Staying Healthy Over the Holidays
The holidays bring connection, comfort foods, and a schedule that doesn’t look like our usual one. By January many people notice a few extra pounds, achier joints, and lower energy. That doesn’t mean you’ve got to skip the celebration! It just means a few careful choices can help you enjoy the season and still feel like yourself when it ends.
Eating That Feels Good Today and Tomorrow
Holiday tables are loaded with favorites, which is why pace and portions matter. Try eating until you feel about 80 percent full. That simple cue helps you enjoy the foods you love while leaving the table light enough to keep visiting, playing games, or heading out to see the lights.
Balance also helps. The season leans toward sweets and refined carbs, so make room for protein and produce first. Protein steadies appetite, vegetables add volume and fiber, and fruit gives you something naturally sweet without the crash. When you can cook with fresh ingredients, you also need less sugar and salt, which keeps meals flavorful without feeling heavy.
- Start with smaller servings of the dishes you really want
- Put the fork down between bites and sip water
- Wait 10 to 15 minutes before deciding on seconds
Easy Indoor Movement When It’s Cold
Cold weather can make workouts feel complicated, but movement can stay simple. Indoor walking at home or in a mall raises your heart rate and stays gentle on joints.
If you’ve got a safe staircase, a few minutes of easy step-ups adds variety without stressing your back. Short mobility breaks also loosen the neck, shoulders, hips, and low back, which helps posture and reduces stiffness from long meals or car rides.
- Do 10 minutes of indoor walking after big meals
- Set an hourly timer for a 60 second “movement snack”
- Choose comfortable shoes with good traction for errands
Chiropractic care can amplify these efforts by improving alignment, calming irritated tissues, and restoring smooth movement so it’s easier for you to stay consistent.
Sleep, The Quiet Advantage
Good sleep keeps the season enjoyable. Overnight your body repairs tissue, organizes immune responses, and steadies the hormones that influence appetite. A steady bedtime helps those systems do their work. Dimming lights and screens in the evening also tells your brain it’s time to wind down, and a cool, dark room encourages deeper rest.
Limiting late caffeine and going gentle on alcohol will also protect sleep quality. A few minutes of stretching or slow breathing before bed signals the nervous system to settle, which can lower pain sensitivity and reduce wake-ups. If discomfort or restlessness keeps you up at night, we can check your mechanics, release tight areas, and use acupuncture to help you sleep more deeply.
- Keep a steady bedtime when possible
- Wind down with light stretching or slow breathing
- Keep the room cool and dark
The Benefits of a Chiropractic Visit
A chiropractic visit is part detective work and part treatment! We ask about what you’re feeling and when it shows up, then check how you move from head to toe. Applied Kinesiology can help here. This simple muscle testing highlights what’s tight, what’s weak, and which areas of the body need attention first.
We often combine adjustments with soft-tissue work to calm irritated tissues, and with brief corrective exercises that help you keep the improvement between visits. The goal is to give the right area the right input so your body can function at its best.
Holiday Busyness and Why It Feels So Stressful
This time of year, your brain is managing crowded stores, louder rooms, travel, and social expectations at the same time it is tracking work, family, and money. That extra input raises cognitive load. When cognitive load climbs, the body runs a little hotter and breathing shifts higher into the chest. The heart rate goes up, and even pain sensitivity rises in this state because the brain is prioritizing vigilance over fine motor control and comfort.
The nervous system stays alert when plans change repeatedly. Each change costs attention, and the cumulative cost is what people feel as holiday stress. Decision fatigue adds to this. By evening, the brain has burned through many of the chemicals it uses to make choices and inhibit impulses. That is one reason late night snacking and short tempers are more common this time of year. As you protect your routine, remember that the nervous system relaxes when it can predict what comes next.
A Simple Way to Wrap It Up
Enjoy the people you love, choose portions with intention, keep easy movement in the mix, and protect your sleep. If aches, stress, or stubborn weight are getting in the way, our practitioners at Sentinel Health and Wellness are ready to help. Here’s to a season that feels good while you’re in it and even better the morning after.
