Staying Healthy During the Festive Season
It’s summer, and the festive season is here! How can you stay healthy during this special time?
Our Naturopath Jeanette shares her top tips!
It’s summer, and the festive season is here!… Which for most people means endless social occasions, family gatherings, work functions, friendly catch-ups and celebrations. For some it means a good excuse to overindulge and for others it creates a challenge. Many feel overwhelmed at this time of year, so here are a few tips and tricks to help keep you healthy during this special time!
Start your day the healthy way
When you wake, have a glass of water with a big squeeze of lemon in it. It’s a great way to get the digestive juices going, is alkalizing to the body, cleansing to the liver, and gives us a vitamin C boost.
Enjoy a good breakfast
It is a busy season, a stressful time, and the demands on our body are big. So it’s important to ensure you eat properly, and starting the day with a nutritious meal will help get you through. Eggs with mushrooms, spinach and avocado makes a wonderful breakfast, but so is a smoothie with your choice of protein such as nuts, chia seeds or protein powder.
Keep hydrated
It’s easy to not drink enough water during the festive season, especially when you have a glass of bubbly in your hand … and that counts as a fluid, right? Wrong! Alcohol and caffeine are dehydrating to the body, so it is very important to ensure you are actually drinking plenty of water, especially as we are in for a hot dry summer. Aim to drink at least 2 litres of water per day, and – as a rule of thumb – for each glass of alcohol or coffee, drink an additional glass of water.
Keep up the veg
When faced with a lot of cheese platters and the temptation to overindulge, try and make healthy choices and opt for some of the nuts, veggie sticks, or fruit, often served alongside the cheese. Have a daily green smoothie packed full of greens, such as spinach, celery, cucumber and mint, to help keep your body nourished and your energy up.
Make good alcohol choices
If you are going to drink alcohol – and, let’s face it, there is a lot of it going around during the festive season! – try organic wines. Not only are they produced without pesticides, but they are often lower in preservatives, so your liver will thank you for it! Make sure you stay hydrated by drinking water in between each drink, as this will also help give your liver a rest for a while. Choose alcohol that can be mixed with mineral or soda water to reduce the sugar load we get from soft drink mixers.
Schedule some downtime
It is such a hectic time of year with Christmas preparations and social events, which can be demanding and stressful on our body and our mind, so make sure you take a break. Breathe! Have that downtime – go for a walk, sit in the sun, lie under a tree, meditate, read a book, do yoga, write in your journal, relax in a bath, swim in the ocean, or have a massage. Give yourself 30 minutes a day to just BE.
Finally, enjoy this festive season – be healthy, be safe, be kind, be grateful.
Jeanette is available for consultations at West Perth Osteopathy on Fridays,
and boasts years of experience in boosting wellness year-round.