Photo Credit: Britt Smith Photography

The holidays are a great opportunity for families and friends to come together, give thanks, honor traditions, and celebrate with one another. However, for many, the holidays can also be tinged with anxiety, sadness, overindulgence, stress, letting yourself go, and feeling overwhelmed. Haute MD expert Dr. Deborah Houk put together a 7-step guide to help your body benefit from the good that the holidays bring and avoid the bad.

1. Give Thanks

Taking a moment to express gratitude and being thankful for the positive things in your life is good for your health! Not only does giving thanks elevate your mood and decrease depression, but it also improves your mental health and physical health. People who are grateful benefit from improved sleep, boosted immune systems, and less pain than those who are not. People who give thanks regularly are also more empathetic towards others and less likely to argue or seek revenge. An attitude of gratitude will do well for your health throughout the holiday season and especially around crowded holiday dinner tables, so be sure to give thanks as often as you can.

2. Eat Well

With the holidays come numerous opportunities to overindulge. Whether you’re surrounded by holiday treats or bombarded with binge-worthy holiday dinners, you should remember that to have the healthiest holidays, you have to eat well. Eating well means you pay attention to what you eat, plan ahead, read food labels, and make good choices that lead to eating well-balanced meals. While one piece of pie isn’t going to derail your entire health and wellness goals, if you’re eating healthy throughout the holiday season, leading up to and after holiday gatherings, you could end up not only maintaining your weight at a healthy range, but you might actually lose some weight this holiday season. Eating in moderation, while ensuring your plate has the right balance of 50% non-starchy vegetables, 25% lean protein, and 25% complex carbohydrates can help you create healthy meals that keep your blood sugar and overall weight in their ideal ranges.

3. Get Social

With all the holiday parties and social gatherings during this season, now is the perfect time for your health to benefit from being social. When you’re socially isolated, you’re at risk for developing a slew of health problems, from depression and anxiety to high blood pressure and obesity. Your quality of life goes up and your overall health improves when you have strong social connections and good relationships. If you want to improve your mood and self-esteem, go to the holiday party this year. Use the holidays as an excuse to reach out to your friends, family, and co-workers who may be a bit more distant than you’d like them to be. As you increase your social connectedness, you will increase your health and happiness, making others want to be around you more, and leading to even more benefits for you by making you even more content with your relationships. Whether you choose to make new friendships or improve upon old friendships, you will benefit your health if you commit to being more social this holiday season.

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4. Be Active

Your physical activity is directly linked to your health. If you want to decrease your risk of developing diabetes or heart disease this holiday season, incorporating physical activity through moderate exercise is a proven way to do it! Exercise is like a reset button for the body as it resets your cholesterol, your blood pressure, and your blood sugar, bringing them back into the normal range. How much exercise is needed to reset and have the healthiest holidays possible, you wonder? Simply inserting at least 30 minutes of moderate activity into your day, three to four times a week, can significantly improve your health status. Hit the reset button by increasing your physical activity this holiday season and your body will thank you!

5. Get Rest

The holidays can be physically and emotionally exhausting. This holiday season, get as much rest as you can in order to improve your health. Did you know that you can decrease your risk of heart attack and sudden cardiac death by getting a better night’s rest? Sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia aren’t just annoyances due to the loud snoring and the sleep latency; they are extremely bad for your heart health. Even the simple, and common, feeling of being overly fatigued can impair the body similar to the effects of alcohol and drugs. Not only that, if you suffer from chronic fatigue and sleep deprivation, you’re at risk for mental health issues like depression. Make yourself feel better and healthier in between the bustle of the holidays by getting some rest!

6. Stay Hydrated

One of the keys to health during the holidays (and beyond) is proper hydration. Most people don’t drink enough water each day and that might be because they have no idea how important drinking water is to their health. Water helps your body function properly, from helping your gut properly digest foods to helping your kidneys rid your body of toxins; drinking the right amounts of water can help every single organ in the body. Water helps your joints, it helps your mood, it helps your sleep, and especially helps your skin, hair, and nails. Most people have heard the advice to drink 8 glasses of water a day, which is fine, but the true recommendation is to consume 11.5 cups of water each day for women and 15.5 cups of water each day for men from all sources (including the food you eat). It’s reasonable, however, for you to drink water whenever you’re thirsty, with meals and in between, and whenever you exercise in order to start seeing the health benefits of staying properly hydrated.

7. Get (Back) on Track

So you overindulged at a family gathering, you skipped your workout, or you were up all night… Rather than sit in the guilt, get yourself back on track as soon as possible. It’s ok to enjoy the holidays, partake in your family traditions, and say yes to your favorite holiday dessert! The key is not to derail your progress with overconsumption too frequently, not ignore the recommendation for increasing your activity, and not binge-watching your favorite holiday movies every night. If you slip up, remind yourself that you can still improve your health this holiday season by getting back on track and following these seven steps.

Have an attitude of gratitude this holiday season. Eat well by making better decisions, planning your meals, and reading the labels. Use the holidays as a chance to get social. Increase your physical activity to help you reset your health. Drink more water to stay properly hydrated. Get your rest….and repeat. The holidays are an opportunity to improve your health and wellness in so many ways. Take advantage of doctor’s orders!