I’m a big believer in helping my clients feel more relaxed about the choices they make with exercise and food especially over holiday periods. Rest and recovery is just as important to your overall health as regular activity and healthy eating are.
Stressing about staying on track or eating the ‘right’ foods or feeling guilty about eating ‘bad’ foods are not desirable emotions. We do know that eating plenty of whole foods (as opposed to packaged foods with long shelf lives) is much better for us but we are human and most of us enjoy eating the other stuff too! I like to give my clients freedom to make the choices that are right for them at the time, and to encourage awareness of how they feel when they have eaten. The more awareness we can have, I think the more enjoyment we can get from food and the less stuffing it in because it’s there!!
I like to teach the 80/20 rule, 80% of the time eating whole foods, veggies, exercising etc and allow the 20% for the other stuff!
I completely understand that a lot of us would actually like to stick with certain habits that have worked well for us and I’m all up for that, as long as you have a relaxed, happy time and can focus on enjoying your company without those guilty niggles popping up!
This list of 5 can be adapted to suit you, be flexible, these are things that I aim for and allow me to have some freedom over anything else that comes up…Prosecco, chocolates, puddings…things that I can enjoy because I know I’ve got some solid healthy habits in the bag! Check them out and see if you think these would work for you…
- Drink 2 litres of water every day. More if you want but you absolutely need water in your body to help ALL systems in your body (it massively helps with digestion, so any of you suffering from any stomach issues, get on board with this)
- Walk. Move when you can, after a meal will help with digestion.
- Eat veg with at least 2 meals. Aim for different colours to get a mix of nutrients.
- Eat protein with at least 2 meals. Protein is a macronutrient which means it’s important to eat a good amount of it daily. It’ll also keep you fuller for longer.
- Get outside. Even to breathe for a few minutes. Time spent outdoors and in nature is proven to reduce stress and boost your mood so get out there!!
I’d love to know if these are helpful to you and if you have any regular healthy habits that you stick to and as one of my friends said she would be doing this Christmas just ‘own it’!! Do what makes you happy and try not to worry.
Amy x