Holidays – ahh. The lights, the music, the joy, the love, the laughter. The stress, the worry, the overloaded to do list, the illness that comes after because all your healthy cells are used up.

This doesn’t have to be truth. There’s a different truth, and you can have it. It’s called having the best of both worlds – still enjoying your holidays while not murdering your health.

How? This:

Set limits. Real limits. And stick to them. You don’t have to do everything everyone asks of you or thinks you should do. You don’t have to gift to the max, decorate to the max, cook to the max. You’re not Martha Stewart (and you don’t have her team). You’re you. That’s cool. Keep it that way, and keep well.

Keep your already great healthy habits afloat. It’s tempting to set them aside “for just now,” but a month of that is enough to derail you and allow illness to start sneaking its way in. You don’t want that. Make time, no matter what. (See above so that you have time.)

Let be what is that is. Trying to fix the past or predict the future is pure stress. Enjoy now. This moment. The lights glittering. The smile on a kid’s face. Pretend you have a very narrow focus lens, and that is all you can see. The rest blurs. This is peace. This is anti-stress.

Do the simple things that help maintain your health: Wash your hands well and often. (Soap and water, not hand sanitizer unless you can’t help it.) Drink water. Get to bed a little earlier. Park farther away from stores to get some extra movement in. Close your eyes for a minute and relax. Breathe deeply. Appreciate your life.

Staying well during the holidays is so very possible. Keep mindful of the small things, like those above, that will make a big difference in whether you pay for the holidays in January or you go right on living well and loving life.