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7 Holiday Health and Wellness Tips

With the holidays quickly approaching, many of our friends, family members, and colleagues are falling into one of two camps: make the most of every last day until the end of the year or slowly slip into a season of Christmas cookies and holiday leftover oblivion until the New Year, at which point we’ll undoubtedly spend time reflecting and setting goals for the new year. For many, nutrition flies out the window, pummeling us into a downward spiral of reduced willpower with the sweet gratification of rule-free indulgences. 



Thanksgiving table spread with food on it


Unfortunately, this mindset that might feel eerily-familiar has definitely not served you in the past and there’s no better time than the present to thoughtfully (and prayerfully) change the future. Learn the seven dietitian-backed holiday health and wellness tips to make the most of the remainder of the year, while enjoying all of the holiday essentials you know and love. 


In this article:


Now let’s get into some tactical takeaways you can use to better manage your health and nutrition during this holiday season!


  1. Establish a Seasonal-Specific Routine


In order to be successful in the last two months of the year, we must acknowledge that this time of year tends to look very different from others. But just because it’s different (and by different we mean 10x busier), doesn’t mean all is lost. In fact, this is actually one of the best times of year to intentionally slow down and focus on what truly matters on a daily basis - and yes that means your habits!


Embrace the difference and set a seasonal-specific routine that will help you maintain progress and consistency, instead of putting all of your effort and goals on hold until the new year. This will look different for everyone, so be sure to acknowledge your capacity and limitations for maintaining your healthy habits. In short, identify your main goal(s) and make a plan for how you will accomplish those, but be realistic. The point of a seasonal-specific routine is that it should look slightly different from your baseline routine. Slower progress > no progress.  


For example, if you normally get to the gym 5 days per week and you are not experiencing any disruption, then continue to maintain this goal throughout the end of the year. Great job! On the other hand, if you are experiencing disruption in a goal like this, assess your calendar, acknowledge your challenges, and revise your expectations and goals as appropriate. The goal of this exercise is to maintain your baseline habits and consistency in spite of the busy holiday season. A revised goal might sound like aiming for 3-4x per week at the gym, opening up room for flexibility while maintaining your desired habit.


Homework: come up with a revised weekly routine that you will follow for the remainder of the year! Ensure to account for changing schedules and natural downtime you might want to enjoy. Be realistic and add some newness and fun to keep yourself engaged. If your normal routine is a 9/10 in difficulty, this should be a 7/10 in difficulty. 


  1. Plan Ahead


Now that you have your desired seasonal routine, understand that planning ahead is essential to success! This is true for any time of year, but especially during the holidays when the calendar might fill up quickly. Our favorite quote? Luck favors the prepared.


For all goals in your routine, establish when they will happen on a weekly basis, but leave room for flexibility. You wouldn’t want to miss out on dinner because you have to make your 6pm workout class when a little planning ahead would allow you to do both.


Instead, develop a close relationship with your calendar and/or planner! We recommend setting a designated time on Sunday nights or Monday mornings to review your calendar and pop-up plans for the week ahead, being proactive in scheduling any time needed to accomplish your goals: workouts, time for movement, meal prep, meal times, time to de-stress and un-wind, etc. Resist the urge to over-plan or over-schedule yourself in a way that will cause unnecessary stress though. The goal is thoughtful intention vs over-scheduled chaos. 



Homework: Ensure to spend time each morning reviewing the tasks ahead to ensure you are physically and mentally prepared for prioritization of both your responsibilities and well-being. Pair this time with a hot cup of coffee or tea to gently roll into the day in a stress-free and prepared manner. 


  1. Nutrition by Addition


Instead of focusing on all of the foods you are trying to avoid, take time to think about all of the foods you want to include in your diet this year. This is called nutrition by addition and it’s a wonderful tool we use with clients all year round because of its overall effectiveness both physically and mentally. Be intentional and take an honest look at your diet over the past week. You know what your diet could use more of, whether that’s adding in two fruits or veggies each day or aiming for at least one protein source per meal. Figure out what you need more of and make a commitment to prioritize that. 


Why does this work so effectively? Well, if you are aiming to add things into your diet instead of only cutting foods out, three things will happen.


First, adherence to a healthy diet will be easier because psychologically you will be giving yourself more choices and less rules. More choices + less rules = sustainable and easy eating! Second, the food items you deem as “bad” or that you want to avoid will start to lessen naturally, as they will be shunted in favor of the food items you are trying to include. It’s incredibly difficult to overeat on processed foods with higher sugar, sodium, and fat contents when you are determined to hit your protein goal for the day. You might even start to notice yourself craving those healthier items such as fruits and veggies as your body feels the benefits from the added vitamins, minerals, and fiber! Lastly, healthy eating will become much easier as you start to make the mental shift of viewing food as opportunistic instead of something to be avoided. 


Homework: Audit and reflect on your diet over the past week. What food group(s) or nutrients are missing that would enhance the overall quality of your diet? Focus on nutrition by addition by adding that food item in more routinely. 


  1. Find Accountability - stat!


We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, behavior change is hard but can be made easier through the accountability of a close friend, family member, or your very own registered dietitian.


An accountability partner can help you adhere to your goals by holding you accountable for your actions and commitments. They can help you better plan, remind you of tasks needed to be completed, and be a mirror when you are trying to make excuses. Accountability partners can also serve as emotional support through the ups and downs of the behavior change cycle and provide much needed motivation and encouragement when internal motivation hits an all-time low. Plus, doing something hard with someone who will make it fun is invaluable.



Homework: Find someone you trust and tell them your goal for the next 5-6 weeks. Even if they never ask you about it again, the act of putting it out in the world can serve as motivation to see your goal through. 


  1. Enjoy the Meal


Remember that the holiday meals you might be worried about actually make up a very small percentage of the total meals you will eat over the next two months, let alone the entire year. This is important to recognize because if you are sticking to your daily habits and goals, one meal will never make or break your progress. Moreover, food is not only fuel (eyeroll). Food is meant to be enjoyed, savored, and celebrated. When you start looking at food in a more generous and positive light, you will begin to build a healthier relationship overall, leading to less of the binge-like behaviors and over-consumption you’re trying to avoid. 


Our favorite approach to holiday meals? Enjoy every bite and cue in to your hunger and fullness signals. Begin to pay extra attention to when you are feeling hungry and when your body starts to fill up. Honor those natural cues with your actions by either eating or ending the meal period and start the process of building back trust with your body.


If faced with a large spread of holiday appetizers, mains, and sides, allow yourself to try a few bites of each to enhance the overall experience, while being sure not to eat past the point of comfortability. Don’t worry if you don’t get this perfect - this is an opportunity to practice and continually adjust to do better next time. 


Homework: Learn more about the ten principles of Intuitive Eating! We recommend the book Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works by Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole.


  1. Increase Your Daily Steps


While a busy holiday season might make it hard to attend your regularly scheduled workouts, one tip we love to offer is to increase your daily step count, as able! Walking provides a whole host of health benefits, but four benefits we are going to zero in on to assist us this year are digestion, blood glucose control, stress reduction, and weight control.



Walking stimulates the muscles in your gut to squeeze (a process called peristalsis) which helps move food through your digestive system more efficiently and quickly. It can also help reduce bloating by moving excessive gas through your digestive system. Another huge benefit of walking, particularly after meals, is its aid in blood sugar control. In short, walking not only utilizes the glucose you consume from food as energy right away, but also increases insulin sensitivity by promoting your muscle cells to better uptake that available energy (glucose) from the bloodstream. This is huge for those with diabetes, but is also a great way for everyone to maintain consistent blood sugar levels. 


For stress management, walking can help reduce stress in a number of ways. First, walking releases endorphins, which are feel-good chemicals in the brain that help improve mood and stimulate relaxation. Second, walking can help decrease cortisol, which is a hormone in the body released in response to stress. If you can, spending time walking outside in nature has also been known to reduce your heart rate, blood pressure, and boost endorphin and dopamine levels. As an added benefit, it can also help with weight control by increasing your energy expenditure, helping you burn more calories (especially depending on the rate and length of your walk).


Homework: Make an effort to implement daily post-dinner walks to take advantage of all the benefits above!


  1. Stay Grounded - Practice Prayer, Gratitude, and Remain Present


For many, this time of year can usher in more emotional stress and turmoil than any other time of the year combined. If that is you, know that you are not alone and seek help as needed from a family member, close friend, or mental health practitioner. Check-in on your friends and family members who might be struggling, and above all, remain prayerful, calling out to your Father in Heaven who cares for you and never leaves your side.


Practicing gratitude, slowing down, and remaining present are important for everyone this holiday season in order to savor the small moments of peace even during the busiest days. Consider adding in a designated time each day dedicated to slowing down. For some, this might look like waking up 15 minutes earlier to enjoy a hot cup of coffee before the day begins or starting a bible study to focus on each day. 


Homework: Find 15 minutes each day that you could dedicate to slowing down and begin to make a habit of it. In the beginning it might feel silly or like a waste of time, but soon enough you will begin craving that quiet time on a daily basis as your space to unwind and relax, even during the holiday rush.



Disclaimer: The information provided in this post is for informational purposes only. Any changes to your nutrition & health should be supervised by a registered dietitian or physician.

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