How to Stay Sane During the Holidays

The holiday season can be a stressful time! With so many presents to buy, meals to prepare, and guests to host, it’s easy to get burnt out holiday stressduring this time of year.

All of the pressure from all sides to create the perfect day can leave you feel like you are rushing around like a crazy elf trying to run Santa’s entire workshop by yourself. 

However, the holiday season doesn’t have to leave you exhausted and stressed out. Here are some tips for staying sane and relaxed during the holidays:

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

The trick to taking the pressure off yourself is to stop expecting every little detail of the season to be perfect. The important thing about Christmas Day is that your family is together and having a great time, and not how many different festive salads that you have prepared or how beautiful your tree looks.

Don’t worry about making your Christmas celebration look like a photograph in a Home Design and Cuisine magazine, and focus more on enjoying the moment instead.

Take Time for Yourself

Sometimes during the holiday season we are so busy running around shopping for others that we forget to care for ourselves. Make sure that you take a moment out of your schedule to take a walk, read a good book, or do an activity that you enjoy.

Ask For Help

Don’t overwhelm yourself by assuming that you can do everything! There’s nothing wrong with asking for a little bit of help!

If you are hanging the Christmas lights outside the house, why risk pulling a muscle when you could ask your teenage kids to give you a hand? If you are baking cookies, invite your young children, nieces or nephews to help you stir the dough.

If you just can’t figure out how you will cook the entire festive meal, your guests won’t mind if you ask them to bring a few dishes to the table, potluck style.

Remember, the holidays are a time for special moments spent together with the people that you love. Take the pressure off and don’t stress yourself out too much!

 

How Not to Gain Weight Over the Holidays

Peppermint candy canes, slices of home-baked apple pie, cookies shaped like Santa Claus, rich cups of hot chocolate topped with whipped christmas chocolate cakecream, and boxes of chocolates and candies stacked under the tree… it’s hard not to be tempted to indulge at Christmas!

However, if you are dedicated to staying healthy over the holidays and not greeting the New Year having packed on a few extra pounds, here are some tips to avoid gaining weight during the festive season:

Stay Active

One way to counteract the calories of all of those holiday treats is to burn them off through exercise! Head to the gym for a workout, or simply go play outside in the snow with the family. Cross country skiing is a great workout, and trudging up a snowy hill to slide down on a toboggan will get your heart pumping!

Fill Up on Healthy Food

Before you go to the Christmas party where you know there will be a buffet of fatty finger food, eat a healthy meal with lots of vegetables, protein and fiber. When you are feeling full those greasy treats will be a lot less tempting and you will eat less of them.

Cook Leaner

Why not see if there is a low-fat version of your traditional holiday recipes? Search for “healthy Christmas recipes” online and you will find several websites with great ideas for trimming the fat content out of your festive meal while still making it taste great!

Watch Your Liquid Calories

Holiday drinks such as Rum and Eggnog, Hot Chocolate, and Beer have a surprising amount of calories! When you are at a party, try alternating by having a drink and then a glass of water so that you only drink half as much.

Indulge Selectively

There are some special nostalgic treats that you should not deny yourself during the holidays, but remember to indulge selectively. This means that if you know that you want to have a slice of Auntie Susan’s famous Christmas Pie at the end of the meal, avoid also filling up on miniature sandwiches or potato chips beforehand.

If you allow yourself one or two very special indulgent foods, you will still enjoy your favorites and yet avoid gaining unnecessary weight from eating those shortbread cookies that you don’t even like.

Remember these tips and you will be able to stay lean and healthy throughout the holiday season, while still enjoying yourself!

You’re Killing Yourself! Avoid These Common Unhealthy Eating Habits

Are you guilty of any of these common unhealthy eating habits? Read on to find out more information and tips on how to avoid them.cooking with daughter

Starving Yourself

You might think that a strict diet of nothing but carrot sticks and lettuce leaves is just what you need to lose those last few pounds before the holiday party, but starving yourself will actually have the opposite event on your weight loss.

When you don’t eat enough calories for a long period of time, your body will start to panic because it will think you are stranded on a deserted island with no food. Your body’s first reaction to this scenario is to store fat like crazy in order to survive.

When you do cave in and finally eat something, your body will store that meal directly in your fat reserves because it doesn’t know when you will have the chance to eat again, and so the fat will remain with you longer.

A healthier way to lose weight is to eat several small and nutritionally balanced meals per day, so that you don’t deprive yourself of the nutrients that you need to function and your body never has to go into “starvation mode” and start hording calories.

Eating Too Fast

We are often squeezing our meals into short time spans, such as gulping down our breakfast before heading to work or shoveling in our lunch during a short break. Eating your food too fast can cause a lot of problems, and it will also increase your chances of weight gain. I

t takes your body approximately 20 minutes from the time that you start eating for your stomach to tell you that you are full. If you eat within five minutes, you will still feel hungry and will be tempted to eat more than you need to.

You will also gulp down extra air and perhaps fail to chew your food properly. Instead, slow down and chew each bite.

Forgetting to Drink Water

Did you know that not drinking enough water throughout the day will actually slow down your metabolism and make you more likely to gain weight?

This is because water helps with metabolic functions, including burning calories. Bring a bottle of water with you everywhere you go, and sip from it frequently throughout the day.

Leaving Meal Prep to the Last Minute

If you only start to think about what to have for dinner when it’s late in the evening and you are very hungry, you will be tempted to prepare something that is quick and easy so that you can eat right away.

This often results in microwave meals, prepared food high in sodium, or pizza delivery. If you can start thinking about your evening meal a little bit earlier, you will have the chance to cook something yourself before your stomach starts grumbling.

These are just a few of the bad eating habits that you might be guilty of, and how you can break them to make yourself healthier.

Need to Exercise? Use These Quick Tips to Fit Exercise into Your Busy Workday

Do you get frustrated because you want to live a healthier lifestyle but your job keeps you sitting at a desk all day? quick exercise tips

Sedentary work can cause us to gain weight and suffer from eye strain, back pain, and lack of energy. However, it is a lot easier than you think to add physical activity to your workday, even if you are chained to a desk.

Adding in small bursts of exercise to your daily routine will not only help you keep fit, slim and healthy, it will also give you more energy to take on the day and boost your mood.

Here are a few ideas to get a little exercise even if you’re super busy:

  • Wake up 10 or 15 minutes earlier than you normally would and try going for a jog around the block or doing some yoga stretches. It will be difficult at first, but once you get into this habit you will feel strange without it.
  • If it is possible, ride your bike or walk to work rather than driving. This is a super easy way to fit exercise into your routine, and you will save money on gas!
  • If you work on a high floor of an office building, take the stars instead of the elevator. It makes a little bit of difference, and it is one of the easiest ways to grab 5 minutes of exercise in your busy day.
  • Replace your chair with an exercise ball. By sitting on this large ball, you will be forced to keep your abdominal muscles and back muscles flexed, which will strengthen your inner core. You will burn more calories just sitting there, and it will also help to avoid back strain.
  • Instead of eating at your desk, use your lunch break to get some fresh air and walk to a nearby park to enjoy a picnic instead.
  • Throughout your day, whenever you finish a project or a report reward yourself with a short break and do some stretches, pushups, or calisthenics in your office. This will invigorate you and clear your mind for the next project.

These are just a few ways that you can fit exercise into your busy workday. Have fun keeping fit!

If you have good ideas of your own, please share them! I’d be interested in hearing how you fit fitness into your daily routine.

How to Create a Luxury Spa in Your Own Bathroom

Imagine yourself relaxing into a hot aromatherapy bath at a luxurious spa center at a resort. Surrounded by flickering candles and peacefulhome spa experience music, you can allow the healing power of the essential oils calm your mind and forget all of your worries. It is a truly wonderful experience.

However, going to a luxury spa can be very expensive, so what if you can’t afford to treat yourself to this indulgence?

Don’t worry. You can still pamper yourself on a small budget, because it is fun and easy to create a luxury spa at home in your own bathroom. With a few special touches you will have your own private spa that you can visit again and again whenever you need some serious relaxation.

Adding Spa Details

The luxurious feeling of a spa is all about the little details, and you can add these details to your home bathroom as well. Buy yourself a soft and fluffy cotton or velour robe to wrap around yourself, and add a comfortable chair or an ottoman to the bathroom where you can sit and read or paint your nails while you wait for the bath to fill up. Invest in some heated towel racks which will provide you with warm and fuzzy towels when you step out of the bath or shower. You might want to also swap your old shower head for a detachable, massaging shower head so that you can soothe your sore muscles with the jets of water. 

Another simple way that you can make your bathroom more like a spa is to treat yourself to some high quality scented bubble bath or handmade soap. Don’t use it for every shower; just bring it out for your special spa sessions.

Setting the Mood

Now that your bathroom is well equipped for giving yourself the spa treatment, it is time to create a mood of pure elegance and relaxation. Dim the lights and use several small candles throughout the bathroom to provide light.

You can place them around the sink and bathtub. Bring a stereo or radio into the bathroom and play some soothing music, such as an instrumental classical piece or a slow ballad. Play something by one of your favorite artists, because if you like the music more it will make you more relaxed.

Don’t forget about scents as well, as you can use essential oils or scented candles to make your spa smell amazing.

Pampering Yourself

The next step to making your homemade spa experience complete is to go above and beyond your normal bathing routine. Take your time and treat yourself to something special, such as a face mask, deep conditioning treatment, or manicure. Devoting this extra time to taking care of your appearance will help you relax and enjoy, and give you a happy and confident glow.

Giving yourself the spa treatment at home is fun and easy, much cheaper than a professional spa, and you can do it whenever you need a bit of relaxation. Go ahead, you deserve it!

Do You Do These? Three Unhealthy Habits You Might Not Be Aware Of and How to Kick Them

Eating While Distractedfacebook addict

How many times have you been eating while watching TV and thought that you had another few bites left but then realize you have devoured the whole thing? Not watching television while eating will actually help you lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle.

Since your mind is so entranced by the television, cramming the food into your mouth becomes automatic and it is hard to notice when you have eaten too much.

How to kick it: When you make dinner, sit down at the table instead of on the couch. If you live with a partner, converse and enjoy each other’s company while you eat. If you live alone, give yourself some quiet time to focus on how yummy the food tastes. Savour each bite slowly and chew it well, and stop when you feel full.

Skipping Breakfast

“I don’t have time before work.”

“I’m just not hungry in the mornings.”

“I’m trying to lose weight.”

No matter what your excuse is for not eating a morning meal, this is an unhealthy habit that you need to kick. Studies have shown that people who eat a healthy breakfast in the morning perform better on tests and are more alert.

Also, forget about skipping breakfast to lose weight, as studies have shown that this will actually make you more likely to indulge in an unhealthy mid-morning snack or eat more at lunchtime. When you starve your body your natural metabolism tends to assume that you have ended up stranded on a deserted island and that you might not get a meal again for days.

Once your body is in starvation mode, you will horde more calories when you finally do eat something.

 How to kick it: If you can’t stomach a large breakfast first thing in the morning have a simple piece of multigrain toast and jam before you leave for work, and then bring fruit, nuts, and yogurt to eat at your desk an hour later.

3AM Facebook Sessions

We’ve all done it. We can get so distracted doing something online, whether it is watching clips from your favourite television shows, chatting with friends, or clicking through funny forums, that we don’t even notice that we have stayed up way longer than we need to being hypnotized by the computer’s glow.

Studies have shown that using electronic devices such as computers right before bed can increase the risk of insomnia. The bright flickering screen hinders the natural release of the hormone melatonin, which is what puts you to sleep.

Lack of sleep makes you less alert, more susceptible to illness, more emotional, and not to mention those bleary eyes are so not attractive!

How to kick it: Create a “computer curfew” for yourself that is at least 2 hours before bedtime. Shut down your laptop. Take a relaxing bath, listen to music, or read a book instead.

Got a New Bundle of Joy? Health Tips for First-Time Parents

Being a new parent is a very exciting time!Healthy Baby and Parents

It can also be exhausting, because many new parents are so caught up in caring for their child as best they can, that they forget to also look after themselves!

However, it is very important to look after your own health as well when you have a new baby. If you are well-rested and healthy you will be much more able to be a loving and effective parent to your little bundle of joy.

Here are some tips for staying healthy as a new parent:

  • Get as much sleep as possible. Chronic lack of sleep will not only leave you irritable and less alert, it will also lower your immune system and leave you more susceptible to illness. When you have a new baby, your sleep schedule will already be disrupted by late night feedings, so try to make up this as much as possible by going to bed early and taking naps in the day if you need to. Take turns getting up in the night with the baby, and take the opportunity to sleep whenever the baby sleeps.
  • Take a break. In order to keep your relationship with your partner healthy and rejuvenate your energy, it is important to take a night off from diaper changes and baby talk once in a while. Put on some clothes without spit-up stains on them, leave the baby with a sitter, and head out for a nice meal or a quiet walk. Taking a break doesn’t make you bad parents; it will actually make you less stressed and happier together.
  • Eat a healthy and nutritious diet. This is especially true if you are a nursing mom because you will need to replace the nutrients that you are passing along through your breast milk. If you find it hard to make the time to prepare healthy meals, make them simple and prepare them in advance so that you can freeze portions for thawing later.
  • Get some exercise! Even though you might be tired, keeping active will actually refresh you and give you more energy, so why not take the baby out for a walk in the stroller in the fresh air or join a post-natal yoga class?

Taking care of a new baby is a lot of work, which is why it is important to take care of yourself and stay healthy so that you can be the best parent you possibly can.

Ten Strange Facts You Didn’t Know About Sleep and Dreams

The human brain is fascinating and bizarre, and even the most advanced scientists still don’t understand exactly how it works. One of the strangest phenomena that the brain produces is dreams. What are these sleeping hallucinations and why do we have them? There are many theories as to why we dream, but no one really fully understands the science of sleep and dreaming.

Here are ten of the strangest facts about sleeping and dreaming:What is a dream?

  1. Within five minutes of waking up, you have already forgotten 50% of your dream. Within 10 minutes of awakening, you will have forgotten 90%.
  2. People who have been blind since birth do not see images in their dreams, but they do dream about smells, sounds, sensations, and emotions.
  3. Your mind does not invent characters for your dreams, as any human face in your dreams is someone that you have already seen before. You might not consciously remember seeing them, as they might have been just a face in the crowd, but your mind stores in your subconscious.
  4. The most common emotion reported to be experienced in a dream is anxiety.
  5. Not being allowed to dream can make you crazy. A study showed that people who were woken up and not allowed to experience the Rapid Eye Movement stage of sleep when dreams occur, experienced a vast array of psychological symptoms within only three days including irritability, loss of concentration, and hallucinations. As soon as they were allowed to dream again, their brains compensated by increasing the percentage of REM sleep within their sleep cycle.
  6. The outside world can enter your dreams. While you are sleeping your senses are still alert and outside stimuli will have an effect on what you are dreaming. Have you ever had an outside noise incorporate itself into your dream, or dream that you are drinking water and then wake up to find that you are very thirsty?
  7. Statistics show that 1% or less of the adult population is prone to sleepwalking.
  8. There have been many famous reports of dreams predicting the future. A few days before he died, Abraham Lincoln was said to tell his wife about a dream that he had. He was looking at a coffin surrounded by hundreds of people mourning. A soldier beside him in the dream told him that the president had been assassinated.
  9. The dreaming stage of sleep, known as “REM” stage, is beneficial in helping us learn. When we dream, the cerebral cortex is stimulated and protein is increased in the brain, helping us to increase our mental power and develop new neural pathways in the brain.
  10. The most common negative dreams include falling, being chased by something, being at school, and having your teeth fall out.

Can You Get Sick On An Airplane? Health Tips for Air Travel

It is exciting to fly somewhere far away, but the long distances, cramped conditions, and stress of flying can often have a negative impact on your health.

flying healthy

When you are travelling by plane, you will be within small spaces with many people which increases the potential for catching an airborne illness. You don’t want feeling sick to ruin your holiday, so here are some ways that you can keep yourself healthy on your next plane ride:

  • Use vitamins to boost your immune system before going on your trip. Try taking doses of Echinacea and Vitamin C which help you to ward off illnesses.
  • Bring a bottle of water with you on the flight to keep yourself hydrated. It is easy to get dehydrated on a long flight, which can lead to fatigue, headaches, and lowered immune response.
  • Try to avoid large amounts of alcohol or caffeinated drinks, which will dehydrate you even more.
  • Bring a bag of healthy snacks with you. The airline might serve a meal, but if there are large delays you might end up without food for several hours, so it is good to have your own fuel to keep your energy up.
  • Dress in layers. The temperature on the airplane is often too cold or too hot, and if you get chilled you will be more likely to feel ill afterwards. If you wear several different layers you can remove them when you need to and control your own temperature. If you will be sleeping on a long flight, be sure to ask for a blanket so that you don’t get chilled while you are asleep.
  • Get lots of sleep. Studies have shown that sleep deprivation drastically lowers immune response, so make sure that you are well rested before your journey and try to catch some sleep on board if it is a long flight. Ear plugs and eye masks can help you fall asleep on a plane.

These are just a few things to remember which will help you arrive at your destination feeling healthy, refreshed, and ready to have a great time. 

You Need More Sleep! Do You Have A Bedtime Ritual?

What do you do before you go to sleep?

Everyone has a habit of what they do before bed, but some of these habits are better than others. 

Sleep

If you find yourself squinting at the computer answering work emails late at night, watching disturbing events on the news, or eating large amounts of food right before bed and then wondering why you are tossing and turning, your bedtime routine might be the culprit. Statistics show that 60 million Americans suffer from insomnia, and seven out of ten people in the USA report frequent problems getting to sleep.


Bedtime Ritual
Lack of sleep is linked to increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, heart attack, stroke and depression, not to mention that beingtired makes you more irritable, less alert, and less productive. This is why it is so important to prepare for sleep with a healthy bedtime ritual.

If you have a relaxing bedtime ritual that helps you unwind before bed, you will fall asleep easier and enjoy a much deeper sleep. A peaceful bedtime routine will send signals to your brain, letting it know that it is time to let go of all the stresses of the day and get some rest. Here are some tips for creating a relaxing bedtime ritual that will prepare you for a great night’s sleep:
  • Turn off all electronics. The flickering glow from your laptop, mobile phone, and television is stimulating your brain, so turn these things off to help you make the transition into sleep.
  • Try drinking some warm spiced milk with nutmeg. This common kitchen spice is thought of as one of the best medicines for calming the nervous system, relaxing the mind and promoting sound sleep. The calcium in the milk has also been proven to help you relax.
  • Take a hot bath. Studies have shown that body temperature has an influence on how fast you fall asleep. Scientists have established that a drop in temperature is what tells your body to go to sleep, and by taking a hot bath you can raise your body temperature artificially and then allow it to drop as you are drifting off to sleep.
  • Do some gentle stretching or yoga. This will relax your muscles and calm down your breathing. You might also want to try a few moments of quiet meditation.
  • Read a favorite book or magazine by soft light. Adjusting to the lower lighting of the room will help let your brain know that it is time to sleep.

Try adding some of these relaxing habits to your bedtime routine and you will find yourself enjoying a much more relaxing and restful sleep!