5 Tips to Stick with Healthy Habits and Thrive Through the Holidays

It is never too late to initiate healthy habits. We can always reset and start from where we are to feel our best.

Whether you have been in a good routine for a while or are looking for ways to ease holiday stress, you don’t have to sacrifice your well-being in the name of hosting, toasting, and all things merry.

Here are 5 tips to help you stick with your healthy habits and thrive through the holiday season.

1. Know Your Why and Be Clear on How You Want to Feel

Why is feeling your best important to you? On the surface, that may sound like a basic question with an easy answer. But the practice of diving deeper into this question will help you unlock the key to your motivation. Your answer will become the feeling or image you can bring to mind later to help you overcome obstacles that threaten to hijack your healthy habits during the holidays. 

How do you want to feel? Use your answer as inspiration to set a daily intention that will help you stick with your why. I might set my intention to have more energy and feel healthy and fit, and that’s a good start. To make it clearer and something that will encourage me when I’m feeling unmotivated, I’ll reframe and set my intention to be able to button my jeans with ease, to feel confident in my holiday dress, and to be able to keep up with my husband and two sons on our holiday hikes. My intentions help guide my choices throughout the day because I’m clear about how I want to feel and why that is important. Intentions are powerful because they give meaning to our goals. Purpose and meaning are fuel for motivation.

2. Make it Easy

There is truth in the saying that if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. The truth is that we know the holidays are coming. They happen every year. It’s a season of extras. For some, it is extra fun, extra social time, extra giving, extra excitement, and extra joy. For others, it is extra stress, extra sadness, extra money where there is none, extra missing a loved one no longer here, and the list of extras goes on.

If sticking with your healthy habits is important despite the extras, make it easy to stick with them by planning for success. Get ahead of potential obstacles by having an array of easier go-to options you can turn to when your schedule feels like it no longer belongs to you. Set out your exercise clothes the night before to make it easy to get going in the morning. Meet a friend for a walk or a workout to have an added layer of accountability and make movement and connection an easy and fun combination. On Sundays, do some healthy meal and snack prep, and if there isn’t time for that, start your day with a hearty breakfast and be proactive by bringing some healthy snacks with you. The holidays are busy and sometimes chaotic. Make them more manageable by preparing in advance so that instead of feeling like you have to be rigid or overly lax, you can coast through, landing on the other side with your health intact.     

3. Reframe the Range

Many of us adopt an all-or-nothing mindset and approach to healthy habits. When we don’t meet our high expectations, we do a baffling thing – we give up and decide we must not be cut out for sticking with healthy routines. Or worse, we give up and then beat up on ourselves for not meeting our fixed goals. When obstacles show up, as they inevitably do during the holidays, instead of quitting, reframe your range. Give yourself a range of what your healthy choices could look like.

Instead of an all-or-nothing mindset, come up with a range of options. No time for your usual morning workout? No problem. Take transit and walk the rest of the way to work. Take a break from being tied to your desk all day and do a walking meeting instead. Walk and talk and receive the bonus of fresh air. If these options don’t speak to you, come up with a list that does. If all you have is 15 minutes to devote to exercise, do 15 minutes of exercise. All those 15 minutes add up, and by the end of the week, you’ll feel like you’ve invested in yourself despite your busy schedule. If the top end of your range is exercising 5-6 days a week, and you meet that, that’s also awesome. Give yourself a range of what your healthy habits can look like so you feel like you are still on your path of well-being during the holiday season.

4. Allow for Setbacks and Resets

When it comes to healthy habits, the best place to start is from where you are right now. Setbacks are normal in life, especially during busier times. But anything worth having is worth the effort of brushing yourself off and getting back on the path. This is why knowing your why for health and wellbeing (step 1) is essential because it will serve as a guidepost for when you fall off course. If you know you will likely overindulge, don’t be surprised and beat up on yourself when you do. Instead, reset from where you are and take one small step forward toward your vision of health. Our small, consistent steps forward add up. The 80/20 rule is a nice one for the holidays. Aim for 80 percent of your choices and actions to equal your ideal picture of health and allow 20 percent to leave space for flexibility, self-compassion, and a little unbridled fun.

5. Make it Fun

Everything is better when we are having fun, which also applies to our healthy habits. The holidays draw in more social time and connection. So, invite your loved ones to join you in a fun exercise class or snowshoe and fondue. Or in a festive walk around the shops. Or get creative in the kitchen together, making healthier versions of your favorite holiday snacks and treats. Turn on some festive music while you rake leaves or shovel snow. Enjoy some games with your family and friends, especially those encouraging laughter and lightheartedness. How we feel matters; it contributes to our overall health and well-being. Connect with your loved ones. Get outside for fun and play!

While the holidays may not be the most wonderful time of year for everyone, they don’t have to derail your health and well-being. Let this be a season for thriving!