
Worth it vs. Not Worth it - Think about the foods, drinks, social interactions, etc. that are worth it and not worth it. There are going to be situations, like staying out until 2am with your best friend from college, catching up, that is TOTALLY WORTH getting enough sleep. And guess what - that is OKAY! You are making that conscious choice to fill your cup. But let it be a choice that is WORTH IT. There are also going to be choices that are not worth - like having an extra piece of the store bought pie that even the first piece wasn’t that great…probably not worth it. p.s - Checking in and connecting with your body in these moments can help in deciding if something is worth it or not!
Progress over Perfection - Don’t look at the holidays with the lens of all or nothing thinking. This is a recipe for disaster. Some examples of all or nothing thinking:
If we can’t get in our full 10k steps, then we just aren’t going to get in any at all. If we already had the extra piece of pie, we might as well just eat whatever else we want even if we are full. If we didn’t get in our morning supplements, might as well skip the afternoon ones, too.
When you read that, doesn’t it just sound silly to just give up completely? Why not get in 5k steps instead of giving up and only get 1-2k? Why not sit and ENJOY that piece of pie and decide if we are satisfied instead of just mindlessly eating more? Why not still take our afternoon supplements and get the benefits from staying consistent with those? Some is better than none. Aiming for small progress, small amounts of consistency, over perfection, especially through the holidays can add up to huge results!
Grace & Forgiveness - It is easy to motivate ourselves out of self-hatred. But what good does it do? It adds unnecessary stress and can drive us to creating changes that are drastic and we just can’t maintain. Instead, practice showing yourself grace and forgiveness through the hard moments, when you make a choice your not proud of, or even when you question if your health is worth the energy you’re putting into these changes. Showing yourself grace and forgiving yourself allows you to not dwell on a past choice, but rather learn from it and move on.
Which leads us to our last step …
Move On - You have an off day - you’re totally off of your healthy habits, and you start to realize how hard it’s going to be. It’s okay to give it some recognition, learn from it and then MOVE ON. The next day. The VERY NEXT DAY. The next day, pick just 1 of your healthy habits. The one that is the easiest to complete and if you do nothing else that day, you do that ONE habit. You move on from the day prior and you get right back to making your health a priority.
I hope this helps you navigate your healthy habits as we go through the holiday season! Keep an eye on my Instagram for weekly content that will keep y0u inspired towards your healthy habit goals!
