We all have the best of intentions when it comes to the holidays. This is not the time to start a new, restrictive diet but that doesn’t mean that we need to fall completely off the wagon either. I believe that a healthy lifestyle includes joy and enjoyment without the judgment about every little thing you put on your plate. Here’s how we can do it using the ABC’s of resilience.
Today let’s limit our discussion to how the stress and obligations of this time of year can affect our exercise and nutrition patterns. Here are 3 ways we can use awareness, boundaries and connection to help maintain a healthy balance with movement, nutrition and sleep through the holidays even for sugar addicts like me.
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Sugar addicts holiday survival guide
We all have the best of intentions when it comes to the holidays. This is not the time to start a new, restrictive diet but that doesn’t mean that we need to fall completely off the wagon either. I believe that a healthy lifestyle includes joy and enjoyment without the judgment about every little thing you put on your plate. Here’s how we can do it using the ABC’s of resilience.
As a review the ABC’s of resilience are Awareness, Boundaries and Connection and they’re foundational to making healthy choices and regulating stress any time of year. The holidays can be fraught with all kinds of stressors even in the best case scenarios. There's family history, travel stress, financial worries, perfectionist tendencies and high expectations as we try to create the “perfect holiday”, and the food, don’t get me started…The holidays can be a time of joy yes, but also sometimes sadness. We don’t always get to be with the people we want to be with. Memories can often be bitter sweet and can trigger old habits, patterns and cravings. Today let’s limit our discussion to how the stress and obligations of this time of year can affect our exercise and nutrition patterns. Here are 3 ways we can use awareness, boundaries and connection to help maintain a healthy balance with movement, nutrition and sleep through the holidays even for sugar addicts like me.
Give yourself grace
We know our family dynamic. We know our history, our traditions and expectations and there’s a lot that goes into it. For my family our holidays begin and end with food. The menu is set. The same every year. There’s food everywhere. And while I would like to think we could do something different, it would not feel the same. I am aware of this. I know there are always way too many sweets and treats. I am a sugar addict. I don’t say that lightly. It is a thing for me. In my family it feels rude to not try everything. I say it that way because I don’t think it actually IS rude, I just feel that way. Someone put a lot of effort in and I know what that’s like so I want to try all the things.
We could all use a little grace. This is once a year. It’s ok to indulge in the holiday feast.
Instead of using exercise to punish yourself for that indulgence, maybe we take a walk with the siblings or cousins after dinner to kickstart the metabolism. There’s definitely a place for physical rest or active rest when it comes to breaking your routine. And it’s ok to stay up a little later or take a few naps. We want to allow ourselves to enjoy the holiday so think about what would help you do that.
Sometimes family has other traditions that you have grown out of or don’t fit your life now. There’s nothing that says you have to continue to repeat any pattern. Even when those traditions can feel unbreakable It’s ok to stop a cycle that is self destructive or harmful.
Set meaningful boundaries
My family traditions are all about the food, it's our love language and it’s food I love. But for most of the year I don’t eat this way. This level of temptation isn’t constant. So during this one week of the year around christmas I don’t say no. But I don't force myself to eat everything either. During Thanksgiving it’s one day (maybe 2 with leftovers. And I don’t say no. Those are boundaries I can live with.
Time boundaries are one way to give yourself some control during the holidays. How long will you stay in any particular environment? Where will you spend the holiday? That gets complicated with growing families. I know folks who have early xmas, 2 or 3 Thanksgiving dinners, split the days or alternate years. My grandmother started a tradition for Thanksgiving that rivals Norman Rockwell. The whole family dressed up and gathered for dinner, kids table and everything. But these days it can’t happen every year. There have been years when it was just not possible to be with family. But the ones I remember the most are the ones when we were all together.
I’m aware that not all families are like that. Maybe there’s a particular family member that you don’t like or is toxic or very stressful. You have every right to set boundaries to protect yourself from them.
If you or someone you love struggles with addiction or is in recovery, this time of year can be particularly difficult. Don't be surprised if that person chooses to go somewhere else during cocktail hour or skips the festivities altogether.
Whatever your boundaries need to be, you have every right to them.
When it comes to boundaries and your health choices through the holidays we might need to adopt a realistic flexible compromise when we’re talking about nutrition, exercise and sleep during the holidays. My favorite way to stay on track when I’m traveling or on “vacation” or when there’s a lot of holiday activity is to frontload the day with all the healthy stuff.
This is where my breakfast salads come in handy. Exercise first or integrate activity into the day. Dog walks are good for that. Or a group walk after the big meal of the day. Window shopping can be good for that or football in the yard. There are a lot of creative ways to mitigate the overindulgence so we don’t get completely sideways and it’s easier to get back on track after things calm down.
Once it’s happened it’s happened so at that point we just need to let it go, wipe the slate clean. It doesn’t do us any good to beat ourselves up about it. Each day is new.
Use the “just for today” approach
This is one that I have co-opted from how I approach teaching as a sub or when I’m introducing new movement patterns in class. This “Just for today” thought goes a long way to helping me resist temptation and stick with new habit patterns. Like when I cut back on alcohol and I don’t want to drink during the week. Just for today I’m not having a glass of wine. Instead I’ll make myself a tastier mocktail. Or I’ll drink this glass of water first and then if I still want it I can have it. I must be exceptionally distractible because more often than not that’s all it takes and then I’ve completely forgotten about that wine. That doesn’t work quite so well with chocolate, so I try to choose higher quality chocolate and savor it more.
But it can work with what we put on the plate, how we exercise and how we sleep. Just for today I’m going to get up early so I can walk before the big brunch and if I need a nap later I’ll let myself take one. Just for today I’m going to bed a little earlier and I’ll listen to a guided meditation to get to sleep because I know tomorrow will be a late night. Just for today allows you to stay in your boundaries AND lets you have a little grace too.
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