Tag Archives: healthy holidays

Healthy Holidays?

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Is that even possible? I mean, I know it’s possible, but does anyone do it?

I haven’t. And I don’t think I’ve ever really wanted to. But this year, I do.

Maybe it’s turning the big four-oh-my-god next month. Having a birthday smack dab in the middle of the holiday season means it’s one continuous party from the last week of November until New Year’s. A party with food. Lots of food.

What are the other challenges for me? Mainly, not getting a Starbucks red cup of wonder filled with the new Chestnut Praline Latte twice a day, every day. (I’m barely kidding here, have you tried it???? It’s amazingness in liquid form). And it’s cold here, so don’t exactly relish the idea of heading outside to work out. And I have ALL the shopping to do (my awesome husband actually does a LOT of the holiday shopping, but still, there will be trips to the mall). And there are 5 other birthdays in my family. AND I REALLY LIKE PIE.

But I also really want to at least maintain my weight, if not lose, by the first of the year Weight Watchers meeting (which, if you’ve never been, is very full!) Hence the strive for a healthier holiday season.

In an attempt to jump start this whole process, I started a  14 day pre-holiday challenge. That leads me right up until the Monday before Thanksgiving, which is the first day of the Holiday Sweat Challenge, hosted by SweatGuru and Run to the Finish.

 

Learn about the Holiday Sweat Challenge

Are you joining? You should! And you should totally say Bec Pishkin referred you 😉

 

And since I am a crazy fool, and because my holiday gathering is going to be a lot smaller than usual, I signed up to do a 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.

But, since I’ve never really attempted to keep it in check during the holiday season before, I’m kind of working without a net here. When I was originally thinking of this post, I wanted it to be more of a ‘Healthy Holiday Tips’ post. And then I remembered that I don’t have any tips! So, I’m hitting you guys up for advice. Comment. Email. Text. Show up on my doorstep.

I NEED YOU GUYS. Help a chick out? How do you have Healthy Holidays?

Eat, Drink, Move, Think : A Pre-Holiday Challenge of sorts

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Sunday post? I know, weird. But I wanted to post about something starting tomorrow, so no time like the present!

Okay, raise your hand if this time of year typically marks a departure from any thought of health, fitness, and weight loss until the new year starts.

*hand up*

Now, raise your other hand if you have found yourself on the other side of a holiday season with 10-15 extra pounds to lose, and a profound wish you’d done it different that year.

*other hand up*

Even if you didn’t raise your hands, if you’ve been stressing how you’re going to stay on track through this holiday season, just know, you’re not alone. The holidays are wonderful, but from a health perspective, they can be difficult. It’s a busy time, sometimes stressful, and with food everything, seemingly non stop.

That’s why this year, I’m challenging myself to take a couple of pre-holiday weeks and get in the zone, and I wanted to invite you all to join me.

We’re keeping it simple, too. Commit to 14 days of focus on four hey objectives, to help ensure that we go into the holiday season strong, and come out on the other side the same way. I promise, this is an easy challenge. Ready? Four objectives.

Eat – Eat food. I mean, we do that every day, right? No specific rules, just try to focus on eating less processed, good food. No eliminations. This isn’t a ‘none of this, none of that’ deal. Just focusing on healthy eating, and make sure you have regular meals and snacks. If you’re following a specific program, and you want to track or count or focus on the specifics of that, that’s cool too.

Drink – Water, specifically. No set number of ounces. No gallon jug with lines. Just drink more water, and cut back on sugary drinks like Starbucks Lattes and Dunkin Hot Chocolates (my personal drugs of choice). Hydration matters, and it’s such a simple thing to achieve, with just a little focus and effort.

Move – Every day. Doesn’t have to be hours and hours, miles and miles. Just get up and move. Every day, even if it’s only for 15 minutes. Enjoy this beautiful time of year with a walk outside. We don’t even have to call it exercise. 🙂

Think – Take 5. Or 10. Slow down. Take a little time for us, every day. Time to think about how we are, how things are going, things we want, and thing we want to change. Take time to appreciate the things we’re thankful for. Meditate. Journal. Sit with our thoughts, with ourselves. Breathe.

That’s it. That’s the whole plan. No tools needed. No special trip to the grocery store needed. No prep work.

I know, this probably seems overly simplistic. But that’s kind of the beauty of it. I’ve got too much going on to do something complicated. And these four things? These are things that so many of us struggle with, and over-think, or avoid thinking about at all, especially this time of year. So, starting tomorrow, for 14 days, these are what I’m focusing on.

Will it help? I think so. I hope so! I guess the only way to know is to give it a try.

Hit me up on Instagram (@bec2point0) if you want some accountability, and use these hashtags: #eatdrinkmovethink #414focus

Healthy Holidays, here we come!