If you're like me, a 20 something year old with high anxiety and stress from day to day, you're probably also a little overweight or eat a lot of processed foods. My stress and anxiety causes me to become an emotional eater, which I hate.

So, lately, I've been trying to kick my bad eating habits to the curb and start eating better with a side of daily cardio. I've been trying to deal with stress in different ways and I found cardio to be an excellent stress reliever.

With the holidays knocking at the front door, most people just cave in and don't even try to keep the weight off. That was me, but this year is going to be different. By eating healthier, my body doesn't crave all the sweets and sugars like it used to.

Really, it's just become a mentality thing. Like, I miss Oreos because I haven't had them in awhile, not because I need that cookie in my mouth with some milk. (Wow, I sound like Cookie Monster.)

Don't get me wrong, I still have trouble from time to time when I cross paths with sweets at the grocery store, but I won't buy them now because they aren't worth the 45 minutes I put in on the treadmill. When I began to work out, I mostly stuck to cardio. Now, I've added some weights just to build my strength.

Because I do want to slim down, I tend to use the treadmill almost daily in efforts to improve on my speed. It helps to listen to music when I run and also keeps me distracted from the thought of me actually running. This is the main way I'm keeping junk food off my mind.

Another way I've been keeping the weight off during the holidays is by replacing breakfast with shakes. I'm always on the go, so a healthy shake for breakfast is the perfect solution for me.

I've also switched out regular milk for almond milk and let me tell ya... Life. Changer. As far as lunch and dinner, I keep it small and only eat chicken. I love chicken, so I never get tired of it, but you can also switch to leaner meat like turkey! I tend to stay away from red meat since it tends to make me feel a bit heavier.

Last, but not least... I have dance breaks when I work out. I know it sounds silly, but if one of my favorite songs is playing while I'm running or doing bicep curls, I HAVE to stop and dance. It's important to enjoy yourself during this time of the year, whether you go out with friends or have a night to relax at home.

As I've mentioned before, I stress out a lot. Learning to relax and enjoy myself has been a struggle, but it's getting easier when I'm finding things I actually enjoy doing.

The more I work out, the less I'm stressed.