It’s so easy to get overwhelmed with the one million “healthy habits” we all feel pressured to add into our schedules. Every year, especially in January, we are bombarded with commercials and ads and social media posts urging us to work out more, buy into diet culture, do this, do that, blah blah blah. How many of us try but immediately give up because it just becomes too much too soon? How do we avoid the stress and anxiety of trying to fit all these things into our already busy lives?

We and our skating athletes here at Roller Derby Athletics agree that our annual winter holiday Sleigh’d It challenge is a great start to creating small, sustainable habits that you can easily fit into your lives, if nothing but to aid in the mental aspect of our health. 

Over the 31 days of December, we offer you a simple daily task to try out to prepare you for the start of another year. Whether it’s taking 15 mins out of your day to clean one section of a room, a 15 min quick workout to get your heart pumping, a few quick and nutritious recipes to try out, or a simple donation to your favorite charity, we have a lot of good things to offer you that you can carry over and add into your routine more often if they fit well into your schedule!

Below are a few of the most important examples of some simple habits that we include in Sleigh’d It:

Sleep Hygiene:

See Coach Maloik’s blog on sleep hygiene. It’s one of our most popular blogs and includes several habits to include in your sleep routine to optimize your rest and recovery: https://rollerderbyathletics.com/lets-talk-about-sleep-hygiene/

Hydration: 

Are we as athletes who train hard and play harder just using a blanket recommendation or are we following the science based on our activity? One of the daily challenges in Sleigh’d It is all about hydrating. I have to say that that ONE day honestly kick started my personal journey to daily proper hydration over the course of the last few years. Another popular RDA blog post about proper hydration coming right up! https://rollerderbyathletics.com/hydration/

Nutrition: 

Similar to hydration, are we fueling our bodies for the sport that we play, or are we focused on “dieting” and limiting the nutrients we so greatly need for peak performance on the track? You guessed it, another past blog post coming right up! https://rollerderbyathletics.com/new-years-nutrition-for-roller-derby/ 

Directly related to nutrition and RDA, our DerbyFuel program, FREE with an MVP membership, is HIGHLY rated by our skaters that use it. Long time client, Jesse Boom has some positive feedback to share with the community: “I used Derby Fuel as inspiration to take some smaller steps in that direction. I intend to keep doing that in small changes until I can get closer to it. I really like the whole layout, the variety of options is great. I like that It’s still things that are easy to find and prepare, and are things I’ll enjoy. And the layout is easy to read and follow. I’ve researched a lot of meal plan type information that’s out there, and it’s definitely the best one I’ve come across and the most likely for me to follow for myself and my family!”