Managing Over-Indulgence this Holiday Period
As the year comes to a close, and everyone’s diary’s fill up with events, and to-do’s their routines of health and wellness often fall wayside. It’s all too common that the focus shifts to looking after yourself in the “new year”, and enjoying and letting loose now.
Waiting until January 1st to “become the you you’ve always wanted to be” is too late. The you you’ve always wanted to be exists here in this moment. Everyday is a fresh start, and excellence and skill don’t require attention, they require commitment. So, the key to managing over-indulgence this holiday period is doing small things every day that work towards your greater goal.
Did you hear me? I said, you need to do small things everyday, that work towards your goal.
So, what if you don’t have a goal? You haven’t thought about that yet?
A good place to start is in your body. Consider the physical, spiritual, and mental aspects of your health and wellness. Optimising how you feel in your body is the key to achieve great things.
Write a few things under each heading that help nourish this aspect of yourself. Here’s some ideas:
PHYSICAL:
Start the day with warm water and lemon: It contains a good dose of Vit C to boost your immune system. This means the first thing you consume in the morning isn’t a diuretic *cough- I’m looking at you coffee*, and helps support detox pathways in your body. This helps balance all the sweet foods and late nights.
Aim to drink 2L of water everday or a cup of water 8x a day: this is useful for a multitude of cellular functions in your body, to balance the dryness of the air at the moment in Sydney, and support hormonal health.
Sleep: Don’t be afraid to nap! Naps are our friend especially if you’ve had a late night out. If naps aren’t your thing, aim to go to bed 1-2 hours earlier than normal.
Movement: Perhaps my favourite as not only does this help your physical health by moving qi and blood in and around your body, but it can help your mental health by grounding you. If you’re a person who gets recharged from being outside, incorporate your favourite movement in nature to recharge you spiritual health too. See what I did there, a simple movement like walking outside in nature can recharge your physical, mental and spiritual health. Find a movement that works for you and meet yourself where you’re at. Aim for achievable amounts of movement daily, maybe it’s just 10mins today because you’re tired, or 30mins because you’ve got more time. Whatever it is, just put on your shoes and don’t overthink it!
MENTAL:
Meditation: Helps clear the clutter out of your mind, so you don’t take Aunty Sue’s judgement about why you don’t own a house to heart. The aim of meditation is not to stop your thoughts, it’s purely to come more aware of them. The basic packs of Head Space are a great place to start, and I recommend doing them over and over again.
Writing: At the end of each day sit down with yourself and ask “How was my day today? How did I feel? What did I do to make myself feel better?” and then rate your day out of ten. Write all the answers in a little A5 notebook. Since I’ve started doing this, I’ve become more aware of what I do in a day, and less judgemental of myself. It’s also helpful as the days when I take time to look after myself by following something from each three aspects (mental, physical, spiritual) I end up having better days. It’s a direct correlation.
SPIRITUAL:
I like to call this “soul work” what are those things you do that make your heart sing and your soul blossom? I have to explain it like this, because what you do to nourish your spiritual aspect is going to be different from mine. Some things that nourish my soul include
- Creating mood boards on pinterest to help visualise my goals
- Dance parties (can be solo, mini parties)
- Yoga flow at home with dim lighting and moody music
- Water colour painting
- Gardening
So there you have it, some ideas to help you work on yourself.
Ultimately, I recommend you visualising what you want your future life to look like, and then break it down into small steps you can take *every day* to get there. The consistency of the everyday part is important. For eg. If you want to get fit & strong, a 30 minute workout everyday is better than a 2 hour weekout each day of the weekend. If what you want your future too look like really resonates with you, it will be something that you need discipline to make time for.
I’ll leave you with a quote by Ryan Blair
If it’s important to you, you will find a way.
If not, you will find an excuse.