Hurray! The holidays are here, and everything is going great!
The exams are over, the family is together, the food is plentiful, you’re about to receive lots of presents, the new year is full of promises, and everyone is in the best of moods!
What a magical time of the year!
But all this glee shouldn’t end up in misery!
And one way to avoid this is to prepare for potential temptations that may come and disrupt your balance.
Here are four situations that should be done in moderation or totally avoided if you want to keep the festive season enjoyable.
1. Eating
Holiday meals with family are a wonderful occasion to catch up, discuss, and have a jolly good time.
But as we saw in our Deepavali article, they’re also the perfect circumstances for us to forget all the efforts made during the year and indulge in lots of delicious and irresistible dishes.
It's easy to lose track of calories when you’re having a good time, and there may be some social pressure to eat everything in sight (wouldn’t want to hurt the cook’s feelings now, would we?).
So how can you manage your cravings, avoid overeating, have a great time, and still enjoy all the food?
First of all, you shouldn’t ban any food item you know you’ll crave later or you won’t be able to resist the minute it’s put in front of you. That’s cruel and unrealistic!
You should allow yourself to have anything and everything you want to eat, but in regulated quantities.
An easy way to do this is to politely insist on serving yourself. That way, you can take very small portions, eat slowly, and pay close attention to the “I’m full!” cues your body is giving you.
You can enjoy seconds or thirds of what you love, but keep the portions small and don't feel guilty for not finishing everything; leftovers can be eaten the following couple of days anyway!
If you do feel you’ve eaten more than usual, you can compensate by either reducing your portions from your next meals or by slightly extending your daily exercise routine.
Remember, meals are supposed to be a source of pleasure, not of stress, guilt, or anguish!
2. Drinking
Ah, alcohol, that social lubricant that supposedly gives people the confidence and the smoothness to face any situation, be it that boring party you didn’t want to attend or that popular crush you never had the nerve to approach.
Except we’ve already been enlightened on how alcohol’s allure is pretty much unfounded, and how it can lead to some really unglamorous situations. Especially during the holidays, when the pressure to have “the GREATEST time EVER!!” is quite strong.
Well, the key is to be prepared. If you already know this is the season for gatherings, parties, and other festivities, then you’ll be more alert and able to better cope with its temptations.
If, for instance, you never or hardly ever drink, stay firm in your convictions, even if your friends try to cajole you into drinking more than you’re comfortable with.
This is important because you can easily overestimate your alcohol limits and/or underestimate your level of intoxication.
That’s when you risk feeling sick, getting into a fight, poisoning your system, or just getting the worst hangover you’ve ever had!
As a matter of fact, even experienced drinkers tend to underestimate the effects of alcohol on their mind and body, which is why they start acting silly or being reckless or obnoxious without even realising it!
The best way to avoid all of this is to know how you can excuse yourself; resist the pressure to drink, politely decline, and still be the life of the party!
Remind yourself that you don’t HAVE to drink alcohol just because it’s there – really, there aren’t any official rules stating that alcohol is a necessary ingredient for holiday cheer!
Also keep in mind that most reasonable people won’t consider it rude if you choose to stick to non-alcoholic beverages.
If you’re of legal drinking age and you do want to drink, then apply the principle of moderation.
That may sound easier said than done, especially in the context of a full-blown party with friends dancing to loud music and booze being easily available, but there are a few simple tricks to help you stick to your limits.
You can decide ahead of time how many drinks you’ll be having and stick to it. If possible, make your own mixes or cocktails, so that you know exactly how much alcohol went into your drink.
As a general rule of thumb, stick to having not more than 3 drinks for women and 4 drinks for men per outing.
Another useful tip is to never drink on an empty stomach, as the alcohol will hit you harder, and to always alternate with water or other non-alcoholic beverages to avoid a massive hangover the next day.
If you think you’ve gone overboard, find a friend or a loved one who is sober and ask them to take you home safely. Trust us, you won’t want to end up in dangerous or embarrassing situations.
If the roles are reversed and someone asks you for assistance, do help out, as you can always get back to the party later.
In any case, remember that drinking alcohol is as much a choice as it is a responsibility and that you can always live it up without drinking up!
3. Flirting
Speaking of living it up, many of us go to parties and social gatherings to meet new people.
And by “new people”, we of course mean “single and attractive members of the opposite sex”. Otherwise we wouldn’t be going out with perfect hair and killer outfits, right?!
The problem is that, like most things during the holidays, flirting can go overboard and become somewhat of a risk.
Especially when alcohol is involved, impulses and limits are not necessarily controlled. Plus, the whole “end-of-the-year” vibe may give people bad ideas that seem genius or harmless in the spur of the moment.
If you find yourself in a tricky situation, ask yourself a couple of useful questions:
- Am I in love? Love and sex are two completely different things. Being “in love” does not mean “making love”. Love takes time and involves trust, respect, and commitment, which is not the case with someone you’ve just met. If you’ve known someone for a while, you can love that person and wait to have sex with him/her.
- Am I ready? Like most youngsters, you may think you’re ready to have sex. In fact, you’re eager and you can’t wait for it to happen! But you have to realise you may not be emotionally or psychologically ready to have a full-blown adult relationship! Are you also ready to pay bills, go to work, and have children of your own? No, right?!
- What am I doing? Experience has taught us that if a situation feels wrong or weird, it usually is! If you feel your personal boundaries for physical intimacy (holding hands, kissing, hugging, etc.) are being pushed, find a polite but firm way to get out of the situation.
- Is this risky and/or dangerous? By now you’re old enough to understand when a situation is escalating to something that may end up harming you. You’re mature enough to know that a sexually transmitted infection (STI), a disease, or an unintended pregnancy are not the best ways to start the new year, right?
Also be weary of sexual abuse such as rape or molestation (it can happen to anyone, boys AND girls!). If it happens to you or to someone you know, report it to a parent, an adult you trust, or straight to the police.
If you still somehow end up in a steamy situation, remind yourself that the party spirit shouldn’t muddle your safe sex reflexes.
Always be prepared! Buy a pack of condoms and make sure you have it with you before heading out to those wild parties.
Remember that condoms can be damaged by oil-based products such as moisturiser, sunscreen lotion, baby oil, or lipstick. Heat can also be a problem, so store them in a cool, dry place.
Also remember that condoms are not 100% effective, so ultimately the best way to avoid any risk of infection is still to abstain from having sex, until you are truly ready to deal with the issues that come along with it..
You can learn more about HIV/AIDS here. Go here if you’d like to know more about World AIDS day.
4. Smoking
By now everyone knows that smoking is a filthy and dangerous habit. It’s a good thing that 85% of us are smoke-free. But that still leaves many smokers in our midst.
Some of them have attempted to quit before, while others have never even tried, regardless of the harm they’re doing to themselves and to their loved ones, sometimes even convincing themselves that they actually like to smoke, or that it’s not really bad for them anyway.
Truth is, most smokers eventually realise that all the health-related issues that come from smoking are not just something that happens to “others”, but a very real threat that destroys lives every day (each day, about 7 Singaporeans die prematurely from smoking-related diseases)!
If you have friends who smoke and who think it somehow makes them “cooler” than non-smokers, don’t follow their example, and don’t give in to their pressure!
You want to know how cigarettes get people hooked? Here’s a quick summary that’ll save you the pains of trying to quit many years later.
Usually what happens is that you don’t really notice when you get hooked.
When you smoke your first cigarette, you find the taste disgusting, your head starts spinning, you get dizzy, and you cough violently. Which is simply your body’s way of telling you that such poisons were not meant to be put into it!
After that first cigarette most people will say “Okay, I tried it, it made me sick, I can tell it’s not for me”. These people will most probably stay away from cigarettes for the rest of their lives, even if people around them smoke.
Some, however, will stay away from cigarettes for a couple of weeks or for a couple of months, and then they’ll try it again. Why? Because of their smoker friends/loved ones, and they wonder “how come they can inhale the smoke without being sick, and I can’t?”.
So they’ll give it another try, and sure enough, after a few tries, no more dizziness, no more sickness etc. And they think “Hey! I must be getting the hang of it!”.
Well, what’s actually happening is that your body and mind are adjusting to the poisons being there.
Now all that needs to happen is for your brain cells to change. And this will happen, sooner or later, because nicotine is an addictive drug just like heroin and cocaine.
And before you know it, you’ve become a SMOKER!
So don’t let a little holiday season temptation take you down that path. Simply say no and go on to achieve great things!
Did we miss anything? Do you know of other holiday temptations? Let us know in the comments below or send us a message on Facebook or Twitter!
