How to bounce back
to you
As I often say, social connection is hugely important for your health, wellness, and quality of life.
This is likely why alcohol is sometimes associated with health benefits despite being a toxin – not because of the direct physiological effects of alcohol (which are toxic), but because of the “social lubrication” it provides.
Likewise, indulgent eating is a double-edged sword that can enhance the enjoyment of socializing, but undermine your health and wellness if overdone.
Needless to say, socializing is deeply intertwined with alcohol and tasty treats, and there’s no better example than the holiday season.
But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it’s a great thing … as long as it genuinely contributes to your happiness.
The ever-present challenge is finding a balance that delivers enough reward to justify the risk (without resorting to the tired excuse that you’ll die of something anyway).
The first step is understanding and appreciating our human tendencies.
Despite knowing the consequences, how many times do we still let that hardwired reward system in our brain get the best of us, leading to drinking more alcohol and eating more food than we intended?
The holiday season is prime time not only for this to be more likely, but also for it to be more frequent … and potentially leak into everyday habits. (Still eating leftover cookies from that recent cookie exchange???)
Then comes the fatigue, irritability, and other indications that you’re not quite feeling your best, possibly along with some regret and disappointment.
This is a critical moment that, if handled appropriately, can be a blessing in disguise.
The typical response is to get yourself fired up to do better in the quickly approaching new year. “Starting on January 1st, I’m going to be SO PERFECT!!!”
For many, this starts like a 100-meter sprint, in the form of extreme dieting and exercising, shortly followed by exhaustion, frustration, and an inevitable return to old habits … before we even get to February.
Please don’t do that!
To shine some light on a more hopeful direction, let’s get back to that regret and disappointment I previously mentioned.
Coach Kayla and I, and many of our clients, don’t experience it – at least not to a significant degree. That’s not bragging – it’s an important point.
Even beyond intentional indulgences, temptations still get the best of us. (If I happen to encounter spiked eggnog in the coming days, there’s approximately a 100% chance that I’ll cave.)
But we know what’s happening and, most importantly, how to respond.
We go into the holidays with a foundation of habits that reliably keeps us healthy, feeling our best, and prepared to get the most out of life.
When temptations unexpectedly get the best of us, that foundation provides a buffer to minimize the consequences.
And when it happens frequently enough to cause hints of regret and disappointment, we have that foundation to get right back to.
Returning to that reliable foundation is practically an automatic reaction to feeling the effects of indulgence going too far.
That foundation is what you should be aiming for in the new year!
It’ll help you feel better and increase your ceiling for a greater quality of life.
With that in mind, let go of any regret or disappointment you may be feeling, enjoy the remainder of the holidays, and know that the best way forward – instead of a short-lived ride on the New Year’s resolution bandwagon – is to start building reliable habits!
Keep your social connections strong, and your foundation of healthy habits even stronger!
Happy holidays!
Dr. Vin
🆘 If you’re fed up with fad-based resolutions and ready to build a real foundation of healthy habits that lasts, we’d love to show you the way! Book a free call with Coach Kayla to learn more.