For those of us working on self-improvement, the holidays can be a treacherous time. Your routines get interrupted by travel or visiting family, making it much harder to maintain your good habits, and you’re confronted with all manner of temptations that you would normally keep to a minimum. Between all the parties, the sugar-filled goodies, and the general hustle and bustle, healthy eating and exercise are easily neglected.
To help you navigate the season, I’d like to offer some ways you can approach the holidays with additional strategy and helpful mindsets.
This is a good time of year to remind yourself of your values and the many reasons why you’re working on becoming better. If you consider how the choices you’re making will impact your future selves, you’ll be more likely to choose well. If, for example, you’d like to fortify your resolve to minimize sugar during this treat-laden season, you could read this article about all the ways sugar is harmful to brain health. Or if you want some extra motivation to stay active, read this article about the cognitive benefits of exercise.
Stay committed to your morning routine, even if that means getting up earlier to make sure it gets done. Continue to take advantage of OTM’s, finding moments of mindfulness here and there, and getting in bits of exercise whenever you can. Christmas lights are a lovely excuse to get up and go for a walk after dinner. And remember, you don’t have to be a perfectionist to continue making progress; every step in the right direction counts.
If there’s some behavior you know you need to change, you don’t have to wait until New Year’s. There’s nothing magical about January 1st that will make it easier to change, so the approaching new year isn’t a valid reason to procrastinate on what you know you should do right now or an excuse to overindulge in ways you’ll regret. And if you are playing that game with yourself, keep in mind the cardinal rule of making New Year’s resolutions that stick: picking just one thing, not a half-dozen.
If you’ve already made a change, and you’re really serious about sticking to your nutritional plan or your sobriety, be firmly, fully, 100% committed. View the many chances you’ll have to say “no thanks” to something unhealthy as opportunities to strengthen your willpower.
You don’t have to eat Christmas cookies or get drunk to enjoy yourself. There is so much to enjoy and appreciate during the holidays that any perceived “need” to enhance the situation with gluttony or debauchery isn’t really a need at all. Instead, turn your attention to the many chances this season offers to embrace generosity, gratitude, and interdependence. When you’re with your friends and family, put your phones away or at least stay in airplane mode as much as you can. It’s the simplest thing you can do to connect with each other more deeply.
Not that I’m saying you shouldn’t indulge if you really want to. I’m just saying you don’t have to if you know it’s not right for you. Don’t worry about being the only one not drinking or the only one who turns down dessert. Embrace being weird and do what’s right for you. Perhaps your leading by example will inspire others.
On the other hand, it’s also a good time of year to allow yourself to be more flexible than usual. My mother and my Aunt Cindy both make amazing cookies for the holidays, and I happily indulge when I’m visiting for Christmas, but I don’t take any home (despite their well-meaning insistence). I like to choose my willpower battles wisely. I’m not going to put any effort into resisting the treats during the two days of my visit because that would be an excessively difficult uphill battle. But I’m also not going to put myself in a position to have to resist them day after day by bringing them home.
Whatever you choose, remember that you have permission to be human and therefore permission to enjoy yourself. If you decide to let loose and indulge, embrace that choice wholeheartedly. Don’t judge yourself. Don’t feel ashamed. Don’t tell everyone how you’ll have to “make up for this” with additional workouts or an extra-strict diet after the holidays. And if you decide to continue making healthy choices despite all the temptations of the season, do it with a smile on your face, without judging others, satisfied in the knowledge that you’re doing what’s best for you.