With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season already in full swing, I wanted to take a moment to remind you to make your health and wellness a priority.
During this busy time of year, we are all guilty of stretching ourselves a little too thin. Between get-togethers with family and friends, shopping, and a myriad of other festive activities, we can easily take our health for granted. Instead of ignoring our health and well-being right in the middle of cold and flu season, we should instead be mindful of the small ways we can strengthen our immune system.
For example, vitamin C is an excellent antioxidant that boosts the immune system and is easy to find during the holidays. The mandarin orange is everywhere right now; it’s easy to peal, tastes great and is an easy way to add some vitamin C to your daily diet. Also, keeping a pre-mixed green leafy salad in your fridge is a convenient way to grab a quick snack. If you don’t add the salad dressing on until after, it will stay fresh for a few days.
Once you’ve incorporated a few immune system boosting foods into your diet, don’t forget about the importance of exercise. Now I don’t honestly expect you to get to the gym everyday over the holidays, but I do want to remind you that it is important to stay on track and not to lose focus. Too often people feel guilty after the holidays and that guilt can prevent them from returning to their previous healthy lifestyle.
Fortunately, you don’t need to feel guilty about taking a little break from exercise – in fact, a little period of rest is actually a good thing. A seven day period of complete rest actually allows your body to re-stock muscle fuel and can help heal any nagging injuries. When you resume exercising, you’ll feel stronger and more energetic. So take a break if you need one and don’t feel guilty about doing so. But after your weeklong rest, be sure to get back into the swing of things.
Lastly, now is the time to start thinking about the New Year. I know it may seem a little early, but if you start planning now for the New Year, you will be ready to implement your new plan right away and be ahead of the pack. So many New Year’s resolutions fail because people just don’t have a plan. When January 1st rolls around they start thinking about making a plan, but soon abandon it because it feels like they are already behind. If you start planning your New Year’s resolutions now, you will be ready to put them into action on the first of the New Year.