Ease Some of Your Holiday Stress With These Simple Tips

Even if the holiday season is your favorite time of the year, preparing for festivities can cause a lot of stress. But you can ease some of the pressure with these simple tips.

Become a More Efficient Gift Giver

For most of us, gift giving doesn’t end with just our family and closest friends. You may buy gifts for co-workers, your neighbor, your doorman or your hairdresser. If shopping stresses you out, save yourself hours roaming the mall when you:

• Forego personalized gifts. Generic gifts are appreciated and convenient.
• Select a theme for generic gifts like body/bath products, fruit baskets or department store gift cards. Buy all of your gifts within this theme.
• Buy online whenever possible.

Turn Your Shopping Trip into a Workout

Holiday obligations can seriously interfere with your fitness routine, and less exercise can lead to more stress. If you do go to the mall, step up your shopping trip and:

• Lace up your sneakers and wear comfortable clothes.
• Walk all of the wings the mall and/or aisles of the supermarket to get as many steps in as possible.
• Shop during off hours. Uncrowded malls and stores will enable you to pick up the pace.
• Carry shopping bags. Instead of placing your purchases in your car to keep your hands free, use them as “weights” to increase the number of calories you burn.
• Take stairs, instead of department store escalators, whenever possible. You can also get steps by parking further away from the mall entrance.

Read more about how to turn shopping into a workout.

Be Strategic in the Kitchen

Cooking that holiday feast can really stress you out. One solution: order your holiday dinner from a restaurant or meal delivery service. But if you want cook, you can still make your life easier when you:

• Buy pre-prepped items like diced vegetables, chopped herbs and pre-toasted seeds and nuts.
• Invest in equipment like mixers, food processors and immersion blenders that enable you to skip mixing, chopping and blending by hand.
• Keep convenience tools like egg slicers, apple corers, juicers and garlic presses close by.

Want less stress? Read these time saving kitchen tips.

Finally, if holiday stress becomes overwhelming, work with your MDVIP-affiliated physician to help you identify the causes and develop a treatment plan. Don’t have an MDVIP-affiliated doctor, click here to locate one. Continue reading to learn some tips to help you manage your stress.