Ep 137: 5 Ways to Stay Healthy During the Holidays Even When You’re Busy

The holidays are full — full schedules, full plates, full emotions… and often, a very empty tank. If you want to enjoy the season without sacrificing your health, your energy, or your sanity, this short episode is for you.

Today I’m sharing 5 simple, doable tips to help you stay grounded and healthy during the holiday season, even if life is hectic, routines are out the window, and you feel like you barely have time to breathe.

These aren’t tips about perfection, strict rules, or adding more to your plate. They’re about staying connected to yourself, feeling strong, and taking care of your body, mind, and spirit in small ways that truly make a difference.

📝 The 5 Tips We Cover

1. Move your body in ways that fit your season
   (Think: 10-minute walks, strength circuits, quick mobility — no all-or-nothing allowed.)
2. Prioritize presence over perfection
   (Check in with yourself instead of chasing unrealistic expectations.)
3. Keep nourishment simple
   (Anchor meals in protein, plants, and hydration without going into restriction mode.)
4. Build micro-moments of grounding
   (Breathwork, a pause before meals, stepping outside for one minute of fresh air.)
5. Choose one thing to stay consistent with
   (A simple, steady anchor creates huge ripple effects during chaotic seasons.)

💬 This episode is especially helpful if…

• You always lose momentum on your health and wellness during the holidays
• You want to feel strong and grounded without rigid rules
• You’re tired, overwhelmed, or feeling pulled in too many directions
• You want a plan that supports your future self in January
• You want your holidays to feel intentional, nourishing, and balanced

🔗 Links Mentioned

• Wellness Wakeup Session (Black Friday sale is on NOW!)
• Holiday Grounding Checklist (free!)

⭐️ Takeaway

You don’t need a perfect routine this holiday season — you just need a realistic one that supports your energy and makes you feel like you. Small things count, especially right now.

Transcript

0:51

Hello friends, and welcome back to Real, Brave, Unstoppable for episode number 137. This is a short little episode I'm bringing you today. If you are part of my online community and get my periodic email sharing valuable content, you might've seen an email with five tips for holiday sanity. And I'm just gonna go over those five tips here in advance of the big weekend so you can have something really helpful that will support you. So just a little permission slip to take care of yourselves this weekend, in the middle of everything, and sort of help you get intentional about how you wanna show up in December for yourself. Thanksgiving weekend, black Friday, all of the things, can be a really beautiful time. That that holiday spirit starts to really come out and it can also get really busy and noisy and just full of a lot of expectations. So I'm gonna talk about five things that you can really work on implementing to help yourself stay grounded and present through this time of the year. So the first thing is, tip number one is to choose a daily non-negotiable. So just pick one thing that helps you feel good every day. And it doesn't mean that you can't do other things, but this is just one thing. It can be the same thing every day, or it can be different day to day, depending on what you need. So it can be a walk, it can be extra water, it can be stretching, it can be five deep breaths. It can be connecting with a friend. One simple and doable grounding habit. Is way better than 10 unrealistic ones that will never happen. So keep it simple. Tip number two is eat with intention, not rules. So when you're having your Thanksgiving dinner or there's a lot of food around, snacks around with your meal, build your plate with some protein, a vegetable, some fiber, and something you love. It's not about restricting. It's about feeling your best while enjoying your holiday, and you can certainly indulge in whatever you want. It's just, if you've ever eaten Thanksgiving dinner and felt like somebody needs to roll you home, that's not a good feeling. Nobody wants to feel that way, so slow down, eat mindfully. Enjoy what you're eating. Chew your food, set down your fork between bites. Connect with people over this beautiful day. We don't need to eat things just because they're there. If you really tune in to see if, do I really want this? Am I really gonna enjoy this? That's a game changer. Okay, so tip number three is move your body in a way that feels good. This is not punishment for indulging. It is not a way to erase calories. It's not a chore. It's something that supports your energy. Maybe it's a cozy walk, doing some yoga or dancing in the kitchen, or maybe it is your favorite workout, but do something that feels really good to you and it all counts, even walks. This is also a good time to consider what's my energy level today? And I think keeping movement in our routine during the holidays, it's about sustaining the habit. It's about protecting the habit, not just letting it all go. So if you normally exercise, for example, or do your movement at, you know, seven or eight in the morning, keep doing that, but you don't have to do it as long or as intensely. If you just protect the habit, you won't lose that momentum. So even if you fall off track a little bit, you won't get to January and be like, oh my God, I haven't worked out in six weeks. That's not a good feeling either. So if you can, like I said, just protect the habit. Tip number four is to protect a pocket of alone time. This time of the year can be so busy, especially if we have younger kids that just require a lot of, maybe it's transportation to events or, you know, it's, uh, if you have really little kids and it's just, you know, they're excited too. Take some time for yourself, even if you don't have kids, protect that pocket of time. Even if it's five minutes outside, I think fresh air is so good for this. It just really kind of has a tendency to like kind of reset... at least for me. Or a quick bathroom reset can keep you from slipping into overwhelm. Even if you have to go in your closet. Space is a gift that you can give yourself this time of year. Or anytime really. And tip number five is centered around food. But choose your"hell yes" foods. Indulge on purpose. Stay mindful. Skip the stuff that's just there. If it's not a hell yeah, just try passing it by and savor what you really love. And one little trick that I think can work here too, is if you're noticing you're really craving something that's out on the table, like go for it. But one thing that you can try is to drink some water. If you drink a little water, sometimes you forget about the craving or you, you don't really need it'cause you're just thirsty. And also if we stay mindful of, you know, choosing our"Hell yes" foods, we don't just keep mindlessly eating. I think that stuff tends to really snowball. At least I know for myself if I am being mindless about what I'm eating, it just kind of tends to perpetuate itself. Whereas if I can slow down and really be present and like kind of savor what I'm eating and, and make good choices or choices that I do want, it just feels a lot better. And it does really taste a lot better when it's intentional. When you're like, yeah, I'm gonna have this and I'm gonna enjoy it. There's no guilt around this. I'm choosing it, making a choice. It's a little more empowering feeling. Rather than letting everything pull you along like you're deciding. It feels good. So those are my five tips. As a recap: number one was choose a daily non-negotiable, stick with it. Second, eat with intention, not rules. The third was move your body in a way that feels good. Number four, protect a pocket of alone time. And five, choose your"hell yeah foods". So for the rest of this week, if things are feeling a little chaotic or full, remember: your January self starts with the choices you make right now- tiny, intentional, doable choices. And your January self will thank you, your November self and December self for making these choices now. Because you won't have as much getting back on track to do so. I hope these tips help you breathe a little deeper and easier this weekend. I am rooting for you as always. And I'm so grateful to have you in my community. Before I go, I wanna share something pretty awesome i'm offering you from now until December 1st. If the holidays tend to knock you off your routines or you feel like you go into December with the best intentions and come out the other side, exhausted, disconnected, and promising yourself that January will be different. I created something that can actually help with that. And it's called the Wellness Wake Up session. It's a single powerful session where we get clear on what's really keeping you stuck, whether that's your habits, your mindset, your energy, or just the busyness of life. And we create a simple personalized plan or roadmap that actually fits your real world. So you can book it now and start in January if you want a clean slate and a strong reset for the new year, or, if you want support, now so you can stay grounded and connected through the holidays instead of sliding into survival mode, we can start sooner. Either way you'll walk away with clarity direction and the exact steps to get your spark back. And like I said, I'm running a black friday sale on the wellness wake up this year. So if you've been thinking about working with me or you want a supportive plan for the holidays or a strong start to January, this is literally the best time to grab it. You can grab your wellness wake up session at the link in the show notes. Alright, my friends, thank you again for being here today. I wish you a wonderful thanksgiving weekend. Happy shopping if you're into that kind of thing. Happy Christmas tree putting up if you do that this weekend as well. And i'm so grateful for you and I will be back soon with another episode of Real, brave and Unstoppable. See you soon.