Halloween is TOMORROW guys!!! Ahhhh! My favorite time of year is just around the corner! I love the coziness of fall/beginning of winter. I hope you all are having a great, happy, and healthy season so far! I just wanted to share with you some good tips for staying healthy this Holiday season and maybe speeding up your recoveries if you DO get sick. ❤ A friend of mine has said “If we approach the season with a growth mindset decided on what we pre-define as success then it is totally possible to ENJOY the season and some of it’s indulgences AND ALSO feel great because of habits we decide on ahead of time that will make it simple to make healthy choices.” And I totally agree!
So how do we go for success in this area? I want to share with you what some extremely health-wise friends have shared with me.
- Make up your mind. Decide in advance what you will enjoy and how much. This time of year, candy is out the WAZOO. Pre-commit to only a certain reasonable amount of treats each week. One mini-snickers each day is not going to derail your health over a short period of time, but grabbing one every-other time you walk by it DEFINITELY will.
If you have children that trick or treat talk to them ahead of time about what they hope they get during their outings and that when they get home they can pick 10-20 total pieces of their favorite candy to keep. (And no fair eating it yourself! 😉 ) - Donate. One candy donation program that is available in most areas is Halloween Candy Buy Back, which donates candy to military overseas in care packages. This candy is also often used to give to kids in villages that the military has a presence in to promote good-will and create relationships based on kindness and giving. This is especially close to my heart being a former military family. However, whether you donate or discard the excess treats just be sure to get it out of the house! Why create the temptation to chip away at the stash until it’s down to Double Bubble and hard candy and you finally throw it away?! (talking to myself here too!)
- Notice how good it feels to be healthy. Think about how good it feels to NOT get that sugar crash. The short term benefits from sugar are most certainly addicting, but the sugar crash that comes with it creates brain fog, headaches, reduced immunity and lethargy. Be intentional to make the mental connection to the sense of accomplishment and clear-mindedness that occurs when you make healthy decisions to not partake or consume beyond what you committed to.
- Don’t beat yourself up. If in the course of festivities you over-do it and eat five too many reese’s peanut butter cups, chalk it up to the short term enjoyment you get out of it, but re-commit to your plan and begin to replenish your body by hydrating well and supplementing with the vitamins and nutrients that sugar depletes.
Health Nut Tidbit: When your body metabolizes a carbohydrate, (sugar is a carb), it uses vitamin B, Zinc and magnesium to process it all, among others. When we are depleted of these things, it sends the body into an imbalance, which often leaves us craving a quick burst of energy and we ironically go to sugar for that, which is what has cause the depletion in the first place.
Stop the cycle by going to the root of what is needed to bring back balance instead of throw fuel on the fire.Don’t think its too silly to write down something like the number of treats you’ll allow yourself weekly, but when you write it down you increase your success rate ten-fold!
Heres a Bonus Recipe for a Healthier version of Resees Peanut Butter Cups! Enjoy!Healthy Resees Peanut Butter Cups
Jessica Messinger 