The Importance of Maintaining Health Amid the Holidays

Amid the holiday season, many people people indulge in extra eating and alcohol consumption. Dr. Anne Marie Morse provides some gentle reminders for the health implications of over-indulgence during the holidays.

As we enter into these holiday seasons, there are many things that we are looking forward to. Definitely joyful times, making memories with family and friends and celebrating in whatever capacity that is relevant to you. However, this also frequently is a season of indulgence. And that indulgence can be in those extra fatty, sweet foods or alcohol, and so just want to make some gentle reminders in regards to what are the implications in regards to your overall health? And what are some things that you can do to exercise control today?

Remembering that sleep is relevant to your full 24 hours, and so even though you may be indulging in some of those fatty or sweet foods or maybe having a couple extra glasses of wine or eggnog or whatever it is that is your fancy, those things can have not only implications of how your belly is feeling that day or what the scale is saying the next day, but definitely how you’re sleeping that night. We recognize that when we’re looking at circadian timing. We already are seeing that the days are shortened and therefore many of us are feeling a little bit harder time of feeling the most wakeful during the day as well as feeling maybe a little bit extra sleepy or difficult to get out of bed.

Some things you want to keep in mind is when you’re drinking any type of alcohol, especially in excess, because it’s the holidays, because you’re seeing friends and family, it is going to have some potential implications on your quality of sleep. May influence the amount of time that takes you to fall asleep, may influence what your quality of sleep is, or even your total sleep duration. It also can have significant implications in regards to what your dreaming is like, even potentially creating a nice recipe for you to have some nightmare disorders. With that stated, be mindful of that. If you are starting to see some of the consequence of what you’re eating and drinking on your sleep quality, that you may want to utilize that as an opportunity to say, “Let me redirect my daytime behavior to help and be able to facilitate my nighttime sleep.”

Now, with that said, I am not trying to be the Debbie Downer or the Scrooge and say, “Do not indulge or do not get to partake,” but be mindful of your own personal lived journey of what is it that you are benefiting from? Is it more exciting for you to have that glass of champagne or is it better for you to have that best night’s sleep? There are some times that it’s a toss up. And you may say, “I know that I’m going to experience that consequence.” If it’s a one-off, not a big deal. If you find it’s a persistent pattern, definitely a time for you to say, “What is a different strategy that I may want to participate in?”

Now, the other piece that I want to make sure people are getting ready and prepared for is that at the end of the holiday season, after we’re indulging and after our waists are expanding is that it is New Year’s Eve. And many times people coming and going, “I need to start exercising, I need to start losing weight, I need to start…” You name your thing that you want to live as a better version of who you are. There’s no reason to wait until December 31st, January 1st for you to start making those resolutions. Those resolutions are for you, not for a date. If you’re identifying that those are going to be things that are aligned, don’t put yourself further behind by not starting to take that accountability steps now.

It is very important that if you find that you’re struggling with, whether it’s your eating habits, your exercise habits, your ability to do effective time management, first, give yourself the opportunity to say, “What does my normal, regular schedule and experience look like?” And start identifying some actionable places that you can have those small wins. Don’t start off thinking that everything you’re going to do is a home run. Whether it’s, “I know that I drink soda all the time; and that’s just drinking my calories. And I’m going to replace that with something that’s either a low calorie or no calorie,” that’s your small win. Start accumulating those now so that this way when you’re starting 2025, you truly are starting it off on the right foot.