Santa Drunk

Before we get into today’s post, there are a few exciting announcements I would love to share!

Firstly,

Winner

I’d like to announce the winner to last weeks giveaway of the 52-Week Life Passion Project. A huge congratulations to Yongjue Tan who will soon be the proud owner of the new book :). The book will be invaluable for helping you live out your passion in the year of 2013.

If you missed out this time, don’t worry. There will be more chances to win a free copy of our upcoming Change Your Life course and get your hands on the 52-Week Life Passion Project in the coming few weeks!

 

Secondly,

in case you missed it, The Start of Happiness has scored in The Top 50 Personal Development Blogs of 2012!

We came 30th!

Not only that, but based on the ratings, we scored 3rd overall for ‘Quality’, and that’s what it’s all about right? Other ratings included things like social influence and number of comments, but considering The Start of Happiness only started in September, these scores heavily favour those sites that have been around for much longer.

 Top 50 Personal Development Blog

Overall, to get onto this board, get 30th overall and have the 3rd highest quality score is absolutely amazing.

Thanks everyone for being part of this!

It’s only going to get bigger and better in 2013!

 

Thirdly,

Merry Christmas everyone! I just wanted to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of you who have joined the journey of The Start of Happiness.

We only started in September this year and in the few months that we have been active we have achieved so much.

The Start of Happiness exists to help you live the life you have always wanted to live. It provides the tools and strategies for helping you better understand yourself, help you determine where you want to go in life as well as help you take action by providing quick little tips and thoughts for living purposefully and productively everyday. It’s about doing what you want to do as often as you want to do with whom you want to do it with. Because happiness in life is success in life.

If you haven’t already signed up and downloaded your free resources in the Happiness Toolkit, you can do that here and take your time going through them over the Christmas and New Year break.

Now onto today’s post!

 

How to Look After Yourself This Festive Season!

When it comes to the festive season, this is often a time where people let themselves go as they don’t want to be restricted in terms of what they can eat or what they can do.

And fair enough!

Santa Drunk

However, it’s important that you don’t let yourself go too much. The last thing you want is to find it extremely difficult to bounce back to your regular routine and have to work three times as hard to get back to your regular weight level!

I just wanted to quickly share some simple tips that I have learned over the past few years that have helped me to remain intact and bounce back fast after the festive season. You may have heard all of these before, however there is a reason for that. These tips have lasted the test of time and on most occasions people fail to live by them (including myself on occasion!).

It’s great to have these in the back of our minds as we enter the season and bring in the new year.

 

Limit Drinking

An oldie but a goodie and as always, very important. The festive season is about enjoying a few drinks with family and friends. The key is to limit your intake.

Many people completely let themselves go during the festive season and prefer to drink heavy and more often. Please just keep in mind that alcoholic beverages contain large amounts of calories and the more you drink the less likely you are to stick to your healthy meal plans. It’s a bit of a catch-22.

Not only that, but drinking can lead to silliness and shenanigans (which can sometimes be fun). Drink a few, but please look after yourself. I want to see you back here in good health in 2013! 🙂

 

Eating Appropriately

When it comes to the festive season, one area that all of us let our walls down is when it comes to watching what we eat. I’m guilty of this one too. Who hasn’t said “just one week of indulgence can’t hurt me?” The key is to be smart about it.
One week of indulgence can lead to one month or longer of pain and agony, both in the gym and also psychologically.

When you’re eating this festive season, think about the trade-off. Are you happy to put in the time and hours in the gym and dieting right to ‘get back to regular’ physical health?

The alternative is to enjoy your food but not go overboard and eat foods that are healthy for you. Healthy food actually tastes nice! Although I must admit chocolate balls are my little guilty pleasure. However I limit my intake of these to only a few.

If you’re looking for some healthy holiday alternatives to take to some parties or gatherings this season, there are some great examples of what you can do here.

As always, when it comes to eating, consider your portion sizes and also opt for the healthier alternatives. ‘Slacking off’ over the festive season (as many of us do) can lead to sustained bad habits which are harder to break in the new year.

 

Exercising

Good old exercise. Let’s not forget this one!

The festive season may tempt you to stay away from the gym and get some exercise. However, it’s really not that hard.
Keeping up your normal workout or exercise routine will help you stay on track in the long-term and ensure you set yourself up for success in 2013 by continuing your good habits.

Schedule some time with your friends to play some sport or go for a walk. This is a great way to not only get your exercise but to also catch up with your friends who you have probably been eager to see. There’s always a way to get some quality exercise into every day. Try being creative this festive season and make it fun with your friends!

 

Mental Health

Mental health can actually become a key concern for many people during the festive season with feelings of stress or loneliness.

It’s important to remember that the season is about spending quality time with family and friends. If the turkey is overcooked and needs to be thrown out, no need to stress. Your family and friends will understand. It’s spending time together that matters.

Also, I encourage you to think of those people whom you may know that don’t have their family close-by this Christmas and New Year. Feelings of loneliness around this time can play a huge part in people’s mental health. Give them a call or offer to catch-up with them. You might just make their Christmas 🙂

 

Merry Christmas!

Again, Merry Christmas everyone and I hope you have a safe and happy break with your family and friends.

Thanks for being part of The Start of Happiness. It’s great that I get to share this Christmas with all of you.

Time for me to now go and enjoy some Christmas festivities! 🙂

Brendan

P.S. If you know of anyone that might like to read this post or someone who can benefit from it, please feel free to share via one of the buttons below!

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About the author 

Brendan Baker

Brendan Baker is Australia's leading personal development blogger and and helps people build and grow online businesses based on their passions. He has created the Launch Your Life Academy and Your First 1000 Subscribers. Connect with Brendan: Twitter, Facebook, Google+

Brendan Baker is Australia's leading personal development blogger and and helps people build and grow online businesses based on their passions. He has created the Launch Your Life Academy and Your First 1000 Subscribers. Connect with Brendan: Twitter, Facebook, Google+

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  1. Liz, Love your blog!!!You truly need a show on TV with decorating ideas!!!I am new to the blog world and in the preocss of setting up and getting my blog going!!! I pull up your blog every morning with my cup of coffee!!!Can not wait to get my blog going:) I love your videos and love to see what you are doing next:) You do get some wonderful decor at great prices!!! I have 3 Ross stores close by and will have to check out all of the stores and their Christmas decor!!!Keep the wonderful ideas of yours coming!! Your house is BEAUTIFUL with all the decorating you have done to it!!!

  2. Congratulations.

    I like how you decked your halls and spread the jolly and all that Christmas jazz.

    I don’t know what the banner normally looks like, but I like the fact you really went to town and the Santa hats are perfect for the little happy yellow peeps.

    1. Cheers, J.D.!

      Hehe, the Christmas theme came out pretty well actually! I really don’t want to put it back to normal now as it will look to bare 🙂

  3. First, congrats on the Top 50 Personal Development blog achievement! 2012 was a great year!

    Second; I haven’t been great about the eating but I’ve kept that exercise habit going. I can tell a major difference when going to bed if I’ve exercised or not that day – regardless of what I ate. A hard workout makes a world of difference.

    Congrats again Brendan!

    1. Thanks, Aaron!

      It’s great that you have the exercise habit nailed. That’s half the equation! Why not make 2013 the year that the other half of the equation comes into play 😀

  4. I’ll confess, I often go way overboard around the holidays. Training takes a back seat to eating treats and drinking beer. Lots of beer.

    It’s all good though. I clean up quickly.

    I feel it’s quite ok to relax our standards this time of year . . . spending the holidays in the company of family and friends is what it’s all about. But as the New Year rolls in and we settle back into our regular routine, we should also accept that we might need to do a little damage control.

    Congratulations on the award.

    Cheers!

    1. haha, so true Trevor, you’re not alone!

      I like to try minimise the ‘damage control’ needed in January 🙂 All too often people have the resolution of ‘losing the festive belly!’ and go hard during January but fail to keep it up and actually get it off.

      But one or two week’s shouldn’t make too much of a difference as long as we’re all smart about it! 🙂

      Have a safe break!

    1. Definitely not 🙂 My Christmas is actually going to be quite low-key and relaxing hopefully. Enjoy!

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