5 Tips for healthy holidays

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By Tamara Jacobi

Why not add a healthy twist to this year’s holidays? Though holiday parties, family time and the endless parade of irresistible goodies are all things that we love, they can often leave us feeling exhausted, bloated, and imbalanced.  Instead, wouldn’t it be nice to start 2013 feeling and looking great?   Why not think of the holidays as a time of rejuvenation and complete nourishment (beyond food!). Here are some simple tips to keep you healthy and happy over the holidays.

1)     Play! Pick your favorite outdoor activity and share it with your family and friends!  From snowball fights to building sandcastles, wherever you are there is fun to be had and memories to be made. Letting your inner child come out and play will reconnect you with the spirit of the holiday season as well as rejuvenate your mind and body.

2)     Make time for your workouts. Skipping your regular workouts isn’t going to do anyone any good.  Use your workouts as a way to you work off some of those holiday treats, keep your metabolism humming, cleanse, re-energize your body and keep your sanity! Exercise can be a great form of stress relief, as well as some much-needed time for you.   

3)     Maintain your nutritional foundation. Starting the day off on a healthy note can make all the difference.  A green smoothie, or a spinach omelet in the morning can help cover your nutritional bases for the day, as well as cleanse after last night’s party. If you nourish your body at the beginning of the day you’re less likely to crave everything in sight throughout the day. Yes, the holidays are a time to eat, drink and be merry, but what you chose to eat and drink is up to you.  Treating yourself to holiday goodies is important, but equally as important is to continue getting healthy foods into your diet.

 

4)     Soak in Vitamin “L”. The holidays offer nourishment well beyond food. One very a very special ingredient to focus on is Vitamin L (love!). Vitamin L nourishes your spirit in essential ways that food cannot.  This season, why not allow yourself to give and receive all the love you can.  Draw your awareness to the nourishment that Vitamin L provides!

 

5)     Don’t be afraid to say “no”.  For many, the holidays are a time for family and friends, and as much as we love them, family and friends can be very demanding.  Over-scheduling yourself will slingshot you into stress mode, but unfortunately many us struggle with that simple little word “no”. No is a great time to realize that you don’t have to be everything to everyone! Try saying “no, but thank you for asking” or “I’m not able to take that on right now.”

 

Ready to get your health back on track? Check out my free guide to start listening to your body.  Together we’ll have you feeling and looking great for 2013.

Tamara Jacobi, Certified Health Coach

Tamara Jacobi is a certified health and nutrition coach who received her training at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. She is the founder of Jungle Girl Health, www.junglegirlhealth.com, offering health coaching over the phone to individuals who are ready to feel and look their best. By using whole foods for healing and lifestyle balancing techniques, Tamara helps people understand how to heal and nourish their bodies completely.

Tamara leads an adventurous and active lifestyle, dividing her time between the Colorado Rocky Mountains and the Mexican Pacific coastline.  In Mexico, she is the owner and manager of the Tailwind jungle lodge, a certified sustainable jungle lodge and adventure tour company just north of Puerto Vallarta, www.tailwindjunglelodge.com. Tamara also guides adventure tours for the Tailwind jungle lodge including sea kayaking, stand up paddle boarding and hiking. In her free time she spends as much time as possible playing outside. She is a passionate skier, road biker, trail runner and stand up paddle boarder.

 

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