26 Nov How to Stay Healthy This Holiday Season
As Dr. Brian Pease shared in our November edition of Movement Matters, it’s all too easy this time of year to come home, zone out, and shut down – setting us up for health problems. Did you know that if your muscles, bones, and connective tissue aren’t working well together that you’re at a higher risk for injury? If you combine a higher injury risk with the inactivity that often sets in this time of year, you could end up both injured and unhealthy. Here are our Top 5 Tips for staying healthy and preventing injury this holiday season:
- Stay active: As Dr. Pease mentioned in Movement Matters, staying active can give you a much needed emotional boost in winter. Challenge yourself and some friends to a new activity, take a walk at lunch, or sign up for an indoor exercise class. Your body will thank you and you’ll feel better, too. Don’t just focus on one area: shake it up with cardio, weights, and flexibility.
- Schedule an Annual PT Check-Up: Just like you see your regular doctor (we hope) for your yearly physical, an annual visit with your physical therapist is recommended to keep you moving (and feeling) right. Your PT can go over any of your concerns, any pain or discomfort you’re feeling, and watch for improper movement patterns or areas of weakness/imbalance. Just like with your regular doctor, your PT will recommend a treatment plan – typically consisting of both manual and at-home exercises and stretching.
- Make Your Health Appointments Now: Most of us will see insurance deductibles start over with the New Year – which is coming up fast! Despite the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, you can definitely devote at least one or two hours to your health. Make any appointments you’ve been putting off, including preventive care or ones you should make for an acute problem. If you’ve been meaning to call us at Body One Physical Therapy, give us a call so our team can get you on the schedule before January 1.
- Get Enough Sleep: It can be a vicious cycle – you spend all day at work exhausted, but stay up too late at night, only to do the same thing the next day…and the next. Most people need between 7-9 hours of sleep every night and if you’re not getting enough, you run a higher risk of illness and injury. If you can’t manage to unplug from your latest binge-worthy show, set a reminder on your phone and get up and go to bed no matter what. Here are some more tips on sleeping well.
- Eat Right: It’s a tough time of year to avoid over-indulging. If you hit Thanksgiving hard, try to balance it out with healthier choices in the following days. Don’t punish yourself at the gym: try to think of food as fuel, not as something that is good or bad. You’ll feel better the better you eat, so eating right is its own reward.
While there’s no magic pill to keep you in great shape and healthy all year long, if you take basic steps to stay active, rest, eat well, and be pro-active about your health, you’ll likely feel better and be at a lower risk for injury this winter. If you’re already dealing with injury or want to ensure you don’t have to, Body One Physical Therapy is ready and waiting. We’re both locally-owned and operated, and have three locations serving Central Indiana: North Indianapolis, Fishers, and Zionsville. Our team of caring, dedicated physical therapists works with clients of all ages and activity levels and we’d love to help get you moving in the right direction. Call Body One today and start feeling better!
