The Christmas holiday season is my favorite time of the year. I love everything about the season: family, food . . . football!
I intentionally thin my schedule down and operate on cruise control enjoying the slower pace of the holidays. The relaxation and time with family brings me a sense of happiness. This time helps me start the New Year with an extra burst of energy and excitement for things to come.
I know this unfortunately is not the case for everyone. Studies show people in the United States are more likely to feel stress increases rather than decreases during the holiday season.
If this describes how you feel this holiday season, keep reading! I have 8 tips on How to Have a Stress-free Holiday!
Last holiday season, I decided to get serious about my weight loss in November instead of waiting until January, when most set that common New Year's Resolution.
I jumped in and while most gain 5-7 pounds in holiday treats, I lost 11 pounds!
Loosing weight during this time, I felt helped me jump start my year and gave me a leg up on reaching my fitness goals and I ended up losing another 14 pounds after the New Year!
Here are a couple tips I followed to accomplish my holiday weight loss.
My wife recently went on a journey to lose a few pounds and one day she made this comment, “You husbands could help if you would complain when your wives are overweight. That would motivate us to get in better shape!”
I didn’t respond.
I thought to myself, “Yeah, right! Like that would help!”
I realized my wife didn’t fully understand my 4-point Surefire Plan to help her lose weight.
God designed our bodies with the physical and mental need to rest one day out of seven from work. The Bible refers to this day as the Sabbath day. Our bodies aren’t designed to go more than a week without rest. Sure, we may be able to maintain for a while, but eventually our bodies and minds will give out.
A study by the Harvard Business School provides scientific support for the Sabbath day. The study found that people are more productive with a day off than they are if they work every day (Harvard Business Review, 2009).
