We are in the thick of the holiday season. Even amidst the holiday hustle, it is still possible to focus on your health. This season is extra busy, our schedules are extra off, our children are extra home, and our work seem extra impossible to complete. Today, I am giving you 7 quick tips that will make it easy to prioritize your health. Cozy up with your favorite blanket and let’s dive in!
Listen below for the entire episode on The Systemize Your Life Podcast
Focus On Your Health
If you’ve been here for a bit, you will know about my struggles with autoimmune issues. When I was pretty young, I was constantly getting strep throat and was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The healthcare providers I was seeing wanted to put me on antidepressants but I knew that was not the solution to the problem.
Eventually, I found a really fantastic doctor who practices both mainstream and naturopathic medicine. My doctor helped me establish a full understanding of what holistic health looks like. Which put me on this journey.
All this happened before I ever had kids. Once I became a mother, I didn’t always stick to the practices I had developed as well and ended up having a debilitating issue with my autoimmune disorder. It hit my marriage, home management, and business HARD. I had to prioritize my health.
In order to grow in all areas of life, I realized that my health was the key. Rather than making my health a huge giant to conquer, I learned to slowly but surely infuse little swaps and decisions into my life that prioritized my health.
Today I share these swaps with you because they are especially applicable in the season of holiday hustle. When you learn to focus on your health amidst the chaos, you will feel so much better, stronger, and more like yourself.
Everything Is a Choice
When you reframe your mindset, and can be super motivating. In each quick tip, you are making a swap. You are either choosing something that will support your health and push you towards your goals. Or you are choosing something that will not advance you towards better health. Or worse, you are choosing something that will push you further from health and your goals.
To be the business owner, mother, daughter, wife, friend, employee you want to be, you need to focus on your health. Ironically, our health is usually the first thing we push off of our plate. But it is one of the biggest factors in our ability to show up well in other areas of our lives.
1. Choose Non-Alcoholic Drinks
Our first tip to focus on your health is choosing non-alcoholic drinks over the fun drinks. Maybe this is easy for you because you don’t drink alcoholic beverages pretty much ever. That’ awesome. I really don’t either. Every now and then I love to have a glass of wine. Outside of that, though, we don’t generally drink alcohol.
That story has been a different story to tell in different seasons of my life. But it has held true for most of my life. For a lot of people, though, I know this is really hard. With all the celebrating going on, it’s hard for me sometimes. It is so easy to think, “What’s a glass here? Or a sip there?”
However, when you look at what our body has to do to process this, you realize it’s a lot. Replacing the fun drinks with something better is truly going to make a huge impact on your health.
2. Move Your Bedtime to 30 Minutes Earlier
The second way you can focus on your health is to make your bedtime 30 minutes earlier. Honestly, I’ve played with a range of times, from 15 minutes to an hour. It really can be anywhere in that range, but I’ve settled on moving my bedtime to 30 minutes earlier.
Truly, I believe in the rhythm of the seasons. The seasons are strategically placed and happen for a reason. I love leaning into our natural cycle with the way the sun rises and sets each day. My doctor that I mentioned earlier in this post is the one who got me started on this idea many years ago and I use it heavily with my kids.
I try to turn in with the sun, which is really hard for many people with all the weird things that happen with daylight savings. No, I don’t go to bed at 4 pm in the afternoon and I know that is what that would look like for some of you. The days are shorter and they are that way for a reason. We need that extra sleep.
Peel that clock back a little bit and get into bed a bit earlier. It is super easy to do and very rewarding to get that extra sleep.
3. Increase Your Water Intake
Increasing your water intake is another way you can focus on your health. If you struggle in this area, just try to double it. Or try to drink a really hefty glass of water.
Want to go real crazy? Add a pinch of that high quality pink or gray mineral salt to your water. You won’t taste it but it will help hydrate you. You don’t have to drink Gatorade!
Try drinking 8 ounce of water before your cup of coffee! You can totally do this. It is so quick and simple!
“To be the business owner, mother, daughter, wife, friend, employee you want to be, you need to focus on your health. Ironically, our health is usually the first thing we push off of our plate. But it is one of the biggest factors in our ability to show up well in other areas of our lives.”
4. Calculate Your Treats
This tip to focus on your health is HUGE. Seriously. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and new Years are all about the rich things in life. The treats. There are a lots of sweets readily available.
We try to limit sweets to 1-2 a week. Not 1-2 a day, but 1-2 a week. Because of this, we try to get the daily treats out of our house because we know there will be an influx of them. Have a party coming up this weekend? Say no every other time! Grab a fruit, grab a vegetable, grab a fresh protein, drink some water instead!
What it really comes down to is being strategic. When you know there is an upcoming party or celebration at school, change what you offer your kids accordingly. We have these conversations openly with our kiddos when they ask us for treats. Our focus is on what it does for our bodies when we choose more healthy options.
5. Swap Drive Thru Coffee for Homemade Coffee
Boring, I know! Those holiday cups are so cute and I love a good selfie with my incredible coffee just as much as you do. But really, try swapping the drive thru coffees for something you make at home. If you want to branch out, you can even try my 3 Drink Swaps to Boost Productivity And Energy.
When you make it at home, you are less likely to be heavy handed with the cream and sugar. Additionally, you are not going to want to whip a coffee up as often as you will let yourself head through the drive thru. For some reason, sitting on your bum and handing someone a card and letting them hand back an incredible drink is way easier than taking five minutes to make one at home.
6. Do Your Work In the Sunshine
Doing your work or having your kids play in the sunshine is a magical way to focus on your health. From our emotional health to our cellular function, the benefits of sunshine are magical.
Start looking at what vitamin D does for your body, for example. If you didn’t already know this, vitamin D is created in our bodies when we are exposed to sunshine. Make a habit of gravitating towards the sunshine.
I honestly cannot help but be drawn to the sunlight. As a native Arizona girl, I am used to basking in the sunshine. Whenever I am somewhere, you will see me awkwardly standing alone in the one sliver of sunshine. I am also almost always cold, so I constantly seek that extra bit of warmth.
It is literally freezing for some of you right now, I know. But if at all possible, try to do your work outside. Or just grab any extra sunshine you can get.
7. Don’t Skip Your Workouts
Last, but certainly no least, don’t skip your workouts! Even if it’s one a week. In the midst of the hectic holiday season, the benefits of this focus on your health cannot be overstated.
If you are walking instead of going to the gym or stretching instead of walking, that’s fine. Even 20 minutes of moving your body is better than nothing. So try your best not to skip those workouts.
Focus On Your Health Over Holiday Hustle
I really hope these tips help you prioritize the one part of your life that generally gets pushed to the back burner. Which tips are you going to try? Are there any tips that you love that I’ve missed? I would LOVE to hear about it in the Systemize Your Life Facebook group! Please pop over and drop a comment! I can’t wait to see you next time here on the blog.
Frequently Asked Questions
I needed these!! Do you have any other ideas for how I can prioritize health during the holidays??
Yes, sister! So glad you asked. You can check out more healthy lifestyle and eating resources in my podcast vault and use the Command/Control + C function to search the term “health.” You will find meal plans, lifestyle tips, and so much more!
