Healthy Tips For Recovering After An Indulgent Holiday Season

September 26, 2023

Your stomach is still full of holiday treats, and you’re already feeling the regret pile up. But now the holidays are over, and it's the time many decide they need to get healthy again. Maybe you’ve decided to lose those extra pounds you gained or just want to try to get a bit healthier, but are not sure where to start. There are so many diets telling individuals to cut carbohydrates or live off of something ridiculous. Researching health and wellness can be confusing and overwhelming. How do you know where to start? We’re here to get the ball rolling by covering things like mindset, diet, and lifestyle.

Don't Beat Yourself Up

Photo Credit: HavenProfessionalCounselingLLC

Yes, you gave in to the temptation of sweets over the holidays and gorged on food over the past month or so. But don't beat yourself up about it. The holidays are a particularly difficult time to resist all of the delicious smells and cookies. Most individuals overindulge, but dwelling on this as a mistake is as bad for your mental health as eating cake for breakfast is bad for your body. If you were coaching someone to be healthier, would you yell at them for their past habits or simply encourage them to eat better? Resolve to have a positive attitude about yourself. It’s time to move forward, not to sulk.

Keep reading for more advice on recovering after the holidays.

Plan A Healthy Routine

Photo Credit: AWAI

So precisely how do you get rid of the extra weight and bad habits you’ve built up? You plan a healthy routine, and then hold yourself accountable to it. Many try asking friends or family to either join them or at least check in every so often to help with this. You can do something simple like jogging every morning and eating healthier foods, or you can go all out and plan a day-by-day diet and workout routine. Some simple things to add to your plan would be cutting out sugary drinks, incorporating veggies into meals, and having some form of exercise every day. Planning a routine and holding yourself to it will get you results.

Learn more about getting back on track after the holidays now.

Drink Copious Amounts Of Water

Photo Credit: Livestrong

From a young age, everyone has been told drinking water is important. Yet it’s all too easy to drink coffee, tea, or soda instead. While this is not the end of the world, experts say the caffeine in those drinks can produce the urge to urinate more often. While your body can’t give up more fluids than what it’s ingested, your body might not be absorbing the most it could be. Experts suggest drinking water as your primary form of hydration, as this helps keep energy levels up and can sometimes help ease headaches as well.

Continue to reveal the next method of recovering after an indulgent holiday season.

Get Plenty Of Rest

Photo Credit: Dreamstime

It’s a well-known fact that if you are not sleeping enough, your energy levels will be drained. This means less motivation to eat and act healthier, and it can also result in weight gain. Experts suggest not getting enough sleep negatively impacts certain hormones that will make people hungrier. Essentially, the more you eat, the more weight you gain. Getting plenty of rest is important for other reasons, such as better concentration or muscle recovery after working out. It’ll be worth it to get plenty of quality sleep now.

There's even more to helping your body recover after the holidays. Get to know the next major strategy now.

Maintain A Balanced Diet

Photo Credit: Fit-Flavors

Contrary to popular belief, simply cutting out carbohydrates and sugar won’t lead to a healthy diet. If you eat too much of anything, it’ll cause negative results, one of which includes potential weight gain. So while it’s good to reduce your consumption of sweets and sugary drinks, immediately cutting things out of your diet can have the opposite effect, since its often not maintainable. Keep up with healthy eating patterns requires figuring out the appropriate portions of food groups for your lifestyle. A balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrates leads to a healthy diet, not just protein and salads. So make sure to develop a healthy balanced diet, even including some indulgent foods in moderation, to give your body what it needs.

MORE FROM HealthPrep