And just like that, Christmas day is over. The holiday season could be the most wonderful and also the most stressful time of the year. Admit it or not, we are as excited to December 25 and as to the day after Christmas.
So how do you recover from Christmas exhaustion? Try doing these small things and your December 26 will never be the same again.
7 Little Changes That’ll Make a Big Difference With Your Day After Christmas
1. Sleep all you want.
Christmas celebrations are physically exhausting. Surely you have used almost all of your energy playing parlor games, dancing it all out in every party, singing your heart out in the videoke, and catching Christmas shopping.
Make the most out of the “amihan” or northern monsoon season because cold temperatures can help you sleep better. A night of deep sleep can also give your heart and blood vessels a chance to rest and recover. It is also a perfect time to snuggle with your loved ones in the bed. So go ahead, turn off your alarm. Don’t snooze every five minutes.
2. Recover from the hangover.
Do you feel tired, weak, excessively thirsty, nauseous, and your head spins? If yes, then you have a Christmas hangover. And it’s okay, you can recover.
According to Mayo Clinic, “hangovers are caused by drinking too much alcohol. A single alcoholic drink is enough to trigger a hangover for some people, while others may drink heavily and escape a hangover entirely.”
Here are Filipino foods that can cure a hangover
- Sinigang na baboy (Pork stew with tamarind)
- Bulalo (Beef Marrow Stew)
- Lugaw, tokwa’t baboy (Rice porridge with tofu and pork slices)
- Coffee
- Champorado (Sweet chocolate rice porridge)
- Taho (Soy pudding with caramel syrup)
- Balut (Duck egg with Embryo)
3. Recreate and cook those Noche Buena leftovers.
Don’t spoil you Noche Buena leftovers! Here are easy, light, and simple dishes you can make out of your excess food:
- Lechon Wraps with Peanut Sauce- Here’s a breakfast treat using your leftover Lechon. The vegetables will refresh your palate which tortured with all the salty meat you ate. It has peanut sauce for an Asian sweet touch. Get the full recipe here.
- Lechon Paksiw- It is another favorite savory Filipino post-Noche Buena recipe. Cooking and ingredients are the same as cooking pork adobo. Just replace soy sauce with Lechon sauce or “Mang Tomas” and raw pork with Lechon meat.
- Ham Fried Rice- Saute garlic, add some peas or corn if you have, a bit of soy sauce, add the leftover ham sliced into bits, and fry the rice. Pair it fried dried fish like tuyo or daing (marinated milkfish) or if you still like, ham.
4. Drink lots of water.
Dehydration is common after attending parties. So drink plenty of water to rehydrate. It would also help cure your hangover faster. Continue to do so even after the day after Christmas. Make it your New Year’s resolution for 2020.
5. Open the gifts.
Or if they are already open, take a second look to appreciate or inspect.
Raise your hand if you pass out the moment the Christmas party is over? We did not have time to open gifts so do it day after Christmas. Open them one by one, read and keep the cards so you’ll know who to thank for. Appreciate the gift-givers, send them a simple thank you.
Also, take time to inspect whatever you got for Christmas. Check if something is broken, does not fit that needed to be replaced.
6. Don’t bother taking down the Christmas tree and other decorations.
As we all know, Christmas Philippines is the longest in the world. It begins as early as July and ends as late as February. It is totally okay to just leave Christmas decors up for few more weeks.
7. Take a walk alone or with your loved one.
Go out and feel the sun as the cold breeze touches your face. Aside from it is a great form of exercise (which we forget once the Christmas season began), it is a great time to clear your head and just breathe. Take time to share a good laugh at all the funny moments you had the day before.
So that’s how you spend your day after Christmas. Keep calm as we begin counting down days before Christmas again.