Handling the Holiday Stress

It is amazing how the holidays kind of sneak up on us every year. It is that time again, the calendar is starting to fill up with holiday activities and family gatherings. This is a beautiful and exciting time of year, but it can also be stressful. There is so much pressure that we put on ourselves to bake ALL the Christmas cookies, send out Christmas cards, purchase gifts for ALL the people in our lives, participate in ALL the festive happenings around the city and of course see every family member that you don’t see the rest of the year.

All of this stress that we put on ourselves can leave this joyful time of year, feeling somewhat depressing and just plain overwhelming. That is why I think there are some easy tips for you to remember through the next month to help you feel less stressed and consumed in all of the hustle/bustle of the holidays.

De-Stressing Your Holiday Season

• Prioritize your time. This is huge. All of us want to be able to do ALL this things this time of year, but that isn’t always realistic. Make a list of things that you want to do and then go through that list again and prioritize what the most important things are to do for this year. Maybe going to see Santa, doesn’t make the cut this year or maybe it is focusing on doing an activity with a close family member who will actually be in town on a specific day. If you aren’t able to do all the things that you would love to do this holiday, that is ok. Make sure you prioritize and make time for the really important things/memories.

• You can say “No.” Sometimes family obligations are intense this time of year. Lots of families want to get together and spend time together, but some times that isn’t feasible. Especially if you have work obligations or small children, it is hard to get time to spend with all those family members. You don’t have to feel like a terrible person, if you have to say “no.” That is alright and your family will understand. That is the beauty of family, is that they might be temporarily frustrated or disappointed, but they will always love you and there will be opportunities to see them and get to spend time with them in the future. Don’t put additional stress on yourself if you can’t make a family obligation fit into your schedule. Go easy on yourself and give yourself some grace and the power to say “no.”

• Make activities family affairs. If you do have a list of things you want to do this holiday season (decorate the house, make cookies, wrap gifts, volunteer somewhere, etc) make those activities family affairs. Include your children, your spouse, your extended family and do those activities together. I know sometimes cooking with children takes more time and is messier, but that way you are getting some quality time together while doing things that you would be trying to do on your own. So much of what we like to do over the holidays is centered around others, why not spend some of that time actually doing those activities with those people we care about.

• Make time for you. I know this is a crazy concept, but take some time each day for you. It can be something simple, like sitting in peace and quiet for 15-20 minutes on the sofa with no expectations for yourself. Give yourself some grace and love. It can be take an extra warm shower or getting a new mask to use and try it out afterwards. This time is important to help handle stress and give you a chance to reset.

Enjoy the holiday season and find ways to help you feel less stressed. It is a wonderful time of year, but stress can often make seen overwhelming and less fun. Hopefully some of these tips and tricks will help you enjoy the holiday festivities more!

Managing The Holiday Stress

This was a very timely topic for me this week. I wasn't able to sleep the other night, because I was thinking through everything that I needed to do. Working full time outside the home and then coming home, there is SO much to do. Having the time to get things done is tough. With limited time that means that often stress levels can go up and even more so around the holiday season, because we like to try to "special" things like bake cookies, put up special decorations or spend more time with family. All of these "special" things are great, but can increase your stress level. 

So what can you do to help manage your stress around the holiday season? Here are some helpful tips and tricks that you will hopefully find helpful. 

• Make a "To Do" List
  • This is such an important and simple things to help clear your mind and decrease worrying about all that you have to do. Simply taking the time to put your thoughts onto a piece of paper helps you take those concerns and set them aside. You don't have to worry about forget anything, because you wrote that "To Do" List down and you can come back to it when you have time. When you are able to come back to that list and start accomplishing things, check off what you have gotten done so you can experience that sense of accomplishment. 
• Prioritize Your Activities
  • This is easiest to do, after you put together your "To Do" List, take a look at what you need to accomplish and then rank them in order of what NEEDS to happen first. There are always something on that list that takes priority compared to other items. For example, I had to get leaves raked in my yard and the lawn mowed one last night by the weekend. That was a task I wasn't wanting to do, but NEEDED to do before the weekend. So I needed to take time and do that activity before I go out Christmas decorations. I would have much preferred decorating for Christmas, but in terms of priority levels, decorating fell below the leaf raking. 
• Embrace the Mess
  • In the craziness of life, things gets messy. Sometimes your house is a disaster and some times that needs to be ok. If you have made out your "To Do" List and you have other things that NEED to happen first, then do those things and bump cleaning down on the list. Or if you have the ability to get help with cleaning through someone coming into your house or even have your spouse help you. Sometimes delegating this task is helpful. For example, I have embraced the fact that when William is up and wake the house will have toys everywhere. Then at the end of night, we walk around pick up toys and that is when things get cleaned up. So embrace the craziness and then try not to stress too much about it. 
• People First
  • This is a life motto that will always make you happy. Put people in your life first. Relationships with people you work with, people in your family, and your friends are important and that will bring you more happiness then anything else. When you make time for people, that is always the right choice. Taking the time to go out of your way to see that friend (you only see a hand full of times a year), that friend who lost their mother, your aging grandparent or a friend who might be lonely .... that always is the most important thing. 

With the craziness of the holidays, remember that you are not perfect and things won't go perfectly and that is OK! The main things are taking time for those people you love and everything else will get done and it will be a fantastic end to the year! Now excuse me while I go tackle my "To Do" List - first up, Christmas decorations.

Gearing up to Move

Just wanted to update you all that my family and I are moving. We are staying in Indiana, but we will be moving into Indianapolis from the suburbs. It is exciting, but will be a slight headache over the next 2 weeks. Just wanted to let you know in case I ended up missing one of my Monday blog posts. 

With all this extra stress in life it definitely makes eating healthy and exercising tough. When life gets crazy it is so easy to use that as excuse to throw health out the window. It is way easier to stress eat and then grab fast, unhealthy foods compared with trying to reach for a healthier alternative. Honestly with moving, it is tough, because you are packing up your kitchen equipment and that means preparing food at home is challenging. Whether you are gearing up for a move and another stressful life change, work on handling that stress in a positive way.

Ways to stay healthy while stressed: 

1. Plan and stay organized. I think this is such a challenge in the midst of moving or a stressful time in life. These are the times when you feel like you don't have time for lists, but it turns out to be the time when you need them the most. Coming up with a goal for your time and list of things that you need to accomplish. I know I have put together a list of places to contact to let them know of our change of address. I have been working my way through that list the past couple of weeks and I have been adding to it when I think of another place I need to contact. I  am going to make a list of what is left to pack/organize in each room this week as well. For example, I am going to get all the pictures off the walls by the end of Tuesday. Then I am going to make sure that everything is pulled out from under the bed and packed by the end of the week. Set small goals for yourself and then stick with your list you have made. Being organized and having a plan will go a long way in decreasing your stress levels. 
2. What you eat matters. I am not sure if you have noticed this, but stress eating is a thing and then when you have over-indulged, you feel terrible. At least, I do. I literally feel like crap. Stress eating isn't going to help solve any of your problems. In fact, it might lead to more stress. So set yourself up for success, try to have healthy options around you and avoid the urge to purchase something you don't need. If you have to indulge. Try to have that food item in moderation. Really enjoy your small cup of ice cream and remind yourself when that craving comes up again that you already had that treat and you will have to wait. I have been using dried fruit as a trick for my sweet tooth. I have been trying to eat less sweet things and so I portion out a small baggie of dried fruit each day to take to work and that is my "sweet snack." 
3. Make time to rest/sleep. Your body needs to rest and needs to unwind. Taking time to sleep is so important in your overall health and well being. I know that with the stress of moving, when 10pm rolls around, stop what I am doing and get ready for bed. All of the boxes and stuff will be there in the morning and I can deal with it another day. This holds true with anything. Work on your task as hard as you can for a set period of time and then take a break, walk away and get some rest. This will help ensure that you are ready for the next day and you can continue to work hard tomorrow.

Hopefully these tips will help you as you head into whatever challenge you are facing. I will definitely be sharing some pictures and moving progress on Instagram so make sure to check that out. It can be exciting to face a new challenge and at same time difficult. Embrace the change and remember to stay organized, make smart food choices and take some to rest. 

Holidays, Moderation and Stress

Now that Halloween is over and we are into November, the holiday season has officially started.  This means lots of gatherings with friends and family and of course food! Celebrating holidays is very tightly associated with delicious meals and sweet treats. It can be challenging to always navigate this time of year in a healthy way. In addition, to the tasty food temptations, we normally are under additional stress to plan a Pinterest perfect party or give that one of a kind gift to our family members. Being able to balance the stress of the holiday season in a healthy way in terms of our minds and body is very important. Hopefully some of this information will help give you some peace of mind.

Tips for Handling Stress in a Healthy Way –

• Stick to a budget. We all love to spend money during the holidays from clothes, to gifts, to food and travel expenses. It can be an expensive time of year. Take some time now to plan what you can realistically afford in terms of gifts this year. Think about your travel expenses and make sure that you set aside some money for those additional costs. Having a plan will help ensure that you are successful in sticking with it. There are ways to give gifts to co-workers or family members that are more cost effective, like baking goodies to give out or putting together fun gift baskets with items from thrift shops or the dollar store. The goal is to determine your budget ahead of time and then stick with that goal. This will help decrease that stress about money and stretching yourself too thin financially.
• Plan ahead. This ties in to the previous point about putting together a budget. Figure out how you want to structure your time during the holiday season. What goals/traditions do you really want to do and then what things are not necessary to accomplish? If you are able to take time off, how are you planning on spending that vacation time? Have a plan in place so you know what to expect and that helps you feel less stressed. Have conversions with family ahead of the holidays to determine what days you will get together and mark that on your calendar. By looking at your schedule ahead of time, you can work hard to not over book yourself and still enjoy the holidays with lower amounts of added stress.
• Don’t abandon your health. This can be challenging during the holidays to not totally throw healthy habits out the window. Take time to work in some physical activity into your vacation time from work. Go on a walk with your family or play in the back yard with your grandkids. If you have a pet, take the dog for a walk or head to your local park. Even, shopping at the mall could be made into some extra physical activity by walking some extra laps in the mall or parking really far from the mall entrance. Try to break up your sitting intervals, even when you are traveling by stretching, getting up and moving around. In addition to exercise, try to set yourself up for success through what foods you are eating. Before you head to the holiday neighborhood party, grab a healthy snack: a cheese stick and an apple, so that you aren’t famished and don’t over indulge on the holiday cookies.  If you are going on a road trip to see family, pack a healthier lunch with you so that you aren’t tempted to stop at the drive through to grab a bite to eat. Taking a little bit of time to plan through how you can stay active and make healthy choices, will go a long way this holiday season in helping you feel better about yourself.
• Take a moment for you. More often than not, the holidays have us rushing around to see family and friends and not taking time for ourselves. There are some holiday traditions or fun things that you probably love about this time of year and making sure that you pause, and enjoy that moment is important. If you love to watch Christmas movies while drinking hot chocolate, plan one night where you sit on the couch and watch the whole movie, while sipping on your hot chocolate and you enjoy that little tradition. Finding time to take a moment will help you to feel grounded and enjoy the holiday season amongst all the hustle and bustle. 

This time of year is so special and being able to manage your health and stress levels in a healthy way will help to ensure that you finish 2016 off right and greet 2017 on a positive note. Hopefully some of these tips will be helpful as we gear up for the holiday festivities. Remember, stick to your budget, plan ahead, don’t abandon your health and take a moment for yourself over the next month and half. By utilizing some of these recommendations, you will feel better and enjoy this wonderful time of year!