Steps on how to survive being ill during the holiday season

So Christmas is finally around the corner and you're starting to get immensely excited until you get struck down with banging headaches, a stuffy nose, and a sore throat that makes your voice sound like you haven't had a drop of water in days. Sound familiar? It's definitely the case for me right now, and I'm well and truly pissed. If you're ill right now, I know how you feel sister! So I've come up with a few ways to survive being ill during the holiday season.

Step one: Brace yourself for this... stop feeling sorry for yourself! I know I know, you feel like crap and want to rip your throat out, but people in the world are going through much worse than you right now. Try and be grateful, as hard as it may sound it's good to realize that it's not often that it's deemed acceptable to lay in bed all day! Take any time you get off to your advantage instead of bathing in self-pity; trust me it will only make it worse.

Step two: Take action! If you feel something coming on, your hunch is probably right. But you can be a step ahead and take action before the illness tries to fully take over your body. If I ever start to feel a bit worse for wear I straight away break out the Lemsip. If that fails or your already at the stage of complete ickiness, then the following steps should help you out.

Step three: Break out the Christmas movies! They're bound to cheer you up, what with all the happy stories of white Christmases and Santa. At least, they can distract you from the realization that your nose is probably as red as Rudolph's right now.

Step four: If you can keep your food down and if it doesn't hurt too much to swallow, then you better break out the snacks. Being ill is going to seriously mess with your energy levels, so forget the calorie intake and eat away! When I'm poorly sick I'm and avid ice cream eater. Who am I kidding? I'm always an avid ice cream eater!

Step five: Hydration, hydration, hydration. I'll admit it, I'm pants at remembering to drink a good amount of water every day. However, it's even more so important to get some water down yourself when you're ill. If not, you might just end up feeling worse, so always have a glass of water near you at all times!

Step six: Reeeelllllaaaaaaxxxx. Don't worry about those Christmas presents you haven't bought yet, that paper you need to finish, or all the work you're supposed to be doing. Being ill is a bit like your body telling you to have a break, spend a day or two with yourself, and to look after yourself. Yeah maybe it's a funny way of telling you but hey. Putting yourself under stress will not make matters any better.

I hope you're all feeling well, but if not I hope these steps help you out! 

Much love,

Lauren xx