The holiday season is here and with that may bring long hours at work, busy family schedules and packed weekend plans. Can you relate? Here’s a few ideas to take care of yourself this season and pinpoint your needs, finding time for self-care.

Self-care means to make yourself a priority. It can be taking a short amount of time for yourself, even just 10-15 minutes. If you aren’t practicing this it is hard to then give in ways that your spouse, family, or job needs.  When we feel good about ourselves, it makes us feel worthy and valuable and naturally want to take care of ourselves.

Self-care may look like:

• Listening to your favorite music.
• Cooking a healthy meal with your family.
• Playing guitar or an instrument you enjoy.
• Going for a leisurely walk.
• Doing yoga or meditating.
• Reading a good book or magazine.
• Calling a friend.
• Watching a funny movie.

Self-care Tips for Weight Management during the Holidays

Practice saying “no”. This is a must! You can’t do it all. Here are a few polite ideas when faced with a task you don’t want to do or don’t have time for.

“My plate is full right now.” 

“I have too much on my plate right now, but good luck.”

“I have something pressing that day, how about next month?”

Another important piece of self care is identifying upcoming challenges.

Get out ahead of upcoming parties, holiday events, or projects that interfere with your normal routine. Ask for help to make the event less stressful and take up less time overall. This will free up the time necessary for meal planning, cooking, and physical activity.

Another great way to free up time and make your minutes count is to take a social media hiatus.  Get back those minutes of endless scrolling and put those towards self-care. Do something that leaves you feeling more energized, instead of anxious or down.

Enjoy the holidays! Put yourself first so that you can truly capture the joys that the holiday season has to offer. Chin up! You’ve got this!!

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