Keep your Healthy Habits on Track while Enjoying the Holidays
To help stay ahead of those new years resolutions, here are four tips for keeping healthy habits on track and incorporating holiday-proof self care into your life these holidays.
18/12/2022
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
However, as most of us know, New year's
resolutions are often made when you are feeling
a strong sense of remorse after a long period of
indulgence over the festive period. For many of
us, after a long year spent trying our best at
healthy eating and exercise, the holidays
represent a chance to let go, spoil ourselves
and not be too strict.
New year's resolutions are often made
when you are feeling a strong sense of remorse
after a long period of indulgence over the
festive period. For many of us, after a long
year spent trying our best at healthy eating and
exercise, the holidays represent a chance to let
go, spoil ourselves and not be too strict.
However, overindulgence in alcohol, food,
spending and even social time can leave us
feeling out of wack, sluggish and overwhelmed
before the new year has even begun.
Here
are four tips to stay on track of self care
during the holiday season.
Stick to a budget
Outings with friends and family
increase during the holidays and with these so
do our expenses. Consider putting a weekly
budget in place over the holiday season to keep
overspending at bay. Look out for free
activities in your city. For example, South
Africa is home to a range of National Parks and
conservation areas fitted with braai facilities
and picnic areas. Have friends and family each
bring a dish to enjoy potluck style so expenses
are shared among the group.
While it’s
common to arrive at restaurants extremely
hungry, a great trick to avoid overspending is
to have a small meal at home before going out to
eat. This way you are less likely to want to
order everything on the menu, and stick to a
budget.
Another suggestion is to look
for an event that suits your budget. For
example, set menu deals, buffets and brunches.
Breaker's Brunch at Radisson Blu Hotel
Waterfront for example, includes both drinks,
savoury meals and desserts, this way you know
that food, an abundance of drinks and
entertainment is all at one set price and
there's little risk of overspending if you have
allocated this cost ahead of time.
Curb overindulging
Holidays don’t have to be
periods of overindulgence. For those eating away
from home, consider ensuring lunch or supper
orders include a majority of lower calorie
filler foods such as grilled fish or chicken
breast, green vegetables and starches like
steamed potatoes or quinoa. Filling up on these
foods at meal times will help to keep you full
and help you snack less.
For snack
times, the summer season is famous for an array
of fresh in-season produce like litchis, mangoes
and watermelon. Fruits like watermelon are great
fillers as they contain a large amount of water
to keep your body hydrated and fill you up
quickly.
Chef Norman Heath of Radisson
Blu Hotel Waterfront comments that “In-season
fresh produce is nutrient dense and it also
tastes better than anything that gets imported.
Not only that, but it’s better for the
environment, too, which works out better for
everyone’s health in the long run.”
Have a holiday self-care checklist
Quality time alone to recharge your batteries is important and self care should be a priority during the festive season. Make a list of the things that make you feel rested and recharged and schedule time each day or week for these self care activities. Time spent in nature, meditation, eight hours of quality sleep, short naps, journaling and laughter are just some examples of quality self care activities.
Keep a water-log
Sunnier weather is said to boost moods and the vitamin D that humans get from spending time boosts health. That said, risks of spending too much time in the sun include sunburn and dehydration. Make sure to wear sunscreen with a high SPF factor to protect skin. Avoid full sun between 12:00 and 16:00 and make sure to drink water throughout the day. Fill empty one- and two litre soda bottles with water, mint, chopped lemon, cucumber or strawberries and freeze them. On hot days take one out of the freezer for an on-the-go ‘sumer water’ to enjoy as it defrosts.
With these tips, the holiday season
should leave you ready to enter into the next
year feeling relaxed, refreshed, recharged and
cared for.