Ah, the holiday season is here, and we are all so full of cheer. Yeah, right. For many of us, the holidays don't always show up in nice, neatly wrapped packages. High expectations (often self-imposed) for gourmet meals and those "just perfect" gifts are stressful and anxiety provoking. Here are few ideas that I hope will make your holidays healthier and happier. And remember: one of the best gifts we can give the people we love is taking care of ourselves.
Stress Relief:
Stress affects brain function, memory, concentration, and learning. Longer-term stress is known to contribute to heart disease, hypertension, and to impair the immune system. Stress is also linked to strokes, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), ulcers, diabetes, muscle and joint pain, miscarriage during pregnancy, allergies, alopecia and even premature tooth loss.
Here are some simple pointers for reducing stress susceptibility and stress itself, for you or to help others:
- Share worries: talk to someone else who is a good listener and won't rush to solve your problems or give advice.
- Don't try to control things that are uncontrollable. You can't. Instead, know you can adjust and choose how you respond and adapt.
- Increase self-awareness of personal moods and feelings: anticipate and take steps to avoid stress build-up before it becomes more serious.
- Explore and use relaxation methods-they do work if given a chance: yoga, meditation and massage. Deep breathing techniques are easy to learn and can be done nearly anywhere, anytime.
- Take your vitamins: group B vitamins and magnesium are important along with vitamin C.
Exercise:
- Exercise more, generally and at times when feeling very stressed: exercise burns-up adrenaline and produces helpful chemicals and positive feelings. The fact is, it's very difficult to think about your problems when you are huffing and puffing.
- Exercise of all types (muscle and cardio-building) produces chemicals in the body such as beta-endorphin that produce a kind of "high." (It's arguable that it has this effect on everyone, but if you never get to exercise seriously, you'll never know...). We don't fully understand how these effects happen, but we do know that exercise produces powerful feelings of well being and a nice holiday glow.
Food Temptations:
If you're struggling to lose weight, or simply trying to maintain your weight, the lure of holiday foods can make parties and other events a source of stress-or overindulgence. Here are a few tips to help alleviate food temptations and enjoy the parties that provide them.
- Choose a small plate and fill it with equal parts healthy foods and tempting food. Eat slowly and then get rid of the plate.
- If you have a history of gobbling down entire fruit cakes, make a commitment to yourself now that you will have one piece, enjoy it thoroughly and that you will have another piece... next year.
- Position yourself as far away from the food table as you can. One of my clients has taken this strategy a step further and routinely joins " the smokers" outdoors to help her resist the temptation of over-eating at parties. There's nothing like cigarette smoke to suppress your appetite! Just remember: don't inhale!
- Limit your intake of high calorie alcoholic beverages by having a large glass of water in between drinks. If you enjoy fruit juice, cut juices with sparkling water to decrease calories.
- When the plethora of holiday goodies starts to get to you, ask yourself: "would I rather feel healthy and guilt free or would I rather experience that momentary enjoyment of eating (X)?" (With "X" being your greatest food temptation).
In the end, remember that the holidays come only one a year and that you should enjoy them. Allow yourself to have fun and laugh often with friends and relatives. Hey: It's a proven fact that laughter reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, elevates mood, boosts your immune system, and improves brain functioning (researchers at the University of Maryland also say it can prevent heart disease!). So laugh often and well this season-happy holidays!
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