5 Top Tips for Military Spouses During This Holiday Season

 

Being a military spouse is hard! If you are one, you certainly know what I’m talking about. Constantly saying goodbye to the people you get close to,...constantly starting and stopping careers... constantly thinking about having to “date” new friends at your new duty station... constantly wondering how long until it’s time to move again.... But we do it because we love our service members, don’t we? We love them enough that if being with them means being apart from those we love then we’ll stick out the journey with them. Don’t get me wrong – it certainly comes with its own excitement. Wondering “what’s next” can be as much exciting as it is scary! We have the opportunity to see the world, to meet people from everywhere, to travel more than most people we grew up with ever will. It’s certainly a great opportunity. But we’ve all felt the pains of being far away from those we love at least once. But I would argue that these feelings come up pretty frequently during our walk in this life as a military spouse!

One of the hardest times to be away is the holidays! You’re pretty much guaranteed to be away from family during the holidays. Some people are fortunate enough to be stationed within driving distance or sometimes even where they’re from, but that’s more uncommon than common. Often times you’re on the other side of the country, unable to afford to fly home, unable to get enough time off of work to even go, and sometimes you might be on an entirely different continent which makes limited finances and time off an even bigger contributor to your inability to be home with the ones you love!

This is especially hard when you’re a NEW military spouse. Let me tell you, after 9 holiday seasons away, it never really gets any EASIER, per se; but you get accustomed to it. But your first few seasons can be very difficult. Some of us even find ourselves in a position where we’re away from our family AND our service member if they happen to be deployed. Talk about a double whammy!

So what can you do to make it a bit easier to get through this season? Here are my top 5 tips to getting through the holidays when you’re away from your family:

1.      Set up a video chat!

 

       What a better way to feel like you’re with your family than to see them face to face, see them moving, and see them talking. We lose a lot through voice-only calling. It’s a whole different experience when you are doing a live call. So plan around time differences, figure out what video platform you’re going to use (Skype, Facetime, Tango, Zoom….there are tons!), and connect with them. We’re blessed to live in a day and age that our predeceasing military wives didn’t, with technology options that they would have died for. Let’s take advantage of it!

2.      Connect with a group of people wherever you might be stationed.

 

       Whether this be people from your church, people from your job, please from your husband’s job, find someone to spend the day with! You can even host something for the younger service members in your husband’s work center. You know, the ones who live in the dorms. They are probably looking for something to do as well and they certainly don’t want to be alone either. At least we have the gift of our spouses in most cases to help us not feel alone. These men and women don’t have that. So cook an awesome meal (pinterest, anyone?) and throw an awesome get-together. You will leave an awesome impression on them and make their holiday brighter!

3. Venture out somewhere if you’re stationed somewhere amazing.

 

       When I was stationed in England we decided to go to the city of Bath on Thanksgiving Day. We also stopped over and saw Stonehenge on that trip. So if you’re lucky to be stationed somewhere overseas or even somewhere stateside that’s a great touristy area, take advantage of the day off of work and go check something out. Make the most of the opportunity to live somewhere different and get out and see all that you can! Was it kind of weird not having turkey that day? Yeah, it was kind of weird! But the trip was so much more fun!

 

4. Try a new recipe!

 

       Did I say Pinterest before? I’ll say Pinterest again! Try something new. Do a search for holiday recipes and have fun. Esecially if it’s just you and your spouse. There’s no outsider to judge your cooking and it lets you get creative in the kitchen. Who knows….you might even find a dish that will become a new holiday tradition!

 

5.  Speaking of traditions – make new ones!

       There’s nothing wrong with keeping traditions that you grew up with! A lot of traditions tend to be the same from family to family so chances are that you and your spouse will have some similar traditions that you’ll both want to do. Totally ok. But your lives are combined now and you will more than likely live away from family and won’t be able to see them EVERY holiday. So why not create your own fun holiday traditions that you can then pass along to your kids?! Maybe it’s cooking a certain cookie on Christmas Eve. Maybe it’s going to volunteer at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter on Christmas morning. It could be a tradition of going caroling on Christmas Eve! The possibilities are endless. But chances are if you work on developing your own traditions and memories it will be easier for you to feel apart from the ones that you grew up with!

 

There are probably many more ideas that you can come up with on how to get through the holiday season away from your loved ones. I’m not going to tell you that it ever gets easier because it really never gets easier, but it does become normal. And it can actually be super enjoyable for you by embracing it and making it your own with your own memories. Then one holiday hopefully your loved ones can come to YOUR house and experience that way that you’ve chosen to do the holidays! 

GOD BLESS ALL OF OUR MILITARY FAMILIES, OUR MILITARY WIVES & HUSBANDS, OUR DEPLOYED TROOPS IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS, AND THE FAMILIES BEHIND THEM THAT SUPPORT THEM FROM AFAR! I WISH YOU ALL HAPPY HOLIDAY AND AN AMAZING NEW YEAR NO MATTER WHERE YOU MIGHT BE!

 

 

How to Survive the Holidays

It's the holiday season! Yay! Such a joyous time of year, isn't it?

Time with family....

Great sales at the stores...

A few extra days off of work...

It's the best!

Unless you're trying to keep your waist trim, that is! The holidays are the devil when it comes to staying fit and healthy. There is food EVERYWHERE! Isn't there? You have get together's, holiday parties, the actual holidays themselves, gifts from your neighbors (usually cookies)....and the list goes on!

What if I could give you some amazing tips to help you keep your waistline trim during the next 3 weeks?

Here are 3 categories with tips that I've found to help me through these 5 weeks of holiday fitness stress:

1. SNACKS AT THE OFFICE

Who works somewhere where either your clients or your coworkers bring in cookies, cakes, cupcakes, chocolates, etc? I have ALWAYS worked somewhere where this is the case. Always. Can I let you in on a little secret? You don't have to eat something just because it's there. I know what you're thinking..... Quiana - it's NOT that easy just to say no to these things! I know! Trust me I know! But when you stop to think about it, why does it makes sense to waste all of your hard work for the year on 6 weeks of gluttony only to make a resolution that on January 1st you'll start it all over again? It doesn't! My husband always tells me to work smart not hard.

So what do I do to avoid eating all the treats?

*Keep yourself hydrated. You'd be surprised at how often you confuse hunger with thirst. Also, when your body is properly hydrated you'll find that you're not as tempted to eat the junk.
*Eat breakfast! One of the "treats" that always ends up in my office around the holidays is donuts. I don't know if it's just that blasé attitude that comes around this time of year or what, but people bring donuts all the time! Eat your own breakfast at home or have things at the office that you can eat. Instant oatmeal (not the kind laden with sugar), Shakeology, eggs or egg whites with turkey bacon. These things don't take long to make. Stop making excuses that you don't have time for breakfast and get your butt out of bed 10 measly minutes earlier and have some breakfast. Having a good breakfast balances you and sets you up for success for the rest of the day.
*Stop walking by the treats! If they are sitting there, stop pacing by them. The more you're around them the more tempted you will become. You'll find that your will power will probably be strong during that first walk by...but by that 3rd time passing by those cookies, you're probably going to cave. So stop walking by them!
*Keep snacks at your desk/in your office/in the office fridge. Some snacks that I recommend: almonds, cashews, cheese sticks, fruit, hot tea, quest bars, Luna Bars.

2. HOLIDAY PARTIES

Oh.....the dreaded holiday parties. They're a blast usually, but how in the world are you supposed to maintain healthy choices while at a holiday party? I mean, everything is free and there are drinks galore. What is a party goer who is also striving to live a healthy life to do?

*Anticipate the obstacles. Otherwise known as make a plan. You know there will be 30 different desserts, 15 different types of alcohols, and a table full of bread, right? So make a plan. If you know what to expect going in and come to terms with it and have a plan, you will survive much easier. Resolve to choose ONE dessert. Have the dessert and enjoy the dessert; but you don't need to have five different ones. Did you know that research shows that the first bite and the last bite are the ones that you really "taste" and all the bites in between you don't really think about? Crazy, right? So enjoy a few bites. But realize that you're not doing yourself any favors by eating ALL the desserts. You know you'll regret it later, so just don't do it. Same with the alcohol. If you do choose to drink (which I don't fully recommend, not only because it's good for your health, but also because it makes it HARDER for you to continue to make good decisions at your party) then do so in moderation. Practice the "glass of water between each drink" rule. This will not only help you to consume less, but it will also help you to not feel so bad the next day.

*Eat before you go. I know that sounds absolutely crazy, but there is a method to this crazy advice. If you have dinner before you go, not only do you know exactly what was in the food that you cooked and how much of it you actually portioned out, you will be able to resist the crap that you don't need a lot easier. Nothing wrong with going with a full tummy. Nothing tells you that you HAVE to eat at the office party.

*Dance. If your holiday party will have dancing, do it! Not only will you have more fun, but if you do make some unwise choices at least you'll get rid of SOME of the calories.

*Don't congregate near the buffet table. This comes down to that same thought process behind not to eat while you're watching TV. It promotes mindless eating, which is never good. So if you're going to eat, load your plate and take it back to the table that you're sitting at. And then go dance!

*Don't dwell on the mistakes. If you do end up going overboard at your office Christmas party, don't let it get you down. Should you have made better decisions? Sure... But you're only human and things happen. But don't let the bad decision carry over to the next day. Get water, eat well, and definitely get in a good workout the next day. Not only will you FEEL better, but doing those three things will put you back on the right track in no time! If you get a flat tire do you go and slash the other three? No, of course not! So if you have one bad night, why would you then have a bad rest of the weekend/week/month? Stay in control of yourself!

3. CHRISTMAS/THANKSGIVING DAY

The big day is here! You have survived the weeks leading up to Christmas Day; now how will you actually act on this day?

Honestly, this is what you should do: ENJOY THE DAY! Really...enjoy it!

But keep all of the habits that you implemented over the last 5 weeks since Thanksgiving in place! Again, you don't need to throw it all away on ONE day. On the other hand though, ONE day will not undo all the hard work you've done. So if you've been practicing temperance the whole season, you can feel better about indulging a bit on this day. Really. It's ok. Enjoy the food, but still be smart.

Here are my list of quick tips on Christmas or Thanksgiving Day:

*Start your day with some sort of physical activity. Before dinner get in a workout, a walk, and run, something to get your body's metabolism moving! This will not only make you feel more alert during the rest of the day, believe it or not it will also help you to make better choices when it's time for dinner!
*Drink lots of water! Water is truly your best friend when it comes to making smart decision while eating.
*Limit the alcohol. If you're going to drink, just like the office parties, balance it out with water.
*Choose to fix a smarter option as one of the sides. Turkey actually isn't bad for you....it's all the "fixin's" that are where we go wrong. So have at least one side you know will be an ok choice. And make it/bring it yourself if you need to.
*Enjoy a game with your family. Instead of just eating and then sleeping, try to enjoy your family. I mean, it's one of the only days we're really together out of the whole year, isn't it? So don't eat so much that all you want to do is sleep. Bust out the Wii, grab a board game, do something FUN!


All in all, the holidays can be a scary time if you aren't prepared and you don't have a plan. But if you go into this season with a plan and a resolve to not treat your body like a garbage can and to be temperate in your habits, it doesn't matter what gets thrown at you, you will not fall too far off the wagon. We have to remember that the holidays are only TWO days out of 61 days. We don't need to eat like we're at a buffet and have no self control every day of the season. Don't let those around your derail you from what you want to do for your body! At the end of the day it's your body, your health, and YOUR choice what you do! You have to choose to act different if you want to see a difference in your body, your life, and your journey to your best healthy you ever!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! 

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