b’vive.

How to Maintain Your Healthy Habits Among Festivities and Chaos

Some of the best life advice advice I’ve ever received was when my husband was in the police academy.

If you are a first responder or are married to someone in that line of work, a similar one, or any career that doesn’t require the typical Monday through Friday schedule, you’re special. And you understand that your career or lifestyle doesn’t fit the popular definitions of “normal,” especially around the holidays.

Your normal might be having Thanksgiving as a brunch, opening Christmas presents on Christmas Eve Eve or celebrating New Year’s in January.

Hence the advice: You’re not going to fit into the general “normal,” so CREATE YOUR NORMAL.

I love this idea so much. It carried me through 20 years of police life. And now it’s going to carry us through the holidays.

You can absolutely create your normal when it comes to nutrition and wellness.

And you can create that for the holidays. Your schedule might be a little different this time of year. You might have parties to attend and cookies to bake (so many cookies)! You might be traveling, in a new town or staying in someone else’s home.

Even among these “not your normal” circumstances, you have opportunities to make healthy choices. You can define what works for you. You can create your normal for the holidays.

You can decide what you need to live your most nutritious and delicious life this holiday season. You can do the things to make sure you have a happy and healthy holiday season.

What are those things? That’s for you to decide. What I can tell you is that there are FOUR STEPS to get you started.

BE AWARE

To maintain anything, you have to know where you are starting. Where is your baseline? See my article Holiday Mindset for details on identifying your healthy habits for mind, body and joy. Or try my Celebrate You Guide.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll have a clear picture of your baseline. A few things in each category identified that you can do to maintain this holiday season. Let’s call this YOUR GUIDE. (I’m not yelling at you, I’m just really excited.)

BE PREPARED

Next up, set yourself up for success and get prepared.

If you have a particularly busy day or week, refer to YOUR GUIDE. 

If you are traveling, bring your essentials with you. The tools you need to maintain the healthy habits listed on YOUR GUIDE.

A few things that should absolutely be on your list of essentials:

*Healthy snacks – Remember, you don’t want to wait so long between meals that your mental and physical energy dip.

*Water bottle – Because we are going to stay hydrated always.

*Workout clothes – Because move your body.

A few things that are on my list because they are part of my normal, but may not be part of yours (but I’m sharing because that’s how it works around here):

* Collagen creamer – I try to avoid dairy and a lot of times it’s hard to get a good non-dairy creamer. So this ensures I’ll have some creamer and get my collagen. Win win. And added bonus. It can be a great conversation start. I was putting collage creamer in my coffee at a conference and it sparked quite the discussion at the breakfast table. What it was. Why I had it. Why take collagen. It was a whole thing I was not expecting.

*Herbal tea – A lot of times it’s available at hotels, but I keep some with me just in case. I love a cup of tea while I’m getting ready for bed.

*Kindle – Reading is part of my night time routine. Even if I only read a few pages it helps me unwind.

BE DISCIPLINED

When you are in the throws of it, refer to YOUR GUIDE and maintain those healthy habits. And there are two that are going to give you the foundation to make other good choices.

Move your body. 

Another reason I love OrangeTheory Fitness. I can do it anywhere and I want to! Part of the treat for me of being in a new city is trying out a new studio.

You may need to find a different motivation to do your thing. The point is to do it. Get your workout in.

All the regular benefits of exercise still apply and you need those benefits more than ever in this season of festivities and chaos.

Get your sleep.

Try to stay within two hours of your regular bedtime/wake up times. Your body is wired to reset when you sleep. Some of the most important work your brain does at night to process the day happens in the first two hours of sleep. The timeframe for those two hours has been established by your regular routine. So, try to keep your regular sleep schedule.

The Huberman Lab podcast discusses this more in depth in an episode with Gina Poe, PhD, a professor in the department of integrative biology & physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). 

I’m focused on exercise and sleep. If something else like meditation or journaling is part of YOUR GUIDE, then the same applies! Do. Your. Thing.

BE FLEXIBLE

You are aiming for maintenance. Do your best to follow YOUR GUIDE – maintain your healthy habits, behaviors and routine.

But also, be flexible.

Your holiday week or out-of-town workout may not look like your “normal” workout. It’s still a workout.

This is a season to celebrate and see your people, so don’t let discipline and routine get in the way of connection and merriment.

The ideal is that it all works together.

I have a sister who is a yoga teacher (lucky me), so part of the treat of visiting her is getting to go to her yoga class. My sister is a fantastic yoga teacher. If you live in Omaha or are visiting, I highly recommend. However, in my regular life yoga is HOT YOGA. My sister doesn’t teach that. But her class is still a yoga class, an opportunity to move my body. And just as important, an opportunity for connection, a chance to be with her. And also, we can make it a thing and go get coffee after and that is pure joy for me.

Why am I telling you this? Because the alternative would be for me to say “No, that’s not my regular workout so I’m not doing that.” And then do nothing. And I want more than that for you and I think you do, too.

And also, doing nothing is not the way to b’vive your life. (Is b’vive a verb now? I don’t know, I thought I’d try it.)

Anywho, let’s sum this up.

Four steps to create your normal during this season of festivities and chaos or merriment and cheer, however you want to look at it.

*Be aware

*Be prepared

*Be disciplined

*Be flexible

I hope that these guidelines help you to enjoy a happy and healthy holiday season. 

Wishing you and yours happiness and health this holiday season and always.

Ready to sparkle this season?

Check out my Personalized Health Coaching options or get more tips for a nutritious and delicious holiday season in: Happy Holidays: The Most Wonderful, Messy, Chaotic Time of the Year.

Margaret Faintich is on a mission to help us all live in a world where taking care of our health and wellness is the norm. Where we can eat nutritious and delicious food every day because they are the same and that’s just how we live. 

She shares inspiration and guidance through the lens of mindy, body and spirit.

Margaret Faintich is the founder of B’Vive Co. and a Nutritious Life Master Certified Nutrition and Wellness Coach. 

She is a yoga lover and OrangeTheory Fitness enthusiast.