Your Holiday Wellness Toolkit: Simple Strategies to Feel Amazing This Season
The holiday season is here—cue the cozy vibes, delicious food, and endless gatherings! While it’s such a special time, it can also feel like a whirlwind, especially when it comes to staying consistent with your health goals. But here’s the good news: you can absolutely enjoy the holidays AND feel great in your body with a few simple, actionable strategies.
This isn’t about restriction or saying no to holiday fun
—it’s about making small, intentional choices that leave you feeling energized, balanced, and confident.
1. Start Your Day with Breakfast
(Yes, It’s THAT Important)
Skipping breakfast might seem like a way to “save calories” for later, but it can actually backfire. Eating a balanced breakfast helps regulate your hunger hormones—ghrelin (which tells you you’re hungry) and leptin (which signals fullness). When these hormones are out of balance, it’s easier to overeat later in the day, especially sugary snacks.
Starting your day with a protein-packed breakfast helps curb cravings, stabilizes energy levels, and makes navigating holiday treats easier and more intentional.
Actionable Tip:
Aim for 30g of protein in the morning.
Here’s a few ideas:
-Eggs & chicken sausage with avocado toast
-Greek yogurt with berries and hemp seeds
-Protein smoothie
-Protein oats
2. Prioritize Protein and Fiber at Every Meal
Protein and fiber are your secret weapons during the holidays. Protein helps keep you full and revs up your metabolism, while fiber improves digestion and slows how quickly your body absorbs carbs, keeping you satisfied longer. Together, they’re a powerhouse for helping you stay in control and energized, even with tempting treats around.
Protein options to include:
Lean meats like turkey, chicken, pork tenderloin, or lean beef
Fish like salmon, cod, or tuna
Eggs or egg whites
Dairy options like Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or mozzarella cheese
Plant-based proteins like tofu, tempeh, lentils, or edamame
Legumes like black beans, kidney beans, or chickpeas
Fiber-rich foods to try:
Roasted veggies like Brussels sprouts, green beans, broccoli, or cauliflower
Fresh greens like kale, spinach, or arugula
Whole grains like quinoa, farro, barley, or brown rice
Root vegetables like sweet potatoes, beets, or carrots
Fruits like apples, pears, oranges, or berries
Legumes like lentils or split peas
Actionable Tip:
Build each meal with a balance of protein and fiber. For example, pair roasted salmon with a side of Brussels sprouts and quinoa, or try turkey and black bean chili with a side of roasted sweet potatoes.
3. Enjoy the Treats with the 80/20 Rule
Let’s be real—holiday cookies, pies, and festive drinks are part of the joy of this season. The key is enjoying them intentionally without going overboard. The 80/20 rule is perfect for this: nourish your body with whole, nutrient-dense foods 80% of the time, and leave room to savor the fun stuff the other 20%.
Actionable Tip:
Before heading to a holiday gathering, eat a balanced meal so you’re not overly hungry. Then, choose one or two treats you truly love and enjoy them mindfully.
4. Keep Moving (Even When It’s Cold)
Dark winter mornings and busy schedules can make staying active feel like more effort, but movement is SO helpful for managing stress, improving digestion, and supporting your energy balance ( aka not adding excess lbs over the holiday season.) You don’t need long, intense cardio workouts to stay at a healthy weight over the holidays—consistent daily movement adds up!
Actionable Tip:
Set a daily step goal (6,000–10,000 steps is a great range).
Take a brisk walk after meals or around your neighborhood to see the holiday lights.
Get creative indoors—walk around your home while talking on the phone.
Look for opportunities to squeeze more movement out of your day to day: park farther away, take the stairs.
“Remember, consistency beats perfection. Your body doesn’t need you to be perfect; it just needs you to show up. Even small steps can lead to big changes!”
5. Sleep and Stress: Your Secret Weapons
Let’s talk about cortisol, your body’s stress hormone. When cortisol is high, it can make you feel hungrier (especially for sugary foods). Prioritizing sleep and finding ways to manage stress can help keep those cravings in check and leave you feeling more balanced.
Actionable Tip:
Aim for 7–8 hours of sleep each night, even during busy weeks.
Alcohol might help you fall asleep, but it also has the potential to disrupt your sleep cycle and lower the quality of your rest- this negatively impacts your hunger hormones the following day, leaving you more susceptible to misaligned hunger ques and increased sugar cravings. Indulge wisely :)
6. Exercise: Start Small, Build Big with Progressive Overload
The holidays are busy, but that doesn’t mean your workouts need to take a back seat. You don’t need long, intense sessions to make progress—short, focused strength workouts (30 minutes!) are incredibly effective, especially when you utilize progressive overload principles.
Progressive overload is about gradually challenging your muscles to do more over time, whether that’s lifting heavier weights, adding more reps, or increasing time under tension (slowing down your movements).
Even with limited time or just bodyweight exercises, you can build strength, maintain consistency, and set yourself up for success in the New Year.
Try this for your strength sessions:
Stick to the basics: Focus on compound movements like squats, deadlifts, push-ups, and rows. These work multiple muscle groups and maximize your time.
Progress gradually: If you’re at home, start with bodyweight exercises and add resistance bands or dumbbells as you go. For example, progress from bodyweight squats to holding a heavy object (like a jug of water) or a dumbbell.
Use tempo training: Slow down your movements (like a 3-second count lowering into a squat) to increase muscle engagement without needing heavier weights.
Prioritize quality: Two well-executed strength workouts a week will get you much further than cramming in random sessions.
Why start now?
Even if you begin with just two short workouts a week, you’ll feel stronger, more energized, and more confident by the time the New Year rolls around. Don’t wait to feel stronger—start now, and imagine how far along you’ll be come January.
The holidays don’t have to feel like an all-or-nothing battle with your health. With these simple, actionable strategies, you can enjoy every part of the season while prioritizing how you want to feel.
Wishing you a happy, healthy holiday season!
– Lucy
