5 'Health' Changes I Make Every Holiday Season (READ BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS)
🎧 Bad Diet Advice Podcast Episodes: Honestly, I’m shocked at how much I enjoyed the subject of bad diet advice. I think it's partially because it’s nothing like you think it is. If you haven’t listened to the latest podcast, I really (highly) recommend it. It might clear up why you feel drawn to dieting (there is a biological drive to diet) and also the generational beliefs that have shaped your genetics. Listen to part one and part two to get all the juicy details.
🥘 This tortellini soup is my all-time favorite soup. I could make it every week and keep it all to myself. I’ve made it both meatless and with ground beef, Italian sausage, and shredded chicken. I promise you can’t go wrong.
🛒 I buy these Epsom salts in bulk and think most people could benefit from an Epsom salt bath weekly. It’s our go-to home remedy. “When in doubt, Epsom salt bath it out.”
I couldn't help but chuckle at this quote. Something always comes up when you think it's your chance to get healthy.
While funny, it's also sad.
It's not sad that you think this, but rather that the health space has made you believe it. You've been trained to think in terms of perfection, which means anything unexpected disrupts your plan, leaving you with no other option than to start again on Monday.
Unfortunately, this is a terrible health plan because the unexpected always happens. The unexpected really should be expected.
I know that might not seem to offer much comfort, but it will and can be done by adopting the right view of health—one that recognizes health as an action, not a destination.
Health isn't waiting for you to arrive at what others have called health (e.g., the number on the scale, perfecting your eating plan, and never eating a holiday dessert again). Health is how you live each day.
I promise you can take action for your health and still enjoy the holidays.
Here are a few reminders:
You can work to get healthy while still eating a piece of pie, and you can also enjoy the holidays without any pie.
You can support your energy and still stay up too late at the holiday party, just as you can enjoy the holidays and still meet your exercise goals.
It's not one or the other. Health can be both!
The healthiest place to get is to stop stressing about what it should be and just start doing what you know you should be.
With that said, here are a few changes I make every holiday season:
5 Healthy Changes I Make During the Holidays:
01: Boost the comfort foods.
The holidays are known as 'comfort food season,' and rightfully so. It is the time for all the amazing and nostalgic foods you love. But it's not just comfort food season because you crave it—it's a biological need.
Your body needs more nutrients on darker, colder days and with more unpredictable weather patterns. The more you provide 'healthier' comfort foods, the less likely you will binge and feel out of control around food.
Many cravings and uncontrolled patterns around food stem from a lack of nourishment. Please don't underestimate the power of nourishing your body well, but use it to your advantage.
Make nourishing comfort foods a part of your weekly plan.
02: SLOW DOWN (and live more).
I'm digging into Hannah Brencher's book The Unplugged Hours, which I recommended a few weeks ago. It has reminded me that it's okay to slow down the pace of life.
I don't have to fill every waking second (and I certainly shouldn't feel bad about not creating a 'holiday bucket list'). Instead of making endless grand plans and attempting to fit it all in, I am choosing to slow down and be more relational.
I'm learning to say no to the extra so I can say yes to the things that fill me up.
Note: It's hard to make memories when you're too tired to show up in the moment. You have to be present to make memories.
03: Live the moment.
It goes along with number two, but let this be a reminder that it's okay not to plan everything and do everything. The most important thing is that I show up today.
That sounds cliche—everyone always says they want to live more in the present. The practical application I can offer is to shed light on one thing we get really wrong.
We spend far too much time planning for the future and not enough time planning for today.
Planning has generally been reserved for these big and broad subjects, like holiday bucket lists or planning your New Year's resolutions. You have been taught to plan months in advance. Unfortunately, this neglects what you could do today.
While it's good to have a general direction on where you want to go, stop letting it distract you from what you need to do today.
As the saying goes, "You underestimate what you can accomplish in a year and overestimate what you can accomplish in a day." Your plans leave you thinking you need to eat the elephant all in one bite.
But Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is your life. It was built brick by brick and day by day. You'd be amazed at what you can experience if you focus on doing the best with what's right in front of you and learn to plan for the day more than you plan for the future.
The only way to make your 'future' plan a reality is to live it out today.
04: Plan to live well.
Speaking of planning, let's continue on this topic briefly because I need you to hear me say there is a difference between planning and planning to live well (it's the very reason I created the Nourished Planner).
Planning to live well means planning each day because you know its importance.
More than future plans, daily plans hold you accountable to living well. Plan for the big moments, but focus more on planning your daily tasks and the different ways you will nourish your body.
Planning for it means you're more likely to make time for it.
That's why I don't just plan out my appointments and to-dos but also time to move my body, fun events to do with my kids, and nourishing meal plans.
Planning to live well creates a boundary that allows you to create health in your daily life.
05: Develop a new routine.
Part of planning to live well requires understanding your current season. Recognizing that your needs (even life) will change on a week-to-week basis allows you to create space to live more in the moment and experience the joy of the present.
In the process, you can re-analyze and truly ask, " What do you need in this season?”
What you need during the holidays will differ from what you need in the summer. Things are just different during the holidays, and that might mean a new routine.
One thing I like to add to the holidays, to entice me to stick with it, is to do something new or different.
I mix up my exercise routine by finding new workouts. I mix up my meal planning with more comfort and holiday specials. I change my reading goals and even my evening routine.
I make it different, and different equates to exciting, which is just enough of a dopamine hit to keep me coming back for more!
Great things happen when you stop worrying and start living.
Let this be your reminder and breath of fresh air you need this holiday season!
Now, go build a plan that helps you LIVE WELL!
If you need help, check out the Nourished Planner! Download and print this weekly spread of the Nourished Planner to help you plan to live well.
Of course, this is just a small fraction of the goods inside the printed planner. It will help you this holiday season.
If you love it, grab your 2025 Nourished Planner and utilize the power of planning to live well all year. I'm devoting 2025 to THE YEAR OF WELLNESS.
Each month presents a new health focus and challenges that you can incorporate into your daily life to build health.
»GRAB A COPY OF THE 2025 NOURISHED PLANNER HERE.«
Do you generally change your routine for the holiday season? If so, how?
