How To Enjoy Holiday Meals And Stay Healthy

Holidays are a wonderful time of the year to spend with family and friends. 

One of the best parts about meeting with friends and family, is the sharing of delicious food. If your family is anything like mine, one Thanksgiving dinner turns in a two or three day eating binge, trying to get rid of all of those leftovers. The combination of additional holiday calories and fewer exercise opportunities can lead to over indulgence and increased inactivity time. If this happened you, do not worry, you are not alone! Here are a few tips to get you back on track.

Tip 1: Do not rush back into your fitness program. It will take time for you to get back into your routines. One day of hard exercise will not make up for days of holiday overeating. It may seem like it takes your body additional time to get warmed up, or you may find it difficult to finish a workout. This is normal after a break in your routine. Rushing back in to an exercise program after taking a break can result in injury.

Tip 2: Stretching, especially after a period of inactivity is crucial to avoiding injury when resuming an exercise program. Spend an extra 15 minutes getting an entire body stretch before attempting to exercise. When you postpone exercising for even a couple days, your muscles tighten up and you are more susceptible to injury. Stretching improves blood flow and releases endorphins. Endorphins are chemicals in the body that are released from your pituitary gland, that relieve pain and induce feelings of pleasure or euphoria. 

Tip 3:  Make sure you are fueling your body with healthy food. Proper nutrients are necessary to getting back into your nutritional and fitness routines. Focus on eating a variety of fruits and vegetable, whole grains, and low fat proteins. Proper hydration is also important. Make sure to drink lots of water throughout the day. 
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With Thanksgiving and Christmas so close together, I am sure we will be having this same conversation in less than a month, and that is okay. The time spent with family and friends makes it all worth it.