Our regular efforts to keep ourselves healthy are often interrupted this time of year by scrumptious pies and a desire to not freeze outside. Therefore, it is especially important to keep up with your physical wellness during the holidays. Physical wellness encourages the balance of physical activity, nutrition, and mental well-being to keep your body in top condition. Overall, it promotes proper care of our bodies. But maintaining this can be difficult to do by yourself.
To improve your own well-being this holiday season, give the gift of wellness to a friend! Commit to boosting both of your nutrition, exercise habits, and peace of mind.
Head to the kitchen!
Firstly, invite your friend to eat healthily with you. Plan dinners together that are wholesome and nutritious. Go grocery shopping with them to select the best ingredients that won’t break your wallet or your diet. Look for seasonal produce like winter squash, which can be cooked in many ways. Take advantage of resources online at nutrition.gov, a USDA-sponsored website that offers credible information.
Once you have your groceries, treat each other with delicious and beneficial dishes. Either have a potluck, or create a meal together that is low in fat, added sugars, and sodium. The kitchen is the heart of any home, especially during the holidays. No place is better to make memories with a friend while on the path towards physical wellness.
Challenge each other to exercise!
After eating the tasty leftovers from last night’s dinner, join your friend in exercise. Develop a fitness plan including activities you can do inside for those snowy dreary days.
It may sound cheesy, but playing music and dancing until you can’t go anymore can get the blood flowing. Check your local fitness studio or gym for free or introductory rate classes and sessions. Perhaps you may even have access to community indoor pool. Also, consider dusting off the treadmill and elliptical machine that’s sitting in the basement. Use apps that track progress and your goals. Nobody needs to be an Olympic athlete, but committing to at least a half-hour of fast-paced workout everyday can do wonders for you and your friend’s physical wellness.
Feeling more adventurous? Challenge each other to a common goal, like training for a race! There are plenty of races going on in the winter, with many benefiting charitable causes.
Unwind and relax!
Finally, take a break from the exercise and spend quality time with your friend doing something peaceful. Stress is a contributor towards poor health. Relaxation is not just something that improves your mind. Constant stress takes a toll on your physical well-being by causing muscle aches, digestive complications, and high blood pressure.
If you or your friend feel overwhelmed by the pressures of gift-giving or family during the holidays, retreat and de-stress. Watching the holiday classics airing on TV could surely help.
Nothing’s more important than your health
Good health is priceless. The gift of wellness is more valuable than any material good. Achieving physical wellness is a difficult endeavour. But while working with a friend, you can help yourself. It is always easier to make a lifestyle change with strong support from a person you trust.
