December holidays can be mixed blessings. Along with the joys of giving, of seeing family and friends and of traveling, we can experience stress, discomfort and even illness or depression. Here is a checklist of things you can do to enjoy the happiest and healthiest of holidays.
1. Rest. Make an extra effort to get plenty of quality sleep throughout the holidays. Lack of sleep weakens our immune systems, can sour our moods and shorten our fuses. The excitement of the holidays can make it harder to sleep, so we recommend a calcium-magnesium supplement to help.
2. Eat properly. A big factor that creates “holiday blues” are the refined foods, sugar and alcohol we consume. Balance your consumption of the fun but naughty stuff with plenty of fresh, raw foods along with the cooked, plenty of protein and some good fats (coconut oil, for example). The protein and fat supply steady energy for hours, help moderate blood sugar levels and elevate mood.
3. Drink water. Your body needs plain water to stay healthy. Coffee, tea, juice, alcohol, eggnog – none of these will properly hydrate your body. Some drinks, such as coffee, may actually DE-hydrate you! Dehydration can produce a depressed or anxious mood as well as lead to illness. If anything, increase your water over the holidays. The best water, by the way, is pure, unchlorinated, unfluoridated spring water from a reputable source. Drinking distilled or reverse-osmosis water consistently can be harmful as it will flush needed minerals from the body.
4. Exercise. If you find yourself sitting, talking, and eating with no exercise, get up and move. Your body won’t be able to burn those extra calories or control blood sugar levels without enough exercise. Get out for a BRISK walk or jog each day for at least a half hour (of course, follow your doctor’s advice if you have special orders regarding exercise). If you _re snowbound, try jogging in place or using an exercise machine.
5. Eat or take immune boosters. Certain foods such as garlic, onion, horseradish are powerful immune stimulators. At this time of year, with traveling and packed schedules and more, people often fall ill. This can be avoided in the main with immune stimulation (and the other points mentioned in this letter). Try to include these foods or supplements in your holiday diet. If you _re concerned about breath odor, choose a deodorized garlic supplement or take an immune tonic such as SuperImmune Boost(tm), then go brush your teeth afterwards. This will minimize the odor problem. We also have an effective, pocket-sized Mint Breath Spray.
6. One more thing about eating: since holiday diets can be over the top in sugars and other nutrient-poor yummies, we like to add a concentrated green “superfoods” supplement. We make shakes with fresh fruits or vegetables and our Flower Power(tm). Mix your favorite powdered superfoods supplement in a drink you enjoy just to be sure to give yourself the essential nutrients each day along with the treats. Children react especially badly to too much sugar. Older people do, too, but when the kids tank up on sugar and chemically “foods,” they have less social mechanisms in place and can go from angels to hellions or fuss-budgets mighty fast. Applying these same nutrition principles to them can make the difference between a relaxed and a trying time. Put out fresh fruits cut up in kid-sized pieces, nuts if they’re not too young for them (watch choking-sized foods), high-protein snacks and serve up some of those smoothies to them, if they’ll have them.
7. As practical, divvy up the chores over the holidays. No one person should be the cook, server and maid or butler. There can be a lot more to do and we find that spreading it around… maybe a different crew of two people after each meal… helps to keep everyone feeling more pampered and more contributive, too.
8. Take breaks. Seeing family for some is just fun and in an ideal world, it would always be fun for all of us. For some, though, it can be stressful. Old (or not so old) unresolved situations, reminders of upsets or estrangements, losses or deaths can be “stirred up” when we get together over the holidays. If you feel the need, take a break and “get some space” by yourself now and then. Just the simple action of taking a leisurely or brisk walk and looking around can be be very helpful for restoring composure. Also making things (see below) can help.
9. Emphasize the creative over the holidays. The old-fashioned way is more enjoyable because it takes involvement. This is singing – not only listening to recorded songs; making ornaments – not only buying them; baking – not just buying prepared foods; drawing your own cards (you can buy blank ones at art supply stores) and any things like that that occur to you.
Children especially come zooming up from crankiness or boredom to intense interest and cooperativeness when they’re asked to contribute by making things themselves. (About the surest guarantee of fussy kids is to leave them watching TV or playing video games all day.) They LOVE to stir the batter, set the table with their own touches (like folding napkins), cut up fancy paper snowflakes, to arrange flowers, to sew together cranberries or popcorn for the tree, to make their own presents. One favorite in our family was making Fimo(tm) or Sculpey(tm) clay (you make it and bake it) sculptures and jewelry – you can also buy the metal parts of the jewelry, called “findings,” at the art supply store cheaply – wow, what fun! You’ll want to dig in, too (and of course, supervise the oven part)! Kids love to learn lyrics to songs (just tell them simply what they new words mean, of course) and harmonies… you might have to nudge and encourage them through some reticence since kids sing like this more rarely these days. But once they’re onto it, watch out! They’ll be singing up a storm and expecting you to chime in, they’ll be arranging and putting on shows… and everyone can have more fun with the kids really happy.
10. We believe in not giving children (or anyone) so many in gifts even at Christmas that the natural sense of appreciation turns into a “gimme” attitude. There is a point where it can take on the heavy feeling of a material festival more than a spiritual one. One thing we have done with our kids that helped elevate the feel of the holiday back to the spiritual, even with lots and lots of gifts, was to have each person open a gift separately so that everyone got a chance to enjoy it and to get the kids used to thanking the giver and even depositing hugs and kisses with each gift. When it gets too fast and frenzied, I myself anyway find that it descends away from a thankful and loving experience.
We hope this helps you have a happier, healthier holiday season! Please write us with your own ideas for holiday health and happiness.
Love,
Evan