Healthy Valentine's Day Ideas And Tips
Valentine's Day is a day to focus on and celebrate love in all forms. While romantic love always takes center stage on Valentine’s Day, we think that the “gal pals”, the “bromance”, the love you have for yourself, for your family, your pawfect little furry friend and the love you hold for your dear friends deserves celebration as well because love has no limits, so celebrating it shouldn’t either.
In celebration of love this year, we have compiled a few healthy Valentine’s Day tips and ideas to help you plan and execute your date night or special occasion to your heart’s content, no matter who it is with or how you choose to celebrate it.
Health Tips for Valentine's Day
Typically, Valentine’s Day is most often paired with candy hearts and chocolates that are loaded with sugar. This year, we have some suggestions to make your Valentine’s Day happier and healthier. For starters, try cooking your Valentine’s Day meal at home! This is an excellent way to control the quality of your food, and how much you want to eat. Check out these healthy recipes for you and your valentine. Looking for something active to do for your healthy Valentine's Day? Try taking a couple hours and venturing outside together for a walk or a nice hike if your weather will permit. If it doesn’t, perhaps bundle up and play in the snow together! Need to make sure you stay hydrated during your activities? If you don’t love the taste of water, our Water Drops® can help make staying hydrated effortless during your outdoorsy fun! Other activities and ideas can be found at this list.
Additionally, use this holiday as an opportunity to tell your loved onse how much you care and check in with one another. Share ways you can support each other with physical health, mental health and wellness. No matter if you’re celebrating with your partner, your best friend, or even your parents, Valentine’s Day is a good time to check in and really invest in the relationships around you. Additionally, take this day to check in with and celebrate yourself, because self-love is so important. Use this link for ideas on how to treat yourself this Valentine’s Day!
However you choose to spend time Valentine’s Day, just remember to spread love wherever you can.
Valentine's Day Ideas and Plans for Families
Valentine’s Day as a family can be tricky if you’re trying to steer clear of the sugar, but don’t worry, we have a few healthy Valentine’s Day Ideas and activities for the whole family to enjoy! One of the most tried and true (and fun!) family bonding experiences is baking together! Sugar cookies are a great option to bake as a family and the kids will love decorating them together with you. Just because you’re making sweets though, doesn’t mean that they need to contain unnecessary sugar or preservatives. So ditch the sugar this Valentine’s Day and try this sugar-free cookie recipe that you can make without any added sugar! Bonus: add a little family fun with a frosting-heart decorating competition.
Another fun family Valentine’s day activity idea is to host a family art night! Have each family member create their own artistic masterpiece with a Valentine’s Day theme. Then hang them all up on the wall at the end by using cute little price tags such as “[artist name] cost: 3 hugs.” and host your own family art auction. Just like your very own museum!
Need more family Valentines day activities for the family? Take a look at these other kid friendly ideas to keep everyone happy, healthy and entertained all day long.
Valentine's Day Date Night Ideas
Date night should always be about each other and never about the stress of planning, so this Valentine’s Day, use these ideas to help you plan your evening out in a stress free way. Our first suggestion? Put an end to the seemingly endless back and forth question of “where do you want to go to dinner?” by choosing quality time and just cooking dinner together at home instead. Bonus idea: Hide each other’s phones for the evening and make a pledge to just be in the moment with your loved one without any distractions. For your date night dinner, sit down and create a menu together of your favorite foods, and head to the store to get started! If you aren’t sure what to make, check out our recipes for inspiration! Singing and dancing, or goofing off in the kitchen while cooking together is not frowned upon, we repeat, it is NOT frowned upon.
Helpful tip: Sometimes different people can speak different love languages, and it can be very important for you and your significant other to pay attention and learn how to speak the language of your other half. Some prefer communication, some prefer gifts, some prefer quality time (Check out this link to see what love language you prefer). Just remember, that no matter what language you speak, all that matters is you make an effort together.
Galentine's Day Ideas And Tips
No date for Valentine’s Day? No problem. This day is about love, not just significant others and there is no better time or excuse to celebrate your girlfriends than today. This Valentine’s day, gather your Gal pals and host yourselves a Healthy High Tea! Tea and treats and tiny sandwiches oh my! For the table, try using fresh bright colored and bite sized ingredients to adorn the menu such as strawberries, blueberries, macaroons, and if you make tea sandwiches just be cautious of highly pigmented sauces (like mustard) around all of the finer materials and white tablecloths. Brew a couple pots of tea and let them steep, then set the table with freshly sliced lemons, cream, and for a healthy alternative to sugar if you prefer sweeter tea, set out some SweetLeaf stevia sweeteners such as the sweetener packets or perhaps sweet drops for a sweet twist on your tea.
Next up, dress up. Raid your wardrobes and don your prettiest dresses, shoes, and of course finger gloves are a MUST for the occasion. Set the table with a white tablecloth and your finest dinnerware and tea set and leave all your electronics in another room so that you may simply enjoy each others company and celebrate your friendships. Need some High Tea etiquette tips? Try looking over these insider do’s and don’ts!
Prefer something a little more relaxed this heart filled season? Try renting a movie and building a lavish sweets-free charcuterie board with all of your Galentine's for a fun-filled evening you won’t soon forget. Laughs are guaranteed, but the wine is optional.
No matter who you hold in your heart, make today something to smile about.
We hope these tips help you find your sweet spot in celebrating this Valentine’s Day with the ones you love in a happy, and healthy way.
Happy Valentine’s Day from SweetLeaf®!
