Finding balance is hard, even on your best day and during the holidays? It's even harder. Part of finding balance is to get your priorities straight. The problem is, our usual priorities often go out the window when the holidays hit, leaving us feeling frazzled, overwhelmed and overworked.

Part of finding balance is taking care of yourself and exercise is one of the best ways to take care of yourself when things get crazy. If you need a little motivation to keep exercise at the top of the list, below are some reminders of what exercise can do for you:

Sanity Saver

Exercise is your number one defense against depression and stress, two things that often strike around the holidays. Taking some time to breathe and move, even if it's just a few minutes, may bring a little more balance to your day.

Health Saver

Stress can do a number on your body, particularly to your immune system. If you're feeling rundown, you may be more susceptible to colds and flu, but moderate exercise can actually boost your immune system. Try to get 20-30 minutes of moderate exercise (like this Basic Cardio Workout) most days of the week to help protect you from catching a cold.

Body Saver

Exercise is a must if you're trying to lose weight and, this time of year, we're often happy just to maintain where we are. If you're tempted to skip your workouts, remind yourself that a workout (even a short one) can help you keep your weight in check over the holidays.

How do you use exercise to find balance in your life? Leave a comment and tell us more ways we can find balance.

I got an email from a client this morning asking: "Could you give me some exercises that won't squish the cookie-belly I developed over Christmas?" Cookie-belly is certainly a concern this time of year - it seems like there's an endless supply no matter where you go. There are plenty of ways to work off cookie-belly with exercise, but this week, I'm focusing on some relaxing stretches. There's often a lull between Christmas and New Year's Eve and this lull sometimes leads to the dreaded food hangover. The cure for a food hangover is to treat your body well with lots of water, nutritious foods and some exercise. One of my favorite ways to work myself out of a food hangover is with some relaxing stretches.

If you have a little time to get yourself together this week, below are some of my favorite stretches for lengthening the body and relaxing the mind. Do these after your regular workout or use them to motivate yourself to actually do your regular workout.

Pretzel Stretch

Cross the left foot over right knee. Clasp hands behind right thigh and gently pull the leg in towards you, keeping upper body relaxed. Hold for 30 seconds and switch sides.

Pigeon Stretch

Begin on the hands and knees and bring the left knee in, resting it on the floor between your hands (you should be resting on the outside of the knee). Straighten the right leg out behind you and, if you can, bend forward and rest the forearms on the floor. Hold for 30 seconds and switch sides.

Spine Twist

Lying on the floor, place right foot on the left knee. Using your left hand, gently pull your right knee towards the floor, twisting your spine and keeping left arm straight out, hips and shoulders on the floor. Hold for 30 seconds and switch sides.

It's about that time...you know what I'm talking about. The new year is coming and this is a great time to stop and reflect on the past, think about the future and plan actions for the coming year. Here are some ideas for how to spend the time between Christmas and the new year as you gear up for the coming year:

Reflect

How was the last year for you in terms of exercise, fitness and health? Take some time to reflect on what you accomplished, what you should be proud of and, perhaps, what you could improve upon. A few things to look at:

• Exercise habits - Did you workout consistently enough to make exercise more of a habit this year? Think about your overall exercise habits and how they stacked up to your goals.
• Exercise enjoyment - Did you enjoy your workouts, at least on some level? Exercise may not be as fun as, say, lounging on the beach, but you should feel a sense of satisfaction, a job well done and something positive from your workouts. If you didn't, think about how you could improve things. Could you choose activities you like more or a workout schedule that fits your lifestyle better?
• Success - Did you feel successful this year with your exercise? Whether your goal was to lose weight, get in shape or just make exercise a habit, how did you do? When you look back, do you feel you were successful overall?

Predict

After thinking about what you accomplished last year, think about the coming year. What would you like to improve upon? Some ideas:

• Exercise more consistently
• Push myself harder
• Give myself permission to rest more often
• Try new activities
• Give myself new challenges like training for a race

Plan

The last step is to think about your plan of attack. All those reflections and predictions are good, but taking action is the only way to get to where you want to go. Thinking about your predictions, how will you reach your goals? I'll be covering this over the next few weeks, but now is a great time to think about putting together a plan of action.

What about you? Do you spend time reflecting, predicting and planning for the coming year? Do you make New Year's resolutions? Vote in this week's poll and leave a comment to tell us how you'll prepare for the coming year.

I've highlighted lots of weight loss success stories here, but weight loss isn't the only benefit of exercise. In fact, one of the greatest (and most difficult) transitions we can make is to move from being sedentary to being more active.

It may seem impossible, especially for those of us who grew up in an inactive family, but it can be done - something my readers prove time and time again. Jackie is one of those people. She grew up with the motto, "No pain...no pain!" and lived her life accordingly...at least until she got older and realized she wasn't happy with the way she felt or looked. As she said, "I had to get my head around the fact that changes needed to be made."

Once she made up her mind, she started with a simple walking workout and changed from being sedentary to actually looking forward to her workouts. Read more about Jackie's turnaround and share your own exercise story, if you have one. This time of year, we can use all the motivation we can get.