Glow Doctor® Holiday Tips

Prioritize sleep

It is easy to neglect your beauty rest in the rush of the holidays. This leaves you burned out, cranky and susceptible to illness, weight gain, and snapping at your beloved family members. On evenings without special events, plan on getting to bed at a reasonable time and turn off screens one hour prior to sliding into those flannel sheets. Keeping the bedroom cool and dark is highly recommended. 

Hydrate, Hydrate and Hydrate some more

With cooler temperatures we tend to feel less thirsty, so dehydration is a real risk. Headaches, brain fog, joint pain, dry skin, chapped lips and dark yellow urine may be signs that your cells are begging you for water. Using a water reminder phone app can be a fun way to trigger water breaks. I shoot for a tall glass of water right when I wake up, before each meal or snack (sometimes we feel hungry when we are actually thirsty) and before bed. Half your body weight in ounces is a good goal (I weigh 140lbs so ideally I’d drink 70oz per day minimum). 

Move your lazy self

Want to improve your mood, energy, sleep, metabolism, longevity, and sex drive? Go for a 30 minute walk each day. You’ll also increase blood and lymphatic flow, lower insulin levels and improve flexibility.  Break it up into three 10 minutes walks if that works better in your day. Park far from your destination. Offer to walk your neighbor’s dog. Don’t tell me you don’t have time. Just do it! Bonus points for taking those walks outside in the fresh air. 

Say No.

This one may take  some practice. Being spread too thin from Thanksgiving to New Years Day is not ok! Take a good look at the events of the season and choose to do the things that are really special and memorable for you and your loved ones. And say a firm no to the rest without a hint of guilt. You get to choose how you spend your precious energy and create the life you want to live. As my therapist says, “It is not your job to make everyone else happy.”

Choose your indulgences with intention

Please don’t let this time of year be an excuse to eat treats unchecked and drink cocktails with abandon, thinking you’ll “do better” in January. You will just feel like utter crap. Intentionally pick the specific events and meals that you really want to indulge in and do it with complete enjoyment. On the rest of the days make the best food choices you can and give your digestive system and liver a break. When you are eating a favorite food, remember that we derive pleasure from the first 3-5 bites. If you slow down and really focus on savoring those bites studies show that you’ll tune into satiety signals and eat smaller portions. Make sure your indulgence choices are truly worthy!