4 Ways to Stay on Track with Your Health and Wellness this Season

Colder months bring a slew of illnesses brought on by the changing weather and back to school, if you have kids. To avoid getting every cold that comes your way, stock up on immunity boosting foods like oatmeal, honey, garlic and olive oil, as well as year-round superfoods like spinach, kale and chia seeds. My favorite way to get my daily dose is via smoothies. Here are some of my favorite easy smoothie recipes packed with all the goodness you need to battle fall’s nastiest colds.

During the last couple months of the year, my stress level is through the roof due to holiday events, family parties and more, so I’m much more inclined to want to indulge. But instead of feeling guilty about it, I simply allow myself to have the things I really want, when I want them. This has helped me avoid overindulging and even obsessing over eating the things I reach for during times of stress  and celebration during the holidays. It’s also helped my overall mental wellness greatly, because it’s taken the “guilt” out of indulging, and makes enjoying food a normal part of my lifestyle. I truly believe that when you normalize something, it takes away its power, so I often find myself skipping the cookies, cake and ice cream at gatherings, and only having those things when I truly want them, because I can literally have them anytime I want!

While I do believe in indulging when you want to, I also know from personal experience that there are ways to avoid overindulging. Dave and I used to eat out on weekends because we’d run out of groceries by Thursday night — and to be honest, I used to purposely make sure we would run out just so we could eat out! But now that we’re making healthier food choices by incorporating more fruits and vegetables into meals thanks to his vegan lifestyle (which makes his restaurant choices limited), we do our best to always have our favorite home cooked meals on hand to avoid eating out for the simple sake of not having anything in the fridge.

I’m the first person to admit that my self-care, which includes doing some form of physical activity, is on the back burner this time of year. And when I say back burner, I mean way, way in the back… When there’s a crisp chill in the air, nothing sounds better than laying under a blanket on the couch binge-watching The Handmaid’s Tale (watch it if you haven’t!). But this is precisely why I know I need to make an effort to keep my body moving. Because as the weather cools down, our bodies go into relaxation mode, and there’s nothing more painful than a stiff back (trust me, I know!), and it only gets worse as you get older. So while I’d love to be watching TV instead of being outside on a walk, I choose the latter because I know my body and my mind will thank me for it later.