Holidays 2020: Tips For Staying Healthy And Safe During The Holidays

How can people enjoy the holidays while still keeping their health and safety on track?

Each year, the holidays become a time when people tend to indulge and let loose. Whether it's indulging in one's favorite dishes a little more or spending more time to relax, the holidays can truly be a time for people to take a break.

Still, it's important to stay healthy and safe during the season and it doesn't have to mean depriving oneself of all the fun things the holidays bring.

Here are some tips on how to stay healthy and safe during the holidays. Courtesy: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Harvard Health:

Eat Wisely

It's quite easy to lose track of one's eating habits during the holidays. After all, it's not every day that people get to feast the way they do during the holidays. To enjoy holiday meals while still staying healthy, however, one should eat wisely. This means eating only what you really like on the table instead of filling up on all the food being offered.

Standing far away from the food table could also help control food intake and so does taking a few minutes and drinking a glass of water before going back for another helping. This way, people can determine whether they actually want another serving of food, or perhaps just a smaller portion of seconds.

Practice Food Safety

It's always important to practice food safety to avoid getting any foodborne illnesses and the holidays are not an exception. By cooking food at the right temperature, refrigerating them properly, and making sure that there will be no cross-contamination between food items, one can lessen the chances of eating and serving contaminated food.

Washing one's hands properly is also a very important step in food safety. This practice could also limit the spread of germs since the holidays also coincide with the flu season.

Manage Stress

Although the holidays are fun, they could turn out to be stressful. Between the meals, presents, and other responsibilities, one can easily feel overwhelmed during the season. This is normal, and it's important to take a little break when one is already feeling stressed out or out of control.

Some ways to release a bit of stress include getting more sleep, getting support, and connecting socially—even if it's just online.

Drink Moderately

Drinking alcoholic beverages in moderation is always a good reminder, and even more so during the holidays. Apart from the risk of drinking and driving, consuming alcohol also increases appetite and lessens your control over what you eat, Harvard Health explained.

To help control alcohol intake during the holidays, a good trick would be to have a non-alcoholic beverage in between drinks.

Stay Active

Apart from adding fruits and vegetables to your meals and being careful when it comes to consuming salt, sugar, and fats, it's also important to stay active to keep a healthy weight even during the holidays.

This means getting two and a half hours of physical activity per week, and it could be as simple as going for a stroll or even dancing to your favorite song. The important thing, the CDC said, is to "move more and sit less."

Prevent Fire Injuries

It could be chilly during the holidays so it becomes vital to stay warm. However, it's important to do it safely. This means keeping an eye on fireplaces, space heaters, stoves, or even candles. Keep such items away from children, pets, and flammable materials such as curtains, and do not leave them unattended.

Also, it is important to have an emergency plan that is regularly practiced.