The holidays are magical, but all that delicious food and family time can pose challenges, too. Here’s our handy guide to managing your physical, mental and emotional health throughout the season.
Mindful Eating
With big family meals, holiday-themed sweets, and other traditional goodies, it’s tempting to just shovel it all in. Use the following tips and tricks for mindful eating:
- Use a small plate to “trick” yourself into taking smaller portions and eating more slowly.
- At gatherings, avoid standing near the snack table. This may encourage mindless munching.
- Keep track of your food intake. It’s surprisingly easy to forget how many cookies you’ve had at a party.
- Be fully present when you eat. Turn off the TV and set your phone aside during meals.
- If you tend to eat too fast, there are practices that can help you slow down your pace.
- Chew a set number of times before swallowing.
- Set down your utensil between bites.
- Actively savor and appreciate your food. Try to work out the flavors.
Mindful Drinking
- Keep track of your alcohol intake and set a limit for yourself.
- Opt for drinks with less sugar and fewer calories.
- Bloody Marys aren’t sweet, which means they have a significantly lower sugar content.
- Omit simple syrup from a Moscow mule and save on calories without losing flavor.
- Avoid calories hiding in mixers by choosing a simple glass of antioxidant-rich red wine.
Keeping Up With Exercise
- Schedule regular exercise throughout the holiday season. This will help you maintain your fitness progress and stave off extra pounds.
- While visiting family, try to fit in roughly 20 minutes of some kind of exercise each day.
- Go for a daily morning jog.
- Do some yoga (bonus if you end up starting a family yoga session!).
- If your family gets to be too much, go for an outdoor run to get away for a while.
- Crowded house? Do what you can with the space you have. Planking in your childhood bedroom might not have been the plan you had for your life, but do any of us ever really reach the sun?
Surviving Extended Family Gatherings (and Republican Family Members)
- Focus on those who mean the most to you and seize moments of joy where you can find it. Even if you feel like all you’ve got is the dog, you hug the heck out of that dog.
- Set your boundaries and know where to draw your line. You don’t have to be silent, but don’t let anyone derail your peace train by baiting you into a pointless argument.
- Use calming techniques like deep breathing, meditation and visualization to relieve anxiety and regulate emotions when the holiday stress gets to you.
- If you have to get up and leave to avoid saying something you know you’ll regret, do it.
- Remind yourself that no one deserves to take your zen away from you. Repeat it like a mantra, if it helps.
- Remember that you can define your own family. You don’t have to like every piece of all of your relatives, and it’s okay to get support from others and focus on the positive aspects of your family members you adore. There’s no reason you can’t celebrate the holidays with your “found family,” too.
About Matador Meggings
Matador Meggings is a unique athleisure fashion company that’s taking men’s athletic leggings to the next level. Our men’s leggings are designed specifically to fit, flatter, and support the male body. They feature moisture-wicking performance fabric, two pockets (one open, one zippered), and a convenient loop to secure your towel or shirt. There’s also a removable molded crotch insert to prevent any unwanted peen gawking.
Together with our customers and fans, Matador Meggings is creating a supportive community focused on fitness, authenticity, and brotherhood.
