Motivation Monday: Getting Ready For The Holidays!
Can you believe that we’re talking about the holidays already?! I mean, I can. Honestly, I’m psyched. Tyler has been wanting to watch Halloween movies and I’m over here like “What about Polar Express?” Hehe! The best time of year! T and I will be starting our European adventure right at Christmas time this year. Where should we spend it? Leave me a comment if you have a favorite place near Northern Italy for Christmas time. We’re thinking Austria or somewhere in the Alps! If you’re new around here, T and I are moving to Italy! Hello wine, gelato, pasta, and pizza! Stick around for how I navigate through wellness in the land of delicious carbs...
Today’s motivation monday is all about helping you find what healthy during the holidays looks like for you.
Maybe you’re reading this and you’re like, whoa, Di. Healthy during the holidays? That’s sacrilegious! Girl, yes. I get you. BUT. After years of figuring out what “healthy” actually looks like to me, I’ve finally figured out that healthy during the holidays looks different for everyone, and I’m determined to help you find yours.
I’d like to say I’m a lover of all things health and wellness, with a side of christmas cookies. Or rather, Mom’s famous Christmas Eve mashed potato casserole.
Through years of discovering who the best version of me is, and what a healthy lifestyle looks like for me, I’ve gotten to the point where I actually crave healthy food. Crazy, I know. I’d much rather have a really yummy veggie packed stir fry over a pizza 9.8 times out of 10.
What does this have to do with the holidays? Well, sister friend, I’m glad you asked!
There are going to be plenty of social media and societal pressures to do one of two things this holiday season.
1. “Practice your will power! Don’t eat the cookies! Workout before your Christmas party! How to not give into your cravings...blah blah blah.”
Or, 2. “Just eat it all, take it all in, you only live once, in a few days it’ll be over, soak it up now!”
I’m here to help you figure out how you want to live out this holiday season. Does it mean eating all the pumpkin pie, cookies, and taking a week away from the gym? Does it mean sticking to your workout schedule and not wearing your Thanksgiving or Christmas “fat pants?” Or does it mean somewhere in the middle? I’m guessing it’s the latter.
My logistic type tips for finding balance thorugh the holidays are these:
Stay active, try to keep up a workout routine
Eat your veggies, try to not let a day go by without some veggies on your plate
Water - we saw this coming didn’t we? It’ll keep cravings at bay and decrease your bloating!
But these are boring, and I wanted to give you a little more less mainstream advice to stay healthy and well (in whatever way that means to you) this holiday season sister friends!
Three Tips to Find Balance During the Holidays:
1.If you showed up as the best version of you this holiday season, what would that look like?
How would she act? Would she workout regularly? How would she balance the treats amongst the greens? Get crystal clear, and write it down sis.
2.Set some expectations and boundaries for yourself
I set the expectation to try to keep front of mind how the best version of me would show up, and do my best to be her. I also have the expectation of listening to my body, which means eating veggies at every meal.
Healthy Hack: I love to prepare the veggie at family get togethers, that way I know I’ll be able to follow through for myself.
I also set boundaries for myself. I know that I am a LOVER of all things crunchy and salty. A lot of times, appetizers at holiday get togethers include things like crackers and dip, or even better, salty sweet dessert treats! First off, listen to my body, do I really want dessert? Or do I feel like I have to? If I really want it, set the limit to one or two, because I know I can easily go way over that if I’m loving it. Or, do I really want the 10th cracker? Or would I rather wait for more of the main dishes? Listen, and respond appropriately!
Further, I’m not a huge “get drunk” drinker. So I set the boundary with myself to not feel pressured to have more than I want to drink, sometimes that’s nothing at all. That way I know I’ll be bright eyed and bushy tailed for a good workout in the morning like my best self would do. Except for Bora Bora. I do love me some champagne!! When it’s just me and T, I do love to have a drink or two. For some reason it’s different to me than a party or something. The point is, in Bora Bora, I’ll be celebrating with all the champagne and wine and I refuse to feel guilty about it. You just can’t redo your honeymoon!
Ultimately, expectations and boundaries for me require me to get crystal clear on how the best version of me in that moment would show up, and set boundaries to support myself in following through with showing up as her.
3.Make it fun - involve your family
I love this one. Maybe it’s a family cooking day? A family baking day full of healthified and not healthified cookies? Maybe it’s taking the cousins to Orange Theory on Thanksgiving morning? A family walk? Remember what this time of year is all about. In the end, making memories with family, finding gratitude for what we have, and letting ourselves celebrate is what is ultimately important, not the number on the scale.
I’m going to elaborate a bit by using myself as an example for this one because, sisters, T and I have A LOT of celebrations coming up! First, Tyler graduates from this training he’s been in for the past year *cue the champagne* and just a few days later we’re off to Bora Bora for our honeymoon *cue mimosas, pre-dinner sunset cocktails, and celebratory fruity Polynesian desserts with a “congrats” candle.* And then we have Thanksgiving (possibly, we may have an entirely microwaveable thanksgiving dinner in an empty apartment...stay tuned), driving a few days up to Michigan from New Mexico to celebrate Christmas a little early before our move, heading down to Florida to celebrate Christmas again and see my sis and her little family, then off to Italy where we’ll celebrate actual Christmas somewhere snowy and pretty. Plenty of opportunities for a lot less “healthy” and a lot more “celebratory and travel lifestyle,” you see?
If I showed up as the best version of me throughout all of this I would show up with a lot of spark and heart, and a lot more grace. The resounding theme throughout all of this is celebrating love, family, and creating memories. This is my ultimate focus during this time. The best version of me also knows balance, listens to her body, and does what she knows will make her feel best in the end regardless of how I feel in the moment. I’ll workout as often as I can, I’ll include veggies whenever possible, and I’ll stick to just a couple drinks or dessert. Is it #health through and through? Probably not, but to me that is what putting my mental health first, and listening to my body looks like. And that, my love, is true wellness in my eyes.
If you’re serious about navigating the holidays as the most healthy and well version of you, I encourage you to understand nutrition in your body, what it feels like to truly thrive in wellness and confidence in your own skin, and to get nice and clear on what the best version of you in every aspect looks like. In my 6 week e-course “Thrive: Food, Fitness, and Life” we go into it all. We look it your underlying motivation for why you want to be the most healthy and well version of you, what an ideal fitness routine looks like with science backed knowledge, how to eat for your body type, and what showing up as the best version of you really looks like. If you’re serious this year, click here and see if this might be your perfect pathway to discovering the best version of you this holiday season.