Tis the Season to Stress Less

By: Amy Tackett, MS, RDN

When you hear “Tis the Season,” is your initial thought of gathering around with family and friends, drinking hot chocolate and singing Christmas carols? The holiday season is a magical time of the year to relax and enjoy light shows, parties and holiday festivities. Or that’s how is often thought to be. Studies show that 92% of people feel their stress level increase or remain close to the same during the holiday season. This may come from the additional time needed for shopping, cooking, decorating and planning. Additionally, there is the build of anticipation for family gatherings (Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt anxious waiting to see if someone liked the gift you choose for them or not!). However, the top two stressors have shown to be finances and health. Here’s how to glide through the holiday season stress free.

Time management.
Some of us are on Santa’s level of expert time management (He gets all the way around the world how fast?) but a lot of us require more conscious effort and planning. Time management will be the foundation to ensure each task is checked off..and with some extra effort time to spare! Where do we need to have time management? We saw that a large amount of holiday stress comes from finances and health related causes. Insert budgeting and health plan!

Budgeting.
This may take a small amount of planning but is well worth it to stay ahead in finances during this time of the year. You want to always, always, always shop the deals for lower prices. Most know there are lowered prices on black Friday and cyber Monday but what about those daily deals? Grocery stores promote deals throughout the week through their weekly ads. Start by creating time to check those ads at your top local grocery stores. Another component to budget is being sure to select mindful portions. This will help with budget and wellness goals! It is common to see family gatherings create many and multiple side dishes to create variety and please everyone attending. This creates more stress to prepare additional food, provides excess leftovers that we may not need on the waste line and adds more to the expenses. Enjoy a main dish with healthy side choices incorporating fruits and vegetables!

Health.
Holiday treats become more abundant and always seem to be at arms reach. Remember your health and wellness goals during this time! Healthy eating, proper hydration, physical activity and sleep all play a role in overall health and wellness. Each will also help keep a healthy weight through the season and the year to follow. Join classes, groups or pick a partner for extra accountability in these areas. Aim for at least 150 minutes of exercise each week and 9-12 cups of drinking water each day. Adequate sleep is important during the holidays, as they require close attention to a larger amount of details at one time to remember dates, times, errands, chores and more. We often hear the recommendation to “get at least 8 hours of sleep each night;” however, everyone is different be sure to listen to your body for quality sleep to help with memory improvement and performance boosts!

Last, but certainly not least on our ride through less stress: take time for yourself. Disconnect in order to better connect. Remember to truly enjoy the present moments with your loved ones. In the end, this is what truly matters!