Taking Care of Our Bodies During the Holiday Season

Our bodies are powerful pursuers of equilibrium. When our body temperature is too high, it implements a process called vasodilation to dilate our blood vessels, decreasing our blood pressure and allowing heat to escape from the vessels. When our glucose levels are too high, the body releases insulin, a hormone naturally produced in the pancreas. When there are toxins in our blood, our body signals the urinary system to excrete the toxins. These are a few examples of how our bodies maintain homeostasis, or in simple terms, how our bodies self- regulate to retain a balanced state.

Maintaining a healthy, balanced state is not exclusively an internal affair. We, decision-making human beings, have the responsibility to maintain a healthy balance for our bodies as much as our brain or kidneys do. This is why high-performance athletes stretch and include rest days in their training schedules. Why long-distance runners eat a carb-heavy meal the night before a race. Why people who suffer from chronic inflammation focus on eating more naturally anti-inflammatory foods and why people sleep more after an indulgent night. It is instinctual for us to look after our bodies and to enact balancing behaviors. So why is this more difficult at some times more than others? If the holiday season poses more strain than normal on maintaining balance, you are not alone!

The holiday season is decorated with fabulous foods, fancy wines and more excuses to not exercise daily. These are all obstructions to typical regulatory behaviors, but they do not have to obstruct health and fitness progress. First and foremost, it is essential that you foster an elevated consciousness of heightened self-awareness during the holidays.

The first step of ensuring bodily harmony is to understand what behaviors you engage in disrupt your equilibrium. For example, Christmas and Hanukkah are widely celebrated holidays all across America, usually filled will countless, tasty dishes, desserts galore and a variety of refreshments. For many, these holidays are days of pure disruption to the healthy lifestyle choices prioritized throughout other times of the year, but it does not have to be this way!

Here are some tips on how to find bodily harmony while simultaneously unforgivingly feasting:

Drink tons of water! This is the easiest way to help our bodies regulate!
Get your body moving before you feast. Take a walk, go on a run or include your daily exercise practice in the morning before festivities begin! This will work to get both your mind and body on balance.
Make your plate with your brain, not your eyes! A full plate of food may be appealing to your visual senses, but not to our stomach. We know what our typical portion sizes look like- start there! It may not cover every inch of your plate, but just may be sufficient in size. Eat and return for more before you eat more and your stomach churns.
Listen to your body! She speaks to us all of the time, especially while indulging. She will tell you when you've eaten enough or when it is time to stop with the drinks. Hear her out and take her advice on when to take a break!
Prepare for a celebratory day of consumption! It is okay to indulge, just take a few extra measures to ensure that you are giving your body the necessary tools to balance itself. A great way to do this is to take nutritional supplements leading up to these events.
More than anything, enjoy yourself! Happy bodies are healthy bodies. You will find a natural state of equilibrium by simply enjoying yourself and not stressing about what you can and cannot eat during the holiday season.

Leverage Nutrition offers various supplementary products that give your body the extra boost that it needs during the holidays. The following Leverage Nutrition products are best suited for maintaining balance when your schedule and priorities are disrupted.