Holiday Stress Busters

I work for an organization that teaches positive behavior management to families. One of the ways we do this is through a series of strategies that help parents to implement the things they are learning into day to day life.

While attending a support group the other day, we talked about ideas to help us alleviate holiday stress. As WLS candidates, we understand that stress eating something that is so real it’s scary! I thought about it a little more and wondered how could I use the strategies that I teach to parents in my oh so real situation. So, here goes!

1) Expectations. Now in the scheme of things, this could mean telling your family what you are going to bring for dinner, instead of them expecting you to cook the whole holiday meal. How about journaling your expectations of yourself. This could be a great way of holding yourself accountable.

2) Rewards & Incenttives. Take a moment to reward yourself during this holiday season. When you meet those goals you’ve set, take the opportunity catch yourself being good!

3) Choices. Instead of making several desserts for the holiday table, make just a couple. We always go overboard with candy making this time of the year. This season, we are cutting back to 2 or 3 choices.

4) When..Then… Contingency statements are a good way to accomplish those goals you have set up. Ex.: “When we walk after dinner, then we can sit back and relax”. “When you finish with your sugar free dessert, then you can play a family oriented game”.

5) Planning! Before your holiday affair, take a moment and plan your menu. This will give you the chance to cull out some of the extraneous foods, and prepare more healthier options.

6) Reasonable Expectations. Everyone is different. So expectations for me will be different from you. What are some reasonable expectation when it comes to you and the holidays.

7) Stay calm. We all know that stress can trigger an out of body experience when it comes to food. Take some time for yourself. When those moments of fatigue, anger or exhilaration become to much…walk away! If things become to hectic…ask for help! Don’t let these stressors get the best of you.

8) Quiet time. This is an opportunity to discuss the good and bad things that happened ove4r the holiday. Take the thoughts you came up with and go ahead and try to work them into the next shindig!

Holiday stress can be a killer on healthy lifestyles, but does it have to be that way! I don’t think so. Take some time and see how you can avoid those dreaded “HOLIDAY STRESSORS”!

Have a good day!