How to Survive the 3 Most Common Holiday Stressors

Do the holidays totally stress you out? If so, you are not alone. Many people say that the holiday season is the most stressful time of the year. While this time of year can be filled with aspects of fun, sharing and joy, they can also wreak havoc on your wellness routine and cause some old patterns to trickle back in or, even worse, you might completely neglect self-care. This is not good and can leave you feeling burned out, tired and may even leave your more susceptible to illness.

Today I am offering this survival guide to the holidays as a reminder to focus on your health and wellbeing while covering the most stressful elements of the season: disruption in wellness routines, financial strain and travel anxiety.

DISRUPTION IN WELLNESS ROUTINES

The foundations of wellness are nutrition, sleep, movement and relaxation. When you have a routine that balances each of these, infused with some intentional self-care, you most likely feel well, live well and create inner and outer wellbeing. The holidays tend to disrupt each of these routines! We all know it can be something of a domino effect where if one piece is disrupted all of the others are consequently negatively impacted. An example would be, if I am over tired from not getting enough sleep I may skip my AM exercise in order to get a few extra zzz’s. Because I’m still tired I may go for that extra cup (or two) of coffee—increasing my sugar intake and now disrupting my nutrition. With all the extra sugar and caffeine I can’t focus during my daily meditation and it is hard to fall asleep at night… So that’s the domino effect. Here’s how you can catch it before it completely derails!

·      Create a meal plan for each week and be sure to highlight where the vegetables and fruits exist within this plan. Even if you indulge in some holiday treats, you will still be well nourished!

·      Make your bedtime consistent, aim for 7-8 hours per night.

·      Maintain a simple exercise routine, even 10 minutes of stretching, taking the stairs or anything at all is better than nothing!

·      Do a 1-5 minute meditation before bed. Insight timer is a great app has a TON of free guided meditations, or you can use their timer to stay on track! If meditation is not how you decompress, give yourself some form of intentional relaxation in any way that you can, an epsom salt bath, reading, taking a walk, sipping chamomile tea…

Use the tools that work best for you and keep it simple, but whatever you do, don’t give up on your wellness routines, this is the time of year you need these routines the most!!

FINANCIAL STRESS & STRAIN

There is a reason the commercials start getting us in the holiday spirit super early. They want us to buy stuff, and a lot of it. Which is totally fine so long as it does not come along with financial strain, debt and regret. While yes it is fun to give and receive, there is no need to do it out of guilt and without the financial means to make it feel good. Here are some suggestions to reduce your financial stress and strain this holiday season.

·      Set a realistic budget and STICK TO IT.

·      Get creative. Making gifts such as ornaments, bookmarks, writing letters, creating playlists, getting crafty, baking or anything handmade with love is a great way to give! Who doesn’t love something handmade?

·      Choose thoughtfulness over extravagance. Consider what might be a meaningful gift over a bunch of smaller items to open. While lots of packages might look fun to open, the gifts that are most meaningful will be remembered and used throughout the year. (You can click HERE for suggestions on how to give the gift of wellness.)

·      Choose experiences over gifts. Enjoy a holiday dinner out or take a trip to a holiday show rather than exchange gifts. Maybe volunteer with friends and family somewhere where you can make a difference, this will take your mind off of wanting and get you into a space of serious gratitude. Spending time together is more memorable than a new shirt and other random items. This can create fun traditions that focus on quality time over financial expense.

Whether or not the financial means are there, you might enjoy getting creative and experiences over going shopping!

TRAVEL ANXIETY

Traveling during the holidays can be tremendously anxiety provoking as we all have busy schedules and traveling can become one more thing on the to-do list. Here are some travel strategies that can help to ease your anxious mind.

·      Practice deep breathing to help keep your nervous system in balance. If you need a resource, you can follow my 5-minute guided diaphragmatic breathing practice HERE! This is useful on a plane, train, in a car or even at the dinner table! Deep breathing is free, calming and always available.

·      Pack light, book your plans early and take the extra day off of work.

·      Travel with healthy snacks that give you sustained energy like fruits and veggies and nuts and seeds. If you become hangry while traveling, you will feel just that much more unpleasant.

·      If traveling is too much, create a time other than the specific holiday to travel when the fares are lower, and the days are less hectic.

·      Don’t skimp on your wellness routines. While traveling you might over-eat, under-exercise, under-sleep or skip your relaxation altogether. This will make it that much more difficult to bounce back from any traveling exhaustion. Even if there is one area you can maintain, that will set up you for feeling better than if it all goes away!

Whatever your plans are for this hectic holiday season, I hope you remain, healthy, happy and full of gratitude. Whatever you do, don’t forget to breathe!

How to Survive the Holidays: A Mindful Eating Guide

So the holiday season is in full force, did it sneak up on you too?! When it comes to the holidays, do you feel overwhelmed when it comes to surviving them all? Do you worry about overeating, over spending and in general just over doing it all? If so, you are not alone. This time of year, with the shorter daylight hours and brisk temperatures, it’s natural to want to do less and relax more. However, the nature of this season often gets us out and about, leaving us over tired and over stressed. When this happens, we often over-do-it with sugar, caffeine and possibly the alcohol.

Some of the primary challenges when it comes to over-doing-it during the holidays are, well, the big holiday meals, alcohol, candy dishes and sweet treats everywhere, food as gifts, cocktail parties… That’s a lot of challenges. If you already struggle with emotional and stress eating, the holidays are often too overpowering with that LONG list of challenges to stay in a mindset of health and wellbeing.

Here are some helpful suggestions to help survive each of these scenarios with a mindful eating approach to the holiday-all-the-things-food-season.

BIG HOLIDAY MEALS

Let’s start with the big holiday meals. Here are some suggestions to remain mindful and comfortable throughout each meal:

·      Start with vegetables—fill your plate with at least 50% colorful veggies.

·      Add proteins to your plate—when you eat protein and fiber (from the veggies) together it will create a feeling of satiation more quickly and stay with you longer.

·      Don’t overload your plate—if you want to eat more after your first serving, notice if you are truly hungry (mindful & intuitive eating practice) and if not, ask yourself if you can have the food you’d still like to eat as leftovers another time to receive that satisfaction later.

·      Don’t restrict what you choose to eat—on the other side of overloading is not letting yourself eat something you really want; this will only lead to cravings and resentful feelings of deprivation. Try a little of everything you want and TASTE it, enjoy it, eat it mindfully.

·      Eat dessert if you want it and if you aren’t stuffed but if you are full, don’t. Have a statement prepared for the “food pushers” in your life if you are choosing to not eat dessert (or anything else at the meal!) An example could be, “That looks amazing, can I take some to go so I can eat it when I’m not full and I can actually enjoy it.” If you do want dessert, eat it and do so mindfully.

ALCOHOL

So let’s be clear, alcohol is not a health food and if you struggle with over doing it with alcohol, it’s best to avoid it altogether. If you don’t have a problem with alcohol but tend to over-indulge during the holidays, here are my suggestions to remain more mindful in relation to your alcohol consumption:

·      Set a mental limit for yourself. Do this before you go to a cocktail party or holiday meal, know (and remember!) your set desired limits and stick to it.

·      Be sure you are not using alcohol as a coping skill. If cocktail parties or big get togethers create feelings of anxiety, discomfort or tension, you might end up over doing it to cope with those feelings. Make sure you check in with your emotions and manage them before hitting the alcohol.

·      Start any party or meal with water and be sure to stay hydrated

·      Have a glass of water between drinks

·      Choose a creative “mocktail” like seltzer, pomegranate juice and lime, no one needs to know there’s no booze!

·      Check in with your inner strength monitor to assess your “tipsy level” from time to time! You are way more likely to regret over-doing-it to under doing it!

CANDY DISHES

You know how during the holidays there are candy dishes seemingly everywhere? Here are some suggestions to help manage the dreaded candy dishes:

·      Give yourself a “sugar quota” for the day—maybe it’s 1-3 pieces of candy. Pay attention and be sure to stay in mindful eating-mode when you do enjoy a piece, when you eat it, savor it!

·      Be intentional about your choices. Do you even like those red and green M&M’s? Maybe so, but if they aren’t your fav, leave them in the dish.

·      Avoid the candy dishes. If you struggle with over-doing-it with sugar, it’s best to avoid the candy dishes and make intentional choices about what sweets you will have this season.

·      Avoid the mindless eating trap. With all of the candy around it can become easy to mindlessly have a few pieces here and there and not really enjoy and savor them.

FOOD AS GIFTS

Another big food challenge during the holidays is being given food as a gift. Here are some suggestions for dealing with this one:

·      Mange your feelings of guilt if you choose not to eat the food you are gifted. Guilt is appropriate if you have actually done something wrong, it is our conscience in action. However, if someone gives you a box of candy and you know it will be painful for you to just try one piece and you end up eating the entire box all at once, it’s best not to put yourself in a position you might feel upset about later.

·      Take the food gifts to work and share with others.

·      Take the food gifts to a holiday gathering.

·      Determine if you even like the food, then decide if it’s what you truly want to eat.

·      Save a portion of the food and give the rest away.

·      Create a sugar quota for yourself for the day and stick to it. If you’ve hit your quota, remember, you can always try something the next day.

COCKTAIL PARTIES

Cocktail parties are a challenge during the holidays. They tend have a lot of snacks and of course drinks—and they may come with a side of awkwardness. Usually they are not offering a full meal so it can be tough not to over-do-it. Here are some suggestions to manage cocktail parties with ease:

·      Give yourself a drink limit (review alcohol above!) and space them out well throughout the party. This is a mindset you create before even walking in the door.

·      Start with one drink. Then switch to water or a “mocktail” in the same glass.

·      Be aware of sugar content in any fancy mixed drinks.

·      Eat something healthy before you go so you are not hungry when you arrive.

·      Focus on the veggie options first with the available snacks.

·      Stay mindful as you do eat so you don’t graze. Sometimes when nervous we might nibble mindlessly.

A few last tips to help reduce incidents of stress and emotional eating holiday season:

·      Try to stick to meal planning and preparation throughout the season. It’s super tempting and easy to order take out or go out when you are feeling over-run during this season. This can add up in dollars and unhealthy meals.

·      Focus on vegetables and fruits. You may still choose to indulge in other holiday treats, just be sure to be well nourished along the way!

·      Make slow cooker meals that are ready to go and easy to freeze so you can have leftovers available.

·      Practice mindful eating at least one meal per day every day.

·      Use the emotional cravings protocol any time you need it.

I’ll leave you with this last reminder of the process of mindful eating so you can stay empowered, mindful and content with your choices this holiday season!

Mindful Eating is…

·      Eating without distraction.

·      Being in tune with what you are eating and your body, noticing how what you eat makes you feel.

·      Focusing on your senses, especially smelling and tasting.

·      Savoring and enjoying your food.

·      Staying tuned into to your hunger and full cues, eating when you are hungry, stopping when you are full.

·      Eating in a relaxed, calm and neutral emotional state.

·      Deriving pleasure from eating without judgment.

I hope you have a happy and healthy holiday season!

Growing Your Inner Strengths to Transform Your Life

Now that we’ve covered the six primary inner strengths, it’s time to integrate them into the fabric of our being so we are more able to live in a space of happiness, contentment and peacefulness. Let’s examine how to use these six inner strengths to help grow out of and overcome our weaknesses. 

Growing internal strengths is work—l mean, sometimes really hard work. Growing inner strength requires self-awareness, a desire to change, and putting in effort consistently to make it happen. Let’s face it, change is hard, demanding and often painful. However, is change even more painful than living in space of discomfort, avoidance and struggle? What is the real cost to you within your life to NOT change? If you desire to transform your life, change is necessary.

Of these six inner strengths (remember that there are a whole lot of other inner strengths—these are just the primary ones that I’ve focused on over the last several posts), did any stand out to you that you’d like to build? Did you notice if each already exist within your being and how you approach your life? I know the desire to possess each of them is strong for me, however, I did notice how some of them were not as super solid within me as I applied them to myself! One of the ways that I most live within my personal authenticity is when I am practicing self care and growing on all levels. Examining these inner strengths made me come face to face with how complacent I can be with my weaknesses—which then causes me to not live within my authenticity—yikes! An opportunity to grow is exciting and scary at the same time, right? 

Spend some time examining your current life a bit. Reflect on the following thought questions and journal out your answers if you like:

• Where do you hold yourself back from your dreams?

• If you applied these inner strengths to how you approach your relationship with food, what did you notice in relation to each of the strengths and how they could help improve this relationship?

• Where do you feel the most struggle within your life?

• Where are you hiding or what are you hiding from?

• What limiting beliefs do you hold onto about yourself and/or your life?

When you allow yourself to really answer these questions, you will find valuable information about where you are ready to grow and evolve into you…only better! This is where your true self is longing to level-up, to create greater consciousness. When you do this, you first will go through the temporary discomfort of stepping out of your comfort zone. Once you pass this temporary discomfort, you are able to experience the freedom of living within the authenticity of your true self and ultimately create more comfort and pleasure.

Begin by selecting one area within yourself that you might consider to be a weakness. One of my primary weakness—as I perceive it anyway—is impatience…(my husband verified this for me.) Then determine which inner strength would help to manage that weakness and ultimately build it into an inner strength. For me, in order to help improve my impatience, I’d like to build temperance (along with all of the others!) Check within yourself and go into any areas where you might avoid noticing your perceived weakness(es). Awareness is always the first step!

Just as a reminder, the six inner strengths we’ve been exploring are:

1.    Curiosity: Allowing continued growth of knowledge and wisdom

2.    Vitality: Allowing continued growth of courage as well as mind & body wellbeing

3.    Giving and Receiving Love: Allowing continued growth of love, trust, openness and affirmation for yourself and others 

4.    Temperance: Allowing continued growth of acceptance, forgiveness & compassion

5.    Gratitude: Allowing for continued growth to release the state of wanting and desire and creating a grateful perspective that what you have is enough. This creates transcendence and deeply releases anxiety.

6.    Hope & Faith: An inner belief that all will be well without having to control your circumstances. This is the experience of surrender, which is deeply personal and spiritual.

Once you’ve selected one area that needs work (identified a weakness)—and one area to build (identified useful inner strength)—let yourself dive into it. Spend time in reflection about your perception of your weakness and how growing this particular inner strength can help to improve your internal experience and your interaction within your own life. Spend time journaling and talking to others about their perceptions of you (yes, get some—at times hard to hear—feedback!) Begin incorporating daily practices to build this particular inner strength starting today. Give yourself time. Be patient (note to self!) and allow yourself to grow with effort, determination and a focus on why you want to create this strength within.

How will you know when the inner strength has become integrated? It will become evident to you in how you communicate with yourself and others, the choices you make and how others respond to you. Leveling up your consciousness and your life is a lifelong journey and worth the effort. You always have the choice to change or remain right where you are…what will you choose?