6 tips for a healthy holiday season from MyMichigan Health

Between the extra sweets, family get-togethers, and additional stress, the holidays can be a difficult time to stay healthy. To help, Jennifer Felten, R.N., B.S.N, project manager of lifestyle medicine, MyMichigan Health, has six tips to help you stay healthy this holiday season.

While tailored for the holidays, these six holiday health tips are beneficial to keep in mind year-round. In fact, they are derived from a new program MyMichigan Health is offering called Pivio. This is a sustainable, healthy lifestyle medicine program. The program consists of 12 weeks rooted in behavior
change techniques that will help participants learn and set lifelong healthy habits. 

“Everyone is a good candidate for lifestyle medicine,” says Felten. “The majority of adults in the United States have at least one lifestyle factor that can be improved that will ultimately benefit their overall health or assist in managing a chronic disease or condition. During the Pivio program, participants will learn healthy, lasting habits that will bring about long-term, positive health results.”

Lifestyle medicine is built on six pillars, which are: regular physical activity; adequate sleep and rest; a predominantly whole food, plant-based diet; avoidance of risky substances; meaningful social connection; and stress management. 

The Pivio program—currently offered to patients with cardiovascular disease—uses these pillars to guide participants toward a sustainable plan of action that can be applied to daily life. Here’s how Felten has used those pillars to create six tips for staying healthy this holiday season:

“Exercise is not only good for physical health, but it's also good for mental health,” says Felten. “Exercise is not only good for physical health, but it's also good for mental health,” says Felten. “It can be a great way to deal with stress during the holidays. Exercise can boost our mood and help reduce anxiety and depression.”

Felten adds that getting “green exercise,” such as walking or running outside can be particularly beneficial. 

As Mental Health America states, one of the benefits of exercising outside—even during the winter – is that spending time in the sunlight triggers the release of serotonin and vitamin D, which are linked to boosting mood and reducing stress. Additionally, light exposure can impact the body’s sleep-wake cycle, and consistent sleep is important for both physical and mental health.

“I suggest starting a new family tradition by going out and taking a walk or maybe going outside and playing a friendly game of football either before or after your big holiday meal,” says Felten.
 
“We're all really tempted to stay up late for special occasions, or maybe it's that we're burning a little midnight oil to get those extra things done—decorating, making Christmas cards - but we should still aim to get 7-8 hours of sleep,” says Felten.

The holidays tend to be filled with things that impact quality of sleep—from stress to alcohol and caffeine consumption to staying up late playing games with family. However, ensuring you get quality sleep is important for several reasons.

“It helps alleviate stress. It helps our body recover from illness. It also helps us keep a healthy weight,” she says.

You can still enjoy connecting over food during the holidays; however, Felten says there are some ways to prevent eating too many foods that aren’t nutritious. One of the ways people connect during the holidays is over food—whether that means going out to a restaurant, having a special meal at home, or doing holiday baking. You can still enjoy connecting over food during the holidays; however, Felten says there are some ways to prevent eating too many foods that aren’t nutritious.

“If you're planning to go out to a restaurant, take a look at the restaurant website head of time and make a plan for what you're going to eat,” Felten says. “If you make a plan beforehand, you're less likely to give into temptation when you're actually at the restaurant.”

If your family or friends are eating a meal at home, she recommends filling your plate with more nutritious items such as fruits and vegetables first then adding the higher-calorie foods and desserts. You may even try substituting some traditional dishes for healthier versions at your holiday meal.

“Instead of making green bean casserole, try making a healthier dish such as green bean almondine,” Felten says. “Make the vegetable a little healthier than what you normally do, but also include some additional vegetables like a squash or carrots so you have plenty of healthy options.”

Another healthy holiday option may be healthier versions of Christmas cookies, such as the cookies Felten creates in this video.

“The recommended daily limit for men is two drinks or less per day, and for women it's one drink or less per day,” says Felten. Between family get-togethers, parties with friends, and perhaps extra days off work, it can be easy to drink in excess during the holiday season. In fact, December is Impaired Driving Prevention Month because it contains two of the most dangerous holidays when it comes to drunk driving – Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

“The recommended daily limit for men is two drinks or less per day, and for women it's one drink or less per day,” says Felten. “That doesn't mean you can save up all week and drink—what would be for men—14 drinks all at once.”

Felten adds that alcoholic beverages contain quite a few calories, which can contribute to weight gain during the holidays as well. 

While drinking alcohol is a cornerstone of many social gatherings during the holidays, there are many non-alcoholic options nowadays to choose from which can provide some of the same feelings of socialization. 

For those who do drink alcoholic beverages during the holidays – and throughout the year – Felten reminds them to be safe while doing so.

“Choose a designated driver and be willing to give up those car keys if you've had a few too many.”

For many, the holidays mean spending time with friends and family. However, in the swirl of the holiday “to-do” list, ensuring those relationships take precedence can be a challenge. For many, the holidays mean spending time with friends and family. However, in the swirl of the holiday “to-do” list, ensuring those relationships take precedence can be a challenge.

“It's important to really take the time to work on those relationships and focus on our family and our friends,” says Felten. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that people who are socially connected are better able to cope with difficult times, stress, anxiety, and depression. Those are all things that can really come up during the holidays.”

She says another great way to work on staying connected is to volunteer in your community – either as an individual or as a family. 
 
The Christmas season is often heralded by Hallmark movies with perfect trees, pristinely-decorated homes, and picture-worthy family activities; however, Felten says it’s important to remember that Hallmark movies aren’t real, so it’s ok—and even expected—if your holiday doesn’t look like a Hallmark movie. Sometimes, this may mean saying “no” to activities that add too much stress to your life—whether that’s putting lights on the house, doing Elf on the Shelf, or sending out Christmas cards.

“We don't need to be so active that it's causing lots of extra stress. Choose those activities that are especially meaningful for you,” says Felten.

While staying healthy this holiday season is important, don’t spend so much time thinking about how many calories are on your plate or whether you spent enough time exercising that you create additional stress for yourself.

“Remember that the holidays are a time to just enjoy gathering with those you love,” says Felten. “Laugh, create special memories, enjoy your favorite foods—just be mindful of what you're eating and make time for the healthy things that you're already doing.”