Coping with Holiday Weight Loss using an Advent Calendar!

If you feel overwhelmed with emotions or activities during the holidays or advent season, you are not alone!  Many people do. Coming up with effective coping strategies ahead of time and trying one out each day of advent can reduce the sense of “too much of everything right now!”

A fun idea is to create or buy a 24-Day Advent Calendar and inside each day, write out a self-care strategy to practice that day and an affirmation for that strategy.

Examples:

• Today I will start the day with a 3-minute meditation using the CALM app.  Affirmation: I am getting better at meditating each time I do it.

• My “best” today is good enough. (Positive self-talk example to battle negative self-talk like “I’m not enough or not doing enough or not good enough.”

• It’s okay for my best to be different day-to-day.

• I will set aside time this week to walk or drive through a neighborhood with Christmas lights and enjoy them. (If Christmas lights are not your thing, write in something else here, like “I will get a massage this week.”)

• I deserve to take time out for myself and do something I enjoy.

• Today I will practice mindful eating at one meal.

• I deserve to taste what I eat and enjoy my meal.

• Today I will walk at the Mall for 60 minutes and enjoy all the window displays.

• This is a great way to exercise indoors when it’s raining.

• If I feel angry or impatient today, I will stop and breathe slowly in and slowly out, saying “Relax,” to myself as I exhale.

• I don’t need to vent my anger on anyone else or turn it against myself.  I can let it be there and be okay.

• Today is a new day and I get to start afresh.  Yesterday no longer exists.

• I can let yesterday go and find ways to enjoy and take care of myself today.

• Today I will journal about my feelings.

• Feelings are transitory and will pass.

• Today I will record all my food choices.

• Recording my food choices helps me be more aware of them and “own” them.

So, those are some ideas to get you started.  Think about lifestyle changes you want to incorporate into your life, healthy nutrition, consistent exercise, positive self-talk, getting support needs met, and other ways to enhance your life on a daily basis.  If you don’t want to “do” something each day, just read the affirmation to yourself and call that, “good enough.”

If there are not 24 days until Christmas, do this for however many days there are, or create one for January to help you AFTER the holidays!

Have a Great Self-Care Holiday Advent Season or Great Self-Care January!  You deserve it!