7 Easy Ways to Stay Healthy Over the Holidays

Seven simple tips and strategies for saying on track and committed to your health goals over the busy holiday season. Written in partnership with Lorissa’s Kitchen.

Ready or not, the holiday season is in full swing! Between school concerts, work parties, family gatherings and celebrations with friends, this time of year can leave you bit strapped for “me time” to say the least.

To help you stay on track with your wellness goals, I’ve come up with a list of my seven best strategies for staying healthy and reducing stress over this wonderful (and hectic!) time of year.

Host the Party: While this may sound counterintuitive, hosting your annual get together with friends or family gives you one key advantage: you can control the menu! Whether it’s a giant vegetable platter served with a protein-packed white bean dip or a big bowl of satisfying Indian Spiced Nuts, it’s a lot easier to ensure you’ll stay on track when you can customize a party menu full of healthy appetizers.

Bring a Healthy Side Dish: Not able to host a gathering this season? No worries. My solution is simple: volunteer to bring a healthy side dish to pass. You know there will be no shortage of indulgences over the holidays so you can rest assured your lightened dish will be a welcome addition to the table. Recipe to Try: Sesame Ginger Green Beans are made with just five simple ingredients and couldn’t be easier to make. Added bonus? They’re naturally gluten free and vegan. Explore my recipe index for hundreds of other appetizers, soups, salads and sides.

Boost Up Your Fitness Routine: The math is simple: the more calories you consume, the more calories you need to burn to just maintain your weight, let alone lose weight. While the holidays is certainly not the time for lofty weight loss goals, I always try to enter the new year at the same weight I was before Thanksgiving (not 5 pounds heavier!)

To make sure I don’t miss a workout, I like to schedule my fitness classes in my calendar just like I do a doctor’s appointment of client conference call. Hitting the road over the holidays? Be sure to checkout my wellness travel series, What to Eat and How to Burn it Off. I have lots of great ways to stay active in various cities throughout North America including Chicago, San Diego, Denver and more.

Bring-Your-Own Travel Snacks: Between airport layovers, long car rides and cancelled flights, it is always a good idea to pack your own healthy snacks before heading out on your travel journey.

Lorissa’s Kitchen beef sticks are the ideal portable, shelf-stable source of protein which is why I always keep them stashed in my purse and car.  With tasty flavors like jalapeño and smokey sweet, I’m less tempted to hit the drive through or make poor decisions at the airport.

Find Active Ways to Enjoy the Season: I don’t know about you but ice skating, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and fat tire snow biking all sound way more fun than an hour long spin class. The holidays are a great time to create new traditions so why not make them active? For example, this year my sisters and I are going sledding with our four little ones the day of Christmas Eve before the big party. Whatever you do, have fun and take advantage of all that winter has to offer.

Offer to Cook: Traveling out of town? Offer to cook dinner one night! Your hosts will be grateful and just like that you’ve found another way to control the menu and stay on track while out of town.

Don’t Arrive Hungry: My final tip might be the most important: if you know you’re heading to a holiday gathering or party, eat sensibly throughout the day and don’t show up starving. An hour or so before heading out the door, eat a sensible snack. Boost your protein with edamame, nuts or Lorissa’s Kitchen combined with fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. You’ll be so glad you did.

What are your best strategies and tips for staying healthy over the holiday season? I’d love to hear from you so leave a comment below and help a sista out!

Check out my Pinterest board to see more healthy living tips!