How Christmas Can Make You Healthier

Christmas and New Year can be an amazing time for your health and wellness while at the same time being quite disastrous too. Find out what we mean by saying it can be both good and bad and how to tip the balance in your favour.

No Secrets

This is not a eureka moment. It is all simple, common-sense stuff. However, we often forget about some or all of these things, especially at this time of year. So the tips below could not only help you have more fun this year but also come out at the end of the festive period feeling better than you ever did. Give it a try!

Getting Social

Whether you are a fan of wearing slim fitting shirts and figure-hugging bottoms or just keen to get your boogie down on the dance floor, Christmas and New Year parties provide plenty of reasons for getting fitter.

First up, there's the office Christmas party. You might finally get to chat to that delicious looking marketing coordinator. You know, the one you have been silently checking out in the lift most mornings over the past year. If you do, surely you would want to look your best?

Or perhaps you are having a catch up with a group of old friends that you have not seen for years. Much better that welcome hugs are followed by a “wow you look just great!” instead of a remark about you looking exhausted or having gained weight.

But getting fitter is not only about the physical aspects of your body.

It is at least as important – if not even more so – that you attend this year’s festive events also feeling mentally fit and happy.

Getting Fatter Is Not A Crime

Despite the multitude of reasons to get fitter for Christmas or New Year, many of us find ourselves getting fatter not fitter. A seemingly never-ending supply of mince pies on offer everywhere you go clearly does little to help.

But before you begin to frown whilst remembering your own performance in this respect last year, take a moment to consider that a little further.

Even if you do put on a bit of extra weight this Christmas, that may not necessarily be such a bad thing.

Weigh up (excuse the pun) the health impact of a few extra pounds against the wonderful positive effect that socialising in a carefree manner during the festive period will have had on your mental health.

We would bet that many people found themselves a little fatter at the end of Christmas and New Year but also a lot happier. Taking into account that your overall wellness is a combination of both your physical and mental health, you may be surprised to learn that there is every chance you could have ended last year holistically better off.

Harmony at Hogmanay

Give yourself the best chance of improving your overall health this year, whilst still having a great time at all the various events, by devising an easy to follow feel-good plan.

Feel Good Plan

Try some or all of the following ideas to help you arrive at this year’s festivities in tip-top shape, enjoy them to the full and still start the new year feeling even better:
 

• Eat and drink even more healthily than you usually do for at least 48 hours before each party.
  
  Think of it as an ‘earning period’ for the next event. Ps. if you find yourself not having at least 48 hours between parties, then maybe that is something in itself that needs thinking about!
   

• If you are getting wound up in the detail of organising or attending numerous bashes, practice a few moments of mindfulness every day.
  
  Doing this can help calm your nerves and also make you more effective at socialising during parties.
   

• Get at least one full-body massage a week between now and the end of the new year celebrations.
  
  This gives your mind and body an opportunity to rebalance and focus on health and wellness at least once a week during what is usually a non-stop period of hectic temptation. Therapeutic massages can help calm nerves during what is often a stressful period as well as help you to recover from common after-party complaints such as a hangover or even regretful moments of unusual behaviour. An empathetic therapist can help heal both physical and mental pains!
   

• Be charitable.
  
  It is the season of giving after all but importantly, doing so will make you feel good. Remember also that the festive period can be the loneliest time for some. Charity comes in many forms from donating money to some of London’s most needy to simply being friendly and dedicating some time to those who may not have many or even any party invitations.
   

Finally, if you feel unhappy about weight gain at the end of the next holiday season you could try out a New Year detox programme and check out how massage can help you lose weight.