Believe it or not, the holiday season is here! What is meant to be a time of celebration with family and friends can often leave many feeling stressed, overloaded, overweight, and overspent. To help you find balance this holiday season, we put together three simple ways to help you truly enjoy this special time with loved ones.

CHOOSE GRATEFULNESS OVER GUILT

Many people feel a lot of guilt over the holidays. Guilt for eating too much, guilt for overspending, guilt for being too busy… the list goes on. Shifting your mindset to gratefulness will empower you to make better choices and find joy in this season. Enjoy the meals you’ve been looking forward to! Be grateful your loved one took the time and effort to make their homemade gravy and your favorite sweet potato dish from childhood. Be grateful you have the funds to buy your family gifts. And if you don’t this year, try spending less money and make something homemade.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and too busy, look at your calendar and decide which events you need to step away from. Be grateful for the option to shop online instead of in stores to save time and money. You don’t have to feel guilty this holiday season. If you make a conscious effort to choose gratefulness, you’ll be in a much better place!

REMEMBER THE BIGGER PICTURE

Everything can feel overwhelming when you assume the worst: all the food and extra weight gain, running around trying to buy presents, all the parties, etc. Remember the bigger picture. Yes, the holidays cover a span of a few weeks, but each event only lasts a few hours at most. One of the biggest mistakes people make during the holidays is turning a one-day indulgence into a six-week feast or a quick shopping trip into a weekend shopping spree. If you take a step back and remember the bigger picture, the parties don’t actually last for weeks on end, and the shopping might only take a couple hours at most, especially if you do it all online.

MAKE SELF-CARE A PRIORITY WITH EXERCISE

The holidays are all about giving to others, but what are you doing for yourself? Self-care is important, especially during the busyness of the holiday season. If you’re already in a workout routine, make sure to keep it a priority to exercise a few times a week. If you haven’t started yet but would like to, there’s no reason to wait until the new year. Start now! One type of exercise we recommend is Martial Arts. Martial Arts is great for self-care not only because it helps improve physical fitness, but also mental and emotional health. Many people choose Taekwondo or Brazilian jiu-jitsu because it burns calories and helps lose weight, and it also improves concentration, focus, and self-confidence. Joining a BJJ gym or Taekwondo school now can reduce stress with the holidays and help keep you from gaining any unwanted weight.

We hope you enjoy the upcoming holiday season and implement these three simple ways to maintain balance in your life.