If you focus on the possible when you experience difficult situations you can positively change your outlook, reduce your stress, and concentrate on achieving things that otherwise may not have been possible. Catherine Pulsifer
Being in the midst of the usual holiday bustle, Pulsifer’s quote encourages us to focus on the doable. For our purposes, doable can be defined as what we can do to create a great holiday season for ourselves and others while maintaining our sanity. Everyone will probably be just fine with fewer, but more thoughtful gifts. Perhaps holiday cards only go to your closest family and friends. Perhaps only 2 sides with dinner rather than 4 will do the trick. Choose your invitations in a way that energizes rather than exhausts you. As each doable task is completed, might the positive energy from a task well completed, provide the energy for doing one more thing, such as sitting quietly being thankful of the abundance of friends, family, and sense of plenty we share?
All the best wishes for happy & healthy holidays to you and your family. I’m looking forward to continuing the conversation about health and wellbeing in the New Year!
Heading off Holiday Stress
Holiday stress is a normal part of the year. While our daily responsibilities remain constant, the extra work (which we’re happy to do) of thinking about and giving the perfect gifts to friends, family, & colleagues can be overwhelming. While Pulsifer’s quote above provides an overarching theme, specific things to alleviate holiday stress could include some combination of the following.
While being a particular challenge at this time of year, stick to you health maintenance routine as much as possible. Being cooler, it’s normal to crave fats and sweets and can be satisfying. But too much of both, leads to feelings of lethargy, followed by abandoning your health maintenance plan, resulting in the downward spiral of eating badly to feel better, to only feel worse, thus generating stress.
Other suggestions include, being realistic with your expectations. If this is your busy time at work, consider practicing the less is more idea. Less stuff of higher quality will likely be just as appreciated. Enjoy your friends, family, and colleagues, recognizing that long brewing relationship issues won’t be solved while opening gifts or over your holiday dinner. Party only enough to energize and reconnect you with others, not to the point of exhaustion. With all of the “doing” make sure to take some time for yourself by actively doing nothing to reconnect with yourself to assure yourself you’re doing things you truly want to do.
Food Focus: Foods to Counteract Effects of Holiday Eating
With all of the heavy eating and imbibing at this time of year, you’ll likely feel the need for a bit of cleansing simple food. Before going to the party, have a simple snack of simply cooked or even raw vegetable. I’m experimenting with keeping my frig & pantry stocked with small servings of vegetable soups, which can be heated up and eaten before going out for the evening to head off the lethargy of overindulgence. Lots of green veggies, are especially good at cleaning out your digestive track of fats inherent to more meat & dairy that tends to be consumed at this time of year. If all you can manage is the pre-cut veggies from the grocery, be grateful for them, and enjoy them in peace knowing they will help you stick to your health game plan.
The best vegetable to clean dietary fat out of your system is daikon radish. This grated daikon salad can help balance all the foods you will be eating this holiday season. Daikon is a deep cleanser that stimulates digestion, especially for rich foods. Parsley, an ingredient in the salad, has high levels of vitamin C along with many other nutrients and also improves digestion.
Recipe of the Month: Grated Daikon Salad
Prep Time: 5 minutes + 20 minutes to chill
Yields: 4 servings
Ingredients:
1- 6 inch piece daikon
1/2 bunch washed flat leaf parsley
4 tablespoons toasted black sesame seeds
3 tablespoons umboshi plum vinegar (or any kind of vinegar)
1 tablespoon walnut oil (or any kind of unprocessed pure oil)
Directions:
1. Grate daikon and place in a salad bowl.
2. Blend remaining ingredients, serve or allow to chill in fridge for 10-20 minutes.
Send This On!
I hope you have found this newsletter to be as informative and inspiring to read as it has been for me to share it with you. Please feel free to forward it to those friends, family and colleagues in your life that you think might also be interested and inspired by it. If you refer someone who signs up, it’s $100 in your pocket or a free exercise session.
Toni Taylor
Holistic Nutritional & Exercise Consultant
212-586-0681
