A recipe to light your Holiday fire!
While not a recipe for food like our typical Monday posts, this recipe is just as important this time of year! The Holidays often bring a time of special moments spent with our loved ones and exciting family traditions. However, they also bring many obstacles that can interfere with maintaining the healthy habits that we worked so hard to develop during the year. This is precisely why it is so important to stay focused and hold onto our motivation as we face some of our toughest adversaries. 3 quick tips to help you light your fire this holiday season (and keep it lit)!
Make a list of your top WHYs.Why is it so important to create habits that you know will equate to a healthy, happy life? Perhaps this is because you wish to maintain your blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Maybe it’s because you want to be able to play with your grandkids and watch them grow into fulfilled adults. Possibly it’s because you don’t want to let those you care about down. No matter why you want more out of life and wish to be healthier, this list will act as a reminder on tough days that you have come too far to give up now or during the holidays.Write out the pros and cons of your choices.When faced with temptations, remind yourself of that you can or cannot get out of any action or decision you make. For example, a coworker brings the most delicious-looking homemade chocolate cake to the office as a holiday treat. Time to assess if it’s worth it. Pros of eating the cake may include: satiates sweet cravings, the colleague and friend will appreciate me eating it, and chocolate cake is definitely a favorite. Whereas cons of eating the cake may include: weight gain or requiring more work to burn it off, lacking needed nutrients, negative feelings of self after eating it, not supporting the goals of improved diet choices and so on. If the choice you may make does not align with what your heart and soul really desire, perhaps you should think twice. Set attainable daily goals.Typically, we can all predict the times and days we will struggle the most. For example, many tend to struggle when their routine changes or they go through a time of stress. So, if you know you have a work dinner one night, maybe set a small goal that you will order salad only instead of a steak and potato like most of your colleagues. If you know you tend to snack when you are stressed or bored at work, then avoid keeping the temptations nearby. Or perhaps you know your son has a soccer game right after work; you may set a goal to hit the gym on your lunch break instead. Setting a daily goal based on your perceived obstacles, you can better plan and execute the actions that make you proud.A study on motivation through conscious goal setting supports that “high commitment to goals is attained when the individual is convinced that the goal is important and that the goal is attainable.”Happy Holidays. Keep that fire lit 🔥🔥🔥!Click HERE to learn more about the Wellview services available to you. We can’t wait to work with you!
– CASEY EDMONDS, CHC
Health Advisor | Email Casey
