Be healthy, wealthy, and wise during this non-stop holiday season. Our five quick health hacks will keep your body and spirit energized while saving you time and money. Get hacking…
1. Party With A Plan
Three strategic steps to fun and no regret. First, drink one glass of water for every alcoholic drink. It’ll help fill you up and slow you down. Second, eat before you go so the focus is on fun conversation instead of food. Third, reserve a fitness class (spin, boot camp) for the next morning so you are guaranteed to get back on track without delay.
2. Exercise Anywhere
Your usual routine may be dust, but your workouts don’t need to implode. Even if you had no idea when you can get back to the gym, here’s a move to sneak in just about anywhere.
Standing Calf Raises
Slowly raise onto your tip-toes feeling your calf muscles stretch, hold for a few seconds, and then slowly lower yourself back to the flats of your feet, stretching slightly backwards onto your heels. Perfect while waiting for trains, planes and automobiles.
3. Stay Healthy
Your mother was right, wash your hands. Do it whenever you get a chance! Soap and water is the best way of fighting the most germs. If you just can’t get to a sink, try a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. It fights nearly as many germs. Hand washing reduces your chances of a digestive illness by almost a third and a respiratory illness by more than a fifth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
4. Walk Happy
Feel better immediately by standing tall and smiling. A recent study showed that people who did this felt better even if they were feeling depressed to start. The opposite was true too: if people were happy but walked slightly hunched without a smile, their moods dampened.
5. Relax Instantly
Try calm.com for a quick mediation escape. This free website and app will turn you into jelly (in a good way) and include a selection of natural scenes from speeding through cumulus clouds to swimming in the ocean. Hook up your headphones and no one needs to know you aren’t listening to the latest Beyoncé, but instead to your body!