Post Holiday Mental Health
Welcome to that weird limbo week that is December 26th to the 30th!
For a lot of us, the Holidays are a time spent with loved ones; and more often than not revolve around food. And for a good amount of people, the emphasis on the meals of these days can cause stress - a topic that’s important to me, and that I’ve already written about. Hopefully, this wasn’t the case for you, and you were able to fully enjoy yourself and all of the treats that the holidays offer! But down to the topic for which I want to focus on today:
The Post-Holiday & New Year Mental Trap
I used to absolutely freak out after Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years because I would overindulge (it’s the holidays- you’re going to more than likely eat and drink more than usual and that is perfectly okay!). I’d panic and start seriously restricting my food intake to ‘make up’ for the fact that I wasn’t ‘perfect’ and had more than one sugar cookie. This of course, led to me overeating any leftovers that were still available to me and the whole binge/restrict cycle would rear its’ ugly head.
Then, I’d make a New Year’s Resolution to be perfect. To never go above x amount of calories, and to work out for a ridiculous amount of time every day, no exceptions. This, of course, wasn’t realistic, and after about a week something would happen and I viewed myself as a failure. How could the year be a good one if I’d already failed during the first month?!
That, my friends, is just one instance of the Post Holiday Mental Trap. Any person’s could be similar or different. And for me in particular, I spent years falling into this plot every single holiday season.
I’m here to give you some very important news: it doesn’t have to be this way!
Instead, let’s focus on our own Mental Health this post holiday season.
You’re not supposed to be perfect. You’re supposed to be you. And human. And to enjoy the one life you have. No one can be ‘on’ all of the time. You don’t have to punish yourself for going for seconds or skipping your workout. Not during the holidays, and not at any other time of the year! This New Year, make a resolution (if you’re into that sort of thing) to be kinder to yourself. To allow yourself to live your wonderful life. Yes, if you want to lose weight or do x amount of workouts per week - go for it! But give yourself the leeway to make your life a healthy balance of taking care of yourself and body, and taking care of your spirit.
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and here’s to a happy new year!
xoxo, Sarah
