Between travel, family gatherings, and endless to-do lists, the holidays can make it hard to keep up with healthy routines. For many, the holidays are when their healthy habits falter. But it doesn’t have to be impossible, according to Samantha Harden, an associate professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise.
Harden studies how people sustain well-being in real-world settings. She said one of the biggest challenges during the holidays isn’t just the schedule — it’s our expectations.
“We expect to have time off and be our ‘best selves’ when we step back from work and have all the space to create healthy routines,” Harden said. “We set ourselves up for failure thinking we’ll be swimming in time that is actually usurped with all our other holiday activities – ones we love and the ones we loathe.”
Instead of waiting for the perfect time to get healthy, Harden recommended finding realistic ways to integrate wellness with other holiday traditions.
- Habit stacking: “Always eat dinner? Add a short family walk and talk after. Always brush your teeth? Share a gratitude in the mirror.”
- Gamifying: “Try to make a game of any activities, such as a plank challenge every time dishes are completed or having a bingo card of movement breaks.”
- Involving others: “Call a long-distance loved one on a stroll in the neighborhood or sign up for group fitness classes with someone so you feel that you’re supporting them as much as they’re supporting you.”
- Travel hacks: “Move whenever you have time, stay hydrated, and give yourself ample time so backups and delays do not add more anxiety.”
Harden encouraged people to think about well-being more broadly than just exercise or nutrition. She said there are six dimensions of well-being, and any combination of them will help a person feel well. The dimensions are happiness, mental and physical health, close social relationships, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, material and financial stability.
“Maybe during the holiday season, you’re putting less time or other resources into your physical well-being, but you’re putting more into your perception of close social relationships,” she said. “Let that be enough on your well-being checklist.”
And if you don’t have the space and time to maintain certain routines throughout the holidays, Harden added that there’s nothing wrong with a break.
“During the holidays and always, don’t think of one meal, day, or season away from healthy habits means failure,” Harden said. “An all-or-nothing approach does not work for most things—don’t let the act of being a human become even harder by having expectations that don’t match your goals, behaviors, circumstances, or resources.”
About Harden
Samantha Harden is an associate professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. She also serves as the physical activity specialist of Virginia Cooperative Extension and is a 500-hour registered yoga teacher. Her research focuses on the yoga kernels of mindfulness, breath work, and movement, and how yoga can promote flourishing (personal, professional, and communal well-being) and longevity (healthy aging).
By Ethan Sirles
