The holidays are a special and memorable time of year when you get to spend time with friends and family. You get to eat good food, play fun games, and share love and gifts with one another. All of these holiday activities may be put on hold if you get sick over the holidays, and that wouldn’t be fun! Here are my top ten ways to stay healthy during the holidays.
10. Always wear your jacket and stay warm when you’re outside. This is a lesson I learned the hard way. Even if you feel like it’s warm enough outside, or your if you think what you’re wearing will keep you warm, you’re probably wrong. The weather can change at any moment and it’s better to be prepared with a nice, cozy jacket than have nothing at all.
9. Drink Emergen-C if you feel like you may be getting sick. Emergen-C is a powder that you add to a drink, in case you didn’t know. It contains vitamin C and it’s very important to get lots of vitamin C in your body if you feel like you’re getting sick. It comes in many flavors, tastes good, and helps you feel better or stay healthy.
8. Exercise. Exercising helps your body stay strong. When you sweat, your body gets rid of substances it doesn’t need like salts and toxins. Exercising is good for your body in general.
7. Don’t touch your face with your hands. The easiest way for bad bacteria or a virus to enter your system is through your nose or mouth. To prevent yourself from getting sick, do your best not to touch your face after being around someone sick or dealing with something dirty.
6. Get a proper amount of sleep. Sleep gives your body time to relax and heal. If you feel like you’re catching a cold or the flu, sleep is a good way to let your body rest and get better.
5. On top of Emergen-C, stay hydrated. Drinking lots of water or other liquids allows your body to function properly and flush out anything bad if needed. Chamomile tea with honey is great for when you feel like you may be getting sick, or just want a soothing drink before bed. The honey is good for your throat and chamomile aids in fighting infection and works as an anti-inflammatory.
4. Eat raspberry and cranberry jam. This has been a remedy that works well in my family. To prevent ourselves from getting sick, my mom makes jam that contains raspberries, cranberries, and honey and we eat it by itself or with pancakes. It can be a little sour but in my opinion, it’s yummy and helps me stay healthy.
3. Walk in fresh air. Going for a walk to get fresh air is not only refreshing and relaxing, but it’s really good for your body. This is a good way to cope with stress and it also helps your body feel good inside and out.
2. Don’t share drinks or personal items like Chapstick with other people. This should be common knowledge, but just in case you haven’t heard it before, here it goes. Sharing drinks is a really good way to spread illness or disease and it can range from a small canker sore to a major, life-threatening disease. Some people believe that sharing personal items and drinks isn’t that big of a deal. Even if you know the person really well, it’s better to be safe than sorry, know what you’re using or drinking, and bring your own things.
1. Wash your hands. Germs are all over the place all the time, but during the winter, it seems like there are even more germs because a lot of people get sick. In order to protect yourself from getting sick, wash your hands after using the restroom, work, school, sports practice, or whatever you do. You’re washing away bad germs when you wash your hands and preventing yourself from getting sick. Anti-bacterial hand sanitizer is another way to keep your hands clean. There are many different kinds of hand sanitizer that all work well, so find whatever kind you like and go with it.
Make sure to bundle up, stay hydrated, exercise, be aware of your surroundings, get a good amount of sleep, go for walks to get fresh air, avoid sharing drinks and things like Chapstick, and wash your hands to stay healthy this holiday season. To those of you with finals this week, I wish you the best of luck. 12 days ’til Christmas!