Tips for staying healthy, happy, and hydrated during the holidays

It’s the merriest but sometimes also the most stressful season of the year. Ana Nieto, a local nurse, personal trainer, and nutrition specialist, provides helpful reminders to keep us balanced, healthy, and at peace.

Adjust your plan as needed: Wear your favorite clothes, and if they start feeling snug, adjust your exercise and nutrition plan.

Bake healthier: Use gluten-free flour, ghee, maple syrup, or honey, and dairy-free milk products. Explore other options such as ripe bananas instead of butter, for example.

Boost your immune system: Eat enough fruits and vegetables to increase the amount of vitamins C and A in your body. Get enough rest and sleep — key ingredients to a healthy and strong immune system.

Eat mindfully: Pick the small plate. Enjoy and taste each flavor deeply and chew the food until it almost becomes liquid inside your mouth before you swallow it. Eat slowly and wait ten minutes until you know whether you are full or need a second serving; that is how long it takes to get the message from your stomach to your brain.

Give to others: Take care of yourself by also taking care of others thru sharing and connecting in any way possible.

Guilt-free: Don’t feel guilty if you break one rule or two. After all, we are all humans and need to enjoy life, so if you overdid it a little bit with one meal, come back to healthier eating on the next one and stay with that pattern for as long as possible. Feeling deprived won’t work, it will make you feel miserable and not able to fully enjoy life.

Prioritize self-care: Take time to rest, sleep, read a book, watch a movie, or go for a walk. Prioritize yourself above anything else so you can truly enjoy this beautiful time of the year with your batteries fully charged.

Stay hydrated: Our bodies are 60 perecent water so make sure you keep that healthy percentage by drinking it throughout the day. Choose the long skinny glass if you are drinking alcohol and drink a glass of water after each drink. Have a designated driver; don’t drink and drive.

Turn movement into fun: I realized that the more I think about the enjoyable experience of movement, the more I want to incorporate it during the times when I know I will need it the most.  

Happy Holidays!
Ana Nieto, mindfulonlineworkouts.com