Surviving the Holidays can be easy.
When I think about the holidays I think about family & friends, LOTS of food, hustle & bustle and stress. So how do we manage to survive the holidays? I enjoy the holidays but I know for some the holidays can be challenging and for many different reasons. I know that if I get too wrapped up in what the 'world' says about the holidays I can get stressed out and very overwhelmed. Meaning that it seems like we need to spend more and more money to make our family & friends happy and I do not agree with that. I do agree with giving wholeheartedly but I do not agree with breaking the bank to do so. I have a few tips on how I manage to survive the holidays while staying calm.
I have a big family that keeps growing. A few years ago the adults decided that we should just do gifts for the kids. Which I was all for! Save money, yes please! However, I really enoying giving to everyone in my family. I decided that I would start making more gifts for the adults or find something I know they enjoy for a small price. I also started looking/buying presents throughout the year and that is a lot easier on my budget.
The delicious food around the holidays is so fun to enjoy. Whether it's baking, hosting parties or catered parties. There is always dishes with extra butter and cream or lots of bread and crackers with different cheeses and dips. It seems that vegetables are nonexistant during the holidays or at least it seems that way with my family. Eating right/healthy is challenging. Gaining weight is REALLY easy to do over the holidays. Loosing it usually isn't as easy and that can be so stressful and the stress isn't good for loosing weight either. How can you win!? I have a food plan that I have to follow as many others do now a days. My family is usually pretty good at making dishes that I can eat but that doesn't always mean it's going to be something healthy. I make a conscience decision to eat healthy before the holidays and around the holidays. My go to is salads with sprouted nuts and seeds for extra protein. I feel better when I do this and I don't feel as bad when I eat so much 'bad' food and I try to do more of my exercises then I normally do. That helps as well.
I tell ya, crowds and crazy traffic can make me so overwhelmed. I live in a touristy town so traffic is a given and crowds from time to time but there's just something about the holidays, I think it gets worse. I prepare myself for my outings so I know ahead of time what to expect. When I say 'prepare' I make myself be aware and present, in the present moment. Online shopping is a wonderful tool when I don't feel like fighting the crowds. Shopping local is important to me so when I need to ship presents out to family and friends I look for local businesses that will do that for me. Dietz Market is a fun place with something for everyone. They make up awesome gift bundles, some are premade and they also have an option where you can pick what you would like in the gift bundle. They have one with all local products from town including Diana's Sprouted!
Ah Stress, how you affect every single person somehow during some part of their life. Stress comes in different shapes and sizes and it's different for everyone and how they deal with it varies. My stress managment consists of staying in the present moment like I mentioned, meditation and doing things that make me laugh like hanging out with my daughter. Many things that I mentioned also help with stress like eating right and excercise. Here's some other helpful tips I found from WebMD on managing stress.
I hope this finds you well and I hope you all enjoy the holidays.
Happy Holidays & Bee Well, Diana's Sprouter
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