Over Yom Tov, many of our healthy habits are compromised. Our sleep schedule is thrown o­ff. Mealtimes are structured, making it hard to stick to the golden rule of “eat when you’re hungry and don’t eat when you’re not.” Physical activity is limited, and our eating style is less than ideally balanced. It’s no surprise that many women end Yom Tov feeling out of shape.

Fad diets, aimed toward weight loss, are promoted relentlessly in the post-Yom Tov season. Sometimes they work in the short run, but usually not in the long run. Most such diets aren’t sustainable, especially those that eliminate entire food groups, require bars and meal-replacement shakes, encourage eating only at certain distant intervals throughout the day, or demand that you override hunger cues or count calories or points.

Moreover, following a restrictive diet puts the body into starvation mode, where it begins storing all available energy as fat instead of metabolizing it properly. It’s not a recipe for metabolic, digestive, or emotional long-term success.

Five to Thrive

When you’re looking for lasting results, my tried-and-tested recommendation is simply to put five key habits into place, one at a time. These habits are basic, maintainable, and just plain healthy. They do all the things we want them to do: increase metabolism, aid digestion, and improve hormonal balance. You might have had them before and lost step over Yom Tov, or maybe you never had them at all. Either way, it’s a long stretch until Chanukah, and now is the perfect time to see how consistent commitment to healthy habits can have long-term, lasting results.

I call it “getting in SHAPE.”

Sleep: Get enough of it! Turn in as early as you can and aim for eight hours a night.

Hydration: Drinking enough water in between meals is critical to overall health and metabolism.

Attunement: Tune in to your body’s cues and feed it what it needs, when it needs it. (Hint: what it needs might not always be food!)

Physical activity: Get moving!

Eating: Fuel your body with nourishing, balanced meals and snacks made with quality ingredients.

In the coming articles, we’ll analyze each habit, how it works, and how to implement it into your lifestyle so that you get the biggest bang for your buck.

Slow But Steady

Yes, you may be heavier after Yom Tov than you were before, thanks to a few weeks of unfamiliar routines and heavier meals. Yes, fad diets are enticing — that get-thin-quick message really tugs. Going back to our healthy habits might almost sound disappointing! But it really works.

Women I’ve worked with have reported, time and time again, that after about two weeks of consistent healthy routine, their Yom Tov bloat faded away on its own.

Incorporate these habits into your routine one at a time to make sure they stick. After a while, they’ll all be second nature. Wishing you the best of health,

Rorie