Every year, Neuliven Health’s social media team takes a vacation around the holidays. As a health and wellness company, we believe it’s essential for our team to take care of themselves and are committed to their wellbeing as much as our customers’! As such, this is our last blog of the year. We’ll be back and recharged in 2021 with more great blogs with tips about healthy lifestyles.

This year has been hectic. We’ve looked at safer ways to see family and friends over Christmas. And we looked at how to exchange cookies when we aren’t attending parties. We have also written about embracing and accepting how different these holidays are. There isn’t caroling this year, church services aren’t being held in person, and we won’t be kissing our extended family at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Instead, we have to look for new ways to enjoy ourselves.

We wrote about allowing yourself to take a low-key approach to the holidays if you usually go all out. One piece of advice we’ve been seeing is to skip the big meal and go for snacks instead, and we are on board. We always write about eating healthy food in moderation. Around the holidays, that can be harder. No one should beat themselves up for indulging in treats at this time of year. Guilt will only lead to you feeling defeated, and like you won’t reach your health goals. While you should think about your choices, you should enjoy your food!

Snacking all day might not be the best idea: you don’t pay attention to healthy portion sizes or hunger cues. But, having meals made up of your favorite holiday snacks can feel like a huge treat and be much easier than cooking “the big meal.” You don’t have to worry about timing the sides and the meat. You don’t have to worry about oven space or making sure guests are happy. This takes the stress out of your day while still allowing you to feel like Christmas is a celebration with special food! You could have deviled eggs, egg rolls, dips and pigs in a blanket.

There is another huge upside to this plan. Many Americans are planning on having a “Christmas in July” or other parties to celebrate what they have missed once it is safe. You can put your ham or other special foods in the freezer for a few months and save yourself the money of repurchasing them when it comes time to have guests. If you have less special food in your freezer now, it’s the perfect excuse to “eat down” your freezer. That way, you can have a great Christmas now and a low-cost one then!