Holiday Hustle 2020

03 Dec Holiday Hustle 2020

Welcome to the Holiday Hustle of 2020! We are excited that you are making your fitness and wellness a priority by finishing the year with us. While the holidays may look a little different this year, one thing we know is that December still has thirty-one days and each day that you choose to move your body, you will grow stronger mentally and physically. In order to make this a reality, take a moment to officially schedule in your daily workouts. We are all more likely to follow through with plans if we designate the time and place to make it happen.

Another way to follow through with our healthiest intentions is planning. While it’s great to allow for flexibility and spontaneity, the majority of our lives are lived in the mundane of the day-in-day-out routines and rhythms that each of us intentionally (or unintentionally) create for ourselves. Interestingly, I have heard from several people that keeping a food journal serves as a beneficial practice because they use it for planning, but not just for calorie counting or recording their intake after the fact. Actually, at the beginning of a new week or the night before a new day, they decide what they are going to eat for meals and snacks daily. This is what I love about food journals. They have the ability to be personalized to help you reach your personal goals and don’t have to be limited to counting and should never be used for shaming.

The practice of writing down what you plan to eat can help you have the foods that you want to eat on hand or make a grocery list to be prepared for upcoming meals and snacks. It also gives you insight about your eating habits when you deviate from what you set out to eat. 

• Did a stressful event cause you to reach for foods that felt good in the moment, but weren’t on your mind when you were planning? 
• Was it worth staying up late then feeling sluggish the next morning and causing you to skip the nutritious breakfast you were planning…and how did you feel the rest of the day? 
• Reflect on the BLTs (bites, licks, and tastes) while cooking at home, at work, shopping, at gatherings, etc. Sampling, taste testing, snacking, all have their places, but every once and while they might become so normal to us we don’t realize how they’re adding up daily.

These are only three of the variety of questions a food journal can prompt you to ask yourself for an honest evaluation of your energy levels, mental clarity, sleep quality, acid reflux episodes, daily mood, etc., which can all be affected by your daily eating habits. Additionally, if you plan and eat meals that you enjoyed and nourished your body, you have a record of what worked well or what you might want to switch up next time. This one is huge because if you’re like me, I can barely remember what I ate the day before. And lastly, if you have a friend or family member with similar healthy eating goals (especially during the holidays or busy season of life), you can swap meals and snack ideas to add nourishment and variety into both of your lives without adding the time it takes to come up with new ideas.

So, over the course of our Holiday Hustle session together, we challenge you to start a food journal. Make it your own and decide the most beneficial way to use it. If you’re not sure, try out a few versions to find what suits you best…and then tell us about it!

by Victoria Emmitt RD