5 Strategies to Feeling Fabulous for the Holidays

We are fast approaching the holiday season. With Halloween just around the corner there will be lots of cookies, cakes, chocolate, and candy temptations followed by Thanksgiving feasts as well as Christmas, New Years and Hanukah festivities. Whew! How does one keep fit and feeling fabulous throughout the season? Is it possible to move into January, after all of the parties and late nights, feeling better than before the season began? I say a strong and resounding YES! Let me share with you 5 strategies I use, and you can use to, to help keep you feeling fit & fabulous for the holiday season!

1. Bake healthy treats. If you are going to a party where you are asked to bring a food item, why not make it a healthy dessert? Prepare something you know you will like so that, when temptation strikes, you can at least go to your healthy dessert item. Enjoy the entire process, really take the time to look for an enticing and appealing recipe (there are so many websites and blogs out there showing beautifully healthy treats - go explore!). Enjoy and take your time measuring, mixing, and baking. Make the dessert you are going to share with your friends and loved ones filled with love. The more passion, attention, and love you put into making this healthy treat the tastier it will be…promise. People will feel your beautiful energy.
2. Reduce your calorie consumption if you know you are going to be eating more unhealthy than usual. I normally do not pay attention to calories, and I don’t believe this strategy should be done on a regular basis, but realistically there will be times when you're eating less than perfect - especially during the holidays. No big deal. Don’t have an anxiety attack over it and blow out your adrenals, just pay attention to the amount of less optimal food you are eating. Have a taste of that beautifully delicious holiday cake, just don't eat the whole thing. Really pay attention to the amount of calories you are consuming and reduce them for that evening, or for that dinner party, as much as possible. It’s okay to eat sub optimally at times, but then if you are, pay attention to not overeating.
3. Center yourself daily. All of the celebrating during the holiday season can be fun, but it can also be exhausting. To help keep yourself calm, centered, and aligned make sure to do some form of exercise daily. Doesn’t have to be long, take a walk, meditate, pray… whatever you know that works for you and helps you to feel calm and centered. Make time to center yourself everyday. This helps rebuild your hormonal stores and will-power, which will keep temptation at bay.
4. Hydrate. We all know to do this but a gentle reminder never hurt. Hydration is huge! It restores our cells, helps us to feel less bloated, heavy, and fatigued. It's good for our skin, circulation, releasing of toxins , etc., etc. On a basic level, drinking a sufficient amount of water helps us feel full longer so that we may feel less tempted while in the dessert line. And if we do indulge, drinking lots of water will help flush out the toxins in our body that much quicker. Hydrate away!
5. Practice intermittent fasting. This is a big one for me and I do intermittent fasting all year long, not just during the holiday season. Intermittent fasting works wonders on the digestive system. Basically intermittent fasting gives our gut a break! It is hard work continually and constantly working to digest the food we eat in our bodies, and when we eat like garbage our digestive systems have to work that much harder. Toxins build up, chronic diseases can begin to form, and before you know it, you are heading toward type II diabetes, heart disease, or worse - heart attack, stroke, Alzheimer's, cancer and more! Not to sound so pessimistic, but the bottom line is, your digestive system will thank you for giving it a rest. Intermittent fasting does not have to be anything crazy. Basically you are giving your gut a rest for approximately 10-12-up to 18 hours. Example: If I’ve gone to a holiday dinner party and ate some bad food or overindulged, then I would practice intermittent fasting afterwards by not eating anything more that night, say after the party, all the way through until perhaps 12 noon - 1:00pm the next day. Of course this would depend on my body and mental state, but in general I would concentrate on lots of hydration and infusing my cells with nutrients by drinking lots of water and doing homemade fresh veggie juices up until lunch time. At that time I would see how I feel and begin adding light healthy foods back into my diet, such as watery fruits, vegetables, soups and salads.

Note: Intermittent fasting is not for everyone, i.e., if you have insulin/blood sugar irregularities or other medical conditions where fasting is not desirable. But in general if you’ve overindulged during an evening of holiday partying, intermittent fasting can help you feel better and get you back on track quickly.

I hope you find these techniques helpful during the upcoming holiday season, and for those of you in my area, and who are interested in working with me locally, I will be doing a 6-week group program that focuses on diet, nutrition, and making healthy lifestyle choices while in the midst of temptations during the holidays. We will get started on feeling incredible before the season even begins and we will work on techniques to maintain optimal health throughout the holiday season. My goal is for everyone to feel Fit & Fabulous for the Holidays!

Check out Dawn's Fit & Fabulous 6-Week Program