50+ Lifestyles

The Holidays and Your Health

By Logan Anderson, BA, CPT, CIFT
Owner of All Strong Fitness LLC

Navigating your diet and exercise through the holidays is a tricky task. Not only do you have to balance these aspects of your health, but you have to add in the extra time and effort to enjoy time with your loved ones. Because of this, our physical wellbeing can sometimes take a hit during the holiday season. Reminding ourselves of a few key points can keep our health, and family obligations both in check.
When you think of the holidays the first thing you typically think of is the food. Delicious, high calorie, easy to overeat, food. I don’t think there’s a single person on earth who doesn’t look forward to a nice holiday meal. Unfortunately, for many, they allow themselves to overindulge and potentially set back their diet progress. One key point to remember is that one bad day of eating won’t make you unhealthy, just like one good day of eating won’t make you healthy. If your diet is consistently sound, and you don’t overindulge very often, you will likely be just fine.

Another important aspect to bring up is family and societal pressure to eat a certain way. Through daily life, and especially around the holidays, it is typically the norm to not be too concerned about what we intake. Although this is the normal behavior amongst society, this does not mean it comes with no costs. As a society, we overeat, and as a result are the most obese we have ever been in history. Understanding that your family might not be as meticulous about their diet as you are, is an important thing to note going into holiday meals. Personally, I have gotten “called out” when I don’t partake in certain aspects of meals, or don’t overindulge as much as my family. Not letting this get to your head is key, as you can almost feel peer pressured into eating everything within sight.
As with most things in life, moderation is key. If you allow yourselves a moderate amount of any food around the holidays, your health and wellness goals will still be in line. What’s important with this is to be realistic with yourself. As previously mentioned, society’s standards for food intake are very skewed. Because of this, ideas of moderation when it comes to delicious holiday foods are likely flawed. Familiarizing yourself with basic portion sizes before these events can help you make better decisions not only during the holidays, but after as well.

Enjoying holiday food and time with your families has a special place in all of our hearts. Despite this, it is still important to remember our health, both physical and mental, during this time. Remember when you are enjoying your holiday meals, that it is okay to enjoy your cake, pie, and mashed potatoes. If you overindulge, it’s OKAY. We all make mistakes, and can pick back up on things tomorrow. From myself, and everyone at All Strong Fitness, we wish you a happy holidays!

For more information please contact Logan Anderson, owner of All Strong Fitness LLC. He can be reached at (563) 210-3701 or by email: allstrongfitnessllc@gmail.com.