Top tips for surviving the festive season
Chiro.London Co-Founder Luke Brady knows how hectic the festive season can be and how easy it is to let good health habits slip. That's why his put together his five top tip for surviving the festive season in this essential guide...
Christmas seems to be arriving earlier and earlier these days, in fact we at Chiro.London had our end of year party last weekend!
Which leads me to some tips to for end of year as we all start bracing ourselves for the lead up to Christmas, when our priorities often start to shift a little.
A lot of us spend most of the year building good “habits” only to see them fall away in the amped up atmosphere of the festive season and feel the need to resort to New Year’s resolutions in January. So, to combat that, I’ve outlined some basic (and at times obvious) strategies that may help you navigate the perilous fun of December and see you start the new year with the health and momentum that you deserve!
1. Start the day with something green. A green smoothie will cover your basic nutritional needs (or at least get you well on the way) and help squeeze out less than ideal breakfast foods. Investing in a Bullet Blender (or similar) is a convenient way to eat on the go and even prepare the night before
2. High intensity exercise during the day before heading out for a heavy meal and drinking will shift your metabolism up a gear and may help your body process the rich food and booze more effectively. You don’t need to exercise for long (10 mins) but enough to empty your muscles of glycogen and get your body in a state to refuel them. This could include sprints, exercise bike, air-squats etc. Here are some examples.
3. Get organised! Feeling overwhelmed is very common as everyone gets “busy” so staying on top of things is even more important this time of year. Investing 30mins to sit down and plan your week/month can make a huge difference in how we enjoy our time celebrating with friends and family.
Make sure you have your exercise sessions scheduled through to January.
Pre-order your food deliveries
Christmas shopping done online with a service like Amazon Prime makes it easier to avoid the chaos in the high street
Book tickets for any travel you have
Confirm your Chiropractic care schedule
Plan which nights you’ll stay in and have an early night (and don’t stay up late watching Game of Thrones till midnight!!)
4. Stay hydrated. This is probably the cheapest, easiest and most often overlooked aspect of supporting your health. Basically, drink water, often.
5. Congratulate yourself on a (great) year. Reflect on the things you’re proud of and the things you’d like to improve. We’re often quick to be hard on ourselves and don’t easily acknowledge our achievements.I could probably summarise all this as “be kind to yourself and others”, which is sound advice all year round anyway…Don’t hesitate to let me know if I can be of any help or if you have any questions about successfully navigating yourself and your family through this beautiful time of the year.
Ps. To help sleep, add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a tablespoon of honey to your caffeine free (obviously) tea before bed.