Hooooo boy! I enjoyed the holidays, but I know I am READY when it comes to getting back into the normal swing of things. The holidays are enjoyable, but they are also stressful- especially this year since they fell right in the middle of the week which made remembering what day it was a real challenge ๐ Then there were all the shindigs, shopping for gifts, having enough money for things...the list goes on for how the enjoyable can also be stressful.
Let's all take a deep breath and siiggghhh it out.
Now we're into the new year, getting back to our regular schedules, and perhaps even working towards some new goals.
It's time for that post-holiday reset to get your nutrition, exercise, and mindset back on track!
I'm going to talk about 3 things in each of those areas to help you reset and get back into your flow while helping to reduce anxiety and stress (whether it's leftover from the holidays or coming on from getting back into the swing of things).
Let's talk nutrition first:
1 Focus on eating your healthier carbs
This is simple to do by ensuring you have a colorful plate! If you're anything like me you've probably ate a lot more sweets than you typically do other times of the year. Not a big deal! Just start choosing fruits, veggies, and complex carbs like brown rice, oats, and quinoa more often. And start choosing the simple carbs like cookies, pies, and candy less often. Simple switch! No need to berate yourself for how "badly" you've been eating or feel like you have to cut out all the sweet things. It's just a shift in HOW MUCH of the simple carbs vs complex carbs that you're eating. Not to mention this shift will help keep your blood sugar levels more stable and hanxiety at bay!
2 Drink your water!
It's likely that you've had a lot of fun coffees, hot chocolates, pops, or alcohol over the holidays so let's give your body the hydration it needs! To help gauge how much water you should be drinking per day try using this water intake calculator. You'd be surprised how much water can get rid of cloudy brain and when your brain is clear you get things done more efficiently which means less stress and anxiety over tasks!
3 Prioritize your protein!
I'm sure this doesn't come as a surprise to you. Like I said, a lot of us have been carb heavy for a month or so now. That's okay! Let's simply make another shift and jump back into prioritizing that protein! Aim for .7-1 gram per pound of your body weight (or ideal body weight). So, if you weigh 150 lbs then you'd want to eat somewhere between 105-150 grams of protein.
If you'd like some more ideas on how to eat to help reduce anxiety, stress, and improve your overall wellness get my guide Anxiety Antidote: Nutrition and Self-Care Practices to Restore Calm here!
Now let's talk about exercise:
1 Aim to get some type of movement in each day
Ten minutes DOES count! Don't feel like you have to jump into a full-on new workout plan unless that's something that you were already doing before. If you were a regular gym goer and just fell off a little during the holidays simply jump back into your normal routine. If you weren't, then just ease into doing daily movement. The key is to BUILD THE HABIT- not strive for perfection.
You don't have to lift weights every day.
You don't have to run every day.
You don't have to do HIIT every day.
Honestly doing any of those things every single day can run down your body over time, especially if you don't do a mix of things.
If you miss a day, simply keep going the next day. Do NOT stop because you miss a day or two or three. All you have to do is pick back up and keep going. The starting and stopping for weeks, months, or even years at a time is what is actually holding you back.
Plus cool additional benefit: movement helps reduce anxiety and stress!
2 Include stretching and mobility in your routine.
Stretching and mobility are soooo important, yet they tend to get passed over as not really necessary. However, these two things are essential parts of being able to move well, reduce the likelihood of injury, and just FEELING better. They don't have to take a bunch of time, either. Just spending 5-10 minutes in the morning, before bed, or before you work out (mobility here specifically) are great ways to add these in!
Studies have shown that yoga (ie things like stretching and mobility) can be really helpful in reducing anxiety and stress. Read more about it here!
3 Include strength training of some kind at least 2 days a week.
Strength training is about longevity and being able to do day to day things with ease- like getting something off of the top shelf, going up stairs without it hurting your knees, pick up your kid, or getting up out of a chair without holding onto something. It's about having strong bones, good balance, and having good blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose levels. It's not about getting bulky. And getting bulky is super hard anyway- so don't worry about getting too bulky!
Now let's talk about mindset:
1 Ditch the All or Nothing thinking
Seriously. All it will do is hold you back. You do not have to be perfect in order to progress. You simply have to show up consistently. If you make it to the gym 3 days and miss 2 when your goal was 5, so freaking what?? You went 3 days! That's awesome! Now just go again today! You just had a couple of rest days which are needed anyway. Don't make those 2 days mean anything more than they simply were days you didn't go to the gym. They don't mean you failed. They don't mean you should give up. They don't mean you're lazy.
Maybe you ate some leftover pie from the holidays and you felt like you hecked up so you had two more pieces of pie. Ok. It's done. All it takes is choosing to do better in the next moment. Eating healthier at your next meal. It doesn't have to be this huge life altering thing as long as you CHOOSE to not let it become a big deal. Once again don't give it anymore meaning than it has. You had 3 pieces of pie. It doesn't mean you are a failure. It doesn't mean you can't change your habits. It doesn't mean you should give up. Just move forward.
Pickin up what I'm putting down? GOOD! Onward...
2 Accept that whatever you're trying to achieve is going to take time
There's nothing you can do to make it happen faster that will also help you hold onto it. Sure, you can do a shake diet that makes you lose 20 lbs in a month, but are you gonna drink those shakes forever? No. Okay so what happens when you go back to your normal eating habits? You gain it all back. Instead allow yourself the time to learn how to eat actual food in a way that enables you to achieve your goals AND hold onto them! It's the process that causes you to become the person who has what you want.
3 Have a mindset of self-compassion
You're going to have off days. You're going to have days where you eat more sweets than you should for your goals. You're going to have days where you skip a workout. The key is to not beat the shit out of yourself for doing those things. Doing that isn't going to motivate you to get back on track. Instead, it'll either cause you to feel even more discouraged and you'll spiral into more bad choices OR you'll try to over correct and over exercise or live off of salads to the point that you burn out or binge and continue the pattern of not eating the best and skipping workouts.
When you eat something not as healthy just allow yourself to enjoy it-without guilt- and choose something healthier at your next meal. If you skip a workout, just make double sure to get your workout in the next day. Show yourself some self-compassion and keep moving forward.
Do these things and you'll be a in a full post-holiday reset!
Plus, each of these will help you reduce anxiety and stress in general (have you picked up on that?) ๐ Taking care of your body will help take care of your mind and taking care of your mind will help you take care of your body.
Comments