Guess what?! The holidays have arrived. I am going to let you in on my secrets for not completely losing control of you sh*t.

1. Stay active. Go to the gym, go for a walk or run, snow shoe, ski, yoga class, whatever, just please continue to move your body regularly. This will keep your mood up, it will help you to expend some of the extra energy (calories) you are taking in, and it will help you to detoxify your systems.
2. Drink enough to have fun but not enough to be sloppy. Unless you don’t drink alcohol at all you will be faced with the choice of having drinks at parties. You need to establish a boundary to that you are not annihilating yourself all the time. Maybe it’s a 2-drink limit and “wine only”. Or maybe you know that you need to eat a full meal and have some water BEFORE you have an adult beverage. Whatever it is, find that boundary you are comfortable with and stick to it. You will feel much better and still be able to have fun at parties. The best part is that you will have mild hangovers, if any.
3. Honor your food sensitivities. If you have any food sensitives, aka things that “mess you up” in some way, avoid them. For example, I cannot do gluten. I break out in weird skin rashes and eczema, mostly near my face and also feel very inflamed in my joints. Maybe it’s dairy or refines sugar for you, but if you know that weird things happen when you eat it, just don’t! Indulge in other things or find a way to make your favorites gluten-free, or refined- sugar-free, etc. It’s just not worth feeling crappy. Also, overdoing it with foods that don’t agree with you will affect your ability to move your body and/or make it to the gym (Tip #1).

Please comment if you have tips of your own, I’d love to read about them!