Develop Healthy Habits
Being stressed out during the holidays may not be completely avoidable, but having healthy habits can definitely be useful. You don’t want to turn to drinking or eating a lot of sweets just because you are getting overwhelmed.
Follow a Healthy Diet
To start with, you need to eat as healthy as possible near the holidays. This is not only important to help reduce some of the holiday weight gain, but it can really help with your overalls stress level. Eating a healthy and well-balanced diet can actually help to naturally reduce yours tress. If you are eating unhealthy foods and consuming high amounts of caffeine, that can actually lead to anxiety, which may then cause your stress to worsen. Try to eat a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains. Be careful with having too many sweets around the holidays, though don’t completely deprive yourself of them.
Exercise Regularly
Exercise is a great thing to start doing when the holidays get closer. Exercising provides multiple benefits for you. First of all, it is going to help you relieve some of that stress and tension from general holiday stress. You are going to uplift your mood by releasing endorphins through the regular workouts. Exercising can also help you to get your mind off of certain things during the holidays that might be getting to you. Try to at least take a short walk every day, especially during your most stressful time of the day.
Reduce Your Alcohol Intake
Many people turn to alcohol during the holidays not just to enjoy their time with family and friends, but to hide some of that stress. However, while it might help in the short-term, the alcohol is actually making it worse. Since alcohol is a depressant and stimulant, it causes you to feel better for a short period of time, but then actually make you feel worse when you sober up. This then makes you want to drink more, which starts a very dangerous cycle.
See a Professional When Needed
Just because a lot of people deal with stress during the holidays, doesn’t mean it is okay to become completely miserable and overwhelmed by it. If other healthy lifestyle changes aren’t helping, it might be time to see a counselor or therapist. They can help you figure out what is causing the most stress during this time of year and help you to find ways to reduce it in a healthy way.
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