The holidays are quickly approaching and we are thinking about all the delicious food that comes with the holidays. It’s important to set your brain up for success, too! It’s time to establish a game plan for keeping your mind and body healthy is during this time of year.
The clients who are the most successful with staying healthy are the ones that plan in advance. Getting your mind to learn how to think healthy is the first step to getting your whole body to be healthy. Break it down into three steps to establish healthy ways of thinking:
- Anticipate the day or event where you are going to enjoy eating with the family. Keep up with your workout routine before and continue your healthy eating habits. One day of indulging should not ruin all you have accomplished. If you know a big meal is coming, don’t react to a bad meal and then try to workout because you feel guilty about it. You should be able to enjoy the holidays and stay focused on your goals.
- Plan what you are going to eat for the week in advance. Put your food in containers for the next few days at a time. This is important because it makes it easier to eat healthy and use portion control. If you take two days of your week for an hour each day to prepare your food, the rest of the week is easy. Hold yourself accountable for your actions- you are the only one that can control what you eat. Do your best to maintain a positive and healthy mindset!
- Enjoy the holidays with your loved ones! The happier you are, the more you will want to take care of yourself. If you do the first two steps, this last step is easy! Don’t feel guilty about enjoying a cookie or two, but don’t eat the whole tray. Savor the foods you enjoy and eat them slowly. Appreciate the time you get to spend with your loved ones. You know how hard you worked up until this point and you deserve to enjoy the holidays!
A healthy mind set is just thinking about you and your health before you think about quick and easy. The saying goes “nothing worth having comes easy;” with hard work and consistency, you will truly appreciate the goals you achieve vs. having something handed to you.
The holidays are not a hard time to stay healthy if you truly want to be. Hold yourself accountable and be positive about your ability to control what you eat and do. If you exercise through the holidays you will feel so good about yourself and your New Years will be better then ever.
-Corynne Pereira, MS, CSCS
