Happy Weekend! I know for most people this weekend is a holiday weekend--whether you're celebrating Easter, Passover, or Ramadan, there are quite a few religious holidays that occur in April!
Typically, advice about how to handle the holidays from fitness professionals is contained to when October hits, and it's heavy food and celebrations until the end of the year!
I think it's useful to practice handling holidays that are a little less pressure to participate in the way our families or the people we spend those holidays with are used to. I know that tradition is still big for these Spring holidays, but somehow they seem more inviting to try a different approach at this time, than disrupting Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions.
So, here is my advice: If you're looking after your health and see your journey as not only one of reaching a goal, but of truly living a healthy lifestyle, you'll see that there are opportunities to create traditions around things that are not food related!
In my opinion, that is the BEST approach to handling the holidays. It's not about what you do or don't eat, but it's about what the central focus is! I'm thinking of Easter baskets as an example--usually they're filled to the brim with processed, nutrient-less candies and chocolates. But, what if your Easter basket was a small gift item that you don't break the bank on, but it isn't food related.? I have a few ideas that I think you'll like, and are under $20 dollars!
These are all great ideas, and I am sure there are many more that I didn't list, but what I want you to consider is just the mindset shift. Instead of making the holiday centered around food, and the food stuffs--see if you can shift some of that focus to other ways of caring for yourself.
Often, we don't realize how emotionally tied we are to food and the traditions of food until we are actively changing our habits. Whether you're in pursuit of an aesthetic goal, a health goal, or performance goal--or somewhere in the middle of all 3, when you shift your habits you will feel discomfort, and that is normal! This shift will bring awareness to you, and that can be difficult to navigate, but I want to assure you that it doesn't last forever. Before you know it, you'll be making choices that are aligned with living a healthy lifestyle because it truly is your lifestyle!
I think the nuance my clients experience is: small shifts over time really do make a healthy lifestyle achievable, but that doesn't mean those small shifts aren't incredible difficult, especially in the beginning.
So, how do you handle the holidays? Participate in a way that feels aligned with your goals, and know that there will be some discomfort, but you're learning from that discomfort and when you have more knowledge, you can make different choices. Do your best to include some festivities that aren't food related! You'll be surprised at what new traditions come from your efforts.
If you've made shifts like this, I would love to hear about them! Leave your experiences below in the comments :)
If you could use a hand with your mindset and creating lasting behavior-change, shoot me a message! I would love to be your collaborative partner!
Happy Holiday Weekend, everyone!
Love these suggestions!