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The days are short, the skies are gray, and Christmas decorations have sprouted like
weeds in all the store windows. It’s still weeks to Thanksgiving, but the holiday
season is upon us. Looking forward to it? If you aren’t, you’re not alone.
The holiday season is a challenging time to maintain a healthy lifestyle. But many of
you tell me you really want to change your lives right now.
I have some suggestions:
Take Care of Others
As my friend says, “If you won’t do it for yourself, do it
for someone else.” If you feel guilty about taking time to exercise, find an athletic
event that benefits a charitable organization. There are plenty of them, especially
this time of year.
Take Care of Yourself
Remember that you can’t truly take care of the people who depend on you unless you
take care of yourself. You know the airplane pre-flight safety check in which the
flight attendant tells you to put on your oxygen mask before helping your kids put
theirs on? That’s what I’m talking about. You need to be healthy if you’re going to
keep everyone else healthy. And you need to be a healthy-lifestyle model for your
family, or you’ll never be able to convince them to live healthy lives. Taking care
of yourself IS taking care of other people.
Don’t Try To Do It All at Once
Start small. Remember what we said last week about setting realistic goals. Choose
things that are easy to do. If you’re exhausted at the end of your workday, that’s
not the best time to start a new exercise program. Instead, integrate it into your
workday. Try walking for 5–10 minutes during your breaks. Or walk up and down a flight
of stairs. Walk during your lunch break and eat at your desk afterwards. That still
makes the difference between being sedentary and active.
You can use the same strategies when you’re entertaining or visiting over the holidays.
No matter how busy you are, and no matter how much work everyone else needs you to do,
you can always take a five-minute walk around the block. I find this is a great way to
get out, clear my head, and then return to the family with a smile on my face. If you
can take half an hour to jog around the block a few times, even better. Another good
trick when you’re visiting out-of-town relatives is to check the local newspapers for
coupons for free trial memberships at local health clubs. I can always find one for
the club near my in-laws’ house, and the one-week freebie is all I need.
Those are my ideas for staying sane and healthy over the holidays. Now let’s hear yours!
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