Now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have passed, the rest of the holidays are upon us.  Staying healthy while that may not be the top priority for most of us, it can be a concern over the next few weeks.  So let’s explore staying healthy through the holidays (and we hope you don’t mind – we just had to add some color for the season).

Here is the list of what we think are the Top 10 Detractors from Healthy Living during the Holidays (not necessarily in this order):

1. Shopping (a stressor)
2. Family Get Togethers (a major stressor)
3. Eating too much (All those sugary, fattening Goodies)
4. Drinking too much (A problem for some of us)
5. Lack of Sleep (staying up late wrapping presents)
6. Parties, Parties, Parties (what to wear, why not invited)
7. Covering for Co-Workers on Vacation (and still having to do your own work)
8. Holiday travel (some of the worst travel days of the year)
9. Exposure to additional sicknesses/illness (from the above activities)
10. Spending too much (perhaps the worst stressor?)

So what can we do instead or at least think about doing to head off these calamities?  Here are our Top 10 Solutions for Staying Healthy during the Holidays:

1. Shopping (avoid Black Friday and Dec 26^th next year, shop early in the week during mid-day if you can, give gift cards – we love them and they are easy to do and very easy to wrap!!!)
2. Handle Family Get Togethers (hmmm . . . tolerance maybe?)
3. Eating too much (can’t help you here – we like all those goodies.  Perhaps eat moderately but we haven’t had much luck in that department.  Increase your repertoire of making healthy desserts?)
4. Drinking too much (Avoid the spiked punches and overly sweet drinks at least and find a designated driver)
5. Lack of Sleep (stay with your normal sleep schedule and rise earlier rather than stay up later)
6. Parties, Parties, Parties (the little black dress is always appropriate and clothes that can go from day to evening and if not invited, you might be the winner there so have your own party unless that’s a stressor too)
7. Covering for Co-Workers on Vacation (negotiate with your boss about what really has to be done)
8. Holiday Travel (leave a day earlier and stay a day longer to avoid peak travel days + this is also cheaper)
9. Exposure to additional sicknesses/illness (load up on your most effective anti-oxidants)
10. Spending too much (book travel well in advance, consider a holiday savings club for next year and layaway is back and a great way to budget your purchases)

That’s our list of issues and possible solutions.  We hope you have had a bit of fun reading our healthy holiday tips, healthy travel tips and general stress releivers.  Most of these activities cause distress which isn’t fun, so effective ways to handle stress like meditation, getting more rest and even increasing your exercise have been known to help.  So comment below and tell us your Top 10 Detractors from Healthy Living during the Holidays and how you handle them.

We’d love to hear,

Mel