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It’s that magical time of year when as a collective whole humans declare their desire to get healthier. After months of holiday helpings, the bill has come due and like most bills, when confronted with the cost of extra servings and special sides, we’re disappointed.

Not disappointed in the delicious delights but in the brutal side effects.

I’m not immune to holiday helpings. I had more sugar than I care to think about. During food comas, instead of taking a walk around the block or a jaunt down the stairs, I sat and followed that up with more sitting. Along with extra weight, I had extra stomach issues too from eating and drinking too much sugar, dairy, and prosecco.

I’m not for vague rhetorical resolutions, but health happens with healthy habits.

Serious About Sleep

Sleep is my favorite.

Sleep is less needy when compared to other healthy habits. Food, hydration, and exercise all require commitment and energy. Sleep is less demanding. Sleep, by its very nature, is devoid of energy. It’s also devoid of light, money, and mental capacity, which is why it’s at the top of my shortlist for healthy habits.

Since the holiday hustle, my sleep schedule has been fluxing more than a flux capacitor.

I have intentionally turned off my alarm and sleep reminders because of late nights at family gatherings. Useful at the time to maximize the sleep deficit, but lingering side effects included feeling less rested, a brain fog that lasts all day, and having a harder time falling asleep.

The doctor’s quick fix is returning to the regularly scheduled wake, sleep routine where the alarm stays on seven days a week.

It’s time to get serious about sleep!

Fostering Food

Thank all that is bright and brilliant that the holidays are once a year because if the holidays were a lifestyle choice, I’d need an IV for insulin and tums.

I love humans for showering their love with food and I inhale their culinary creations with glee and gusto. My lab results, however, scream in protest.

As a frugal foodie, I choose quality over quantity and repetition over novelty. The fridge and cupboards contain fresh fruits and vegetables because I spend a bulk of my time in the produce area of the grocery store. I have a list and I keep to it as I zip around selecting the same options week after week.

When I buy wholesome food and bring it home, then the things that are eaten are wholesome. This healthy habit has leaked into my work lunches too. Since I’m 15 minutes away from the closest eatery, I have no choice but to eat what I bring.

Along with being healthy, it’s a money saver too.

Hello, Hydration

I bow down to the galactic geniuses at NASA, so when they have a policy that says “follow the water”. I say hold my prosecco and watch as I drink 16 ounces of water.

It’s not just the nerdy birds at NASA that have an extra interest in water. The National Institute of Health, which did a 25-year study (!), found connections between dehydration, early aging, and chronic disease.

Hydrating during the holiday hustle is challenging from forgetting because of chattiness or avoiding because the water tastes like it was filtered with a rusty spoon.

Resuming hydration habits include bringing a full bottle every time I leave the house, so hydration is convenient and not a rusty roulette. Water resumes its default instead of eggnog, cider, or a beverage that requires a driver’s license.

If I don’t wanna whine, I shouldn’t drink the wine.

Merry Movement

A while ago, I was chatting with a nurse before my annual female exam. She peeled through the list of questions about my personal life that would have been considered rudely insensitive outside the doctor’s office.

I mentioned my pre-holiday workout routine because the holiday workout routine was as inconsistent as brussel sprouts at a potluck. My 30-45-minute routine transformed into the unofficial title of athlete. I appreciated that she leveled up my fitness confidence, but reality came runnin’ in as I thought half-jokingly, well, I guess I better take the stairs for the rest of my life, so I don’t let her down!

Health happens with healthy habits include placing fitness back into a regularly scheduled daily routine.

If I want to prevent illness, I need to invest in fitness.

Health Happens with Healthy Habits

Eight hundred words to say that instead of continuing the holiday helpings with the side of sitting – healthy habits need to reemerge. Science is sure to correct me, but a brief visit to the tasty delights of the holidays isn’t all bad. It’s the annual exception of healthy habits because it’s the holidays and they come but once a year.  

But now that the presents and parents are tucked away and the New Year with its novel possibilities is here, it’s time to fold back into healthy habits for a healthy and happy new year.