Last month, I posted on Twitter that “this week includes Halloween, my birthday, and our company holiday party. How’s a girl supposed to stick to her diet?”
This seems to be a common topic around this time of year between the parties, good food, and merrymaking. It’s much harder to keep up with healthy habits versus in the spring and summer (it doesn’t help that we are also pilling on the layers).
So today I wanted to share five healthy habits I implement during the holidays to help keep myself on track without feeling guilty about indulging.
1. be healthier today than you were yesterday
I strive to be a little bit better health-wise every day. Rather than beating yourself up overindulging in a cookie or two, just make sure you’re better the next day. This means, today you had sweets, tomorrow you stick to the veggie tray. There are some easy swaps that can keep you on a healthier track during the holidays like starting dinner with a large portion of salad or drinking water instead of that extra cup of coffee.
2. schedule your workouts
With evenings and weekends filling up with activities and events, I make a point to schedule my workouts. I will actually go into my phone and block out the time I need to go to a workout class at the gym if I’m really busy. If it’s still too easy to just hit snooze on your phone, consider signing up for a class that charges you a late/cancellation fee to help keep you accountable. You can also have a workout buddy and keep each other on track.
3. get to 10,000 steps every day
So you don’t have time to hit the gym, so just try to incorporate more activity into your errands. Shopping involves walking, right? Maybe add a couple speed walking laps of the mall or take a parking spot far away from the store (like you have much choice?) and get yourself to 10,000 steps every day.
4. Cook at home whenever possible
Cooking at home is one of the simplest ways to maintain a healthy diet during the holidays. Now, I’m no Martha Stewart and I detest grocery shopping but I’ve found an app that is AMAZING and makes me feel like a star in the kitchen: the Mealime app!
This incredible (and free) app allows you to select meals you’d like to make, auto-populates a grocery list for you, and lets you filter out any dietary preferences/restrictions. The meals aren’t complicated, take about 30-45 minutes, and taste really good! I’ve got a bunch of my co-workers on this app because it just makes meal planning and the grocery store so much easier. (*not sponsored, I’m just a HUGE fan! For real though. I can’t stop talking about it!)
5. be forgiving
There are always WAY too many baked goods floating around this time of year. (seriously watch my InstaStories to see how bad the situation is at my office) So what if you indulge over the weekend. Just make sure that you balance it out by eating healthy during the weeks, drinking some more water, and hitting the gym. It’s not the end of the world.
I hope you are having a wonderful week! This time of year is, yes a little stressful, so magical too. I’m planning on posting here on Friday but let me know if you want to see any posts next week. I think a lot of people are taking the week off so just let me know if you want to see any NYE posts from me
Until next time,
Ana Luiza
