Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays! Yup! You heard me right!  Ha-ppy Hol-i-days!  This is where it starts.  Thanksgiving is upon us, Hallowe’en is just around the corner, and then before you know it, we all somehow get swung into American Thanksgiving right before Christmas and Hanukkah, and the New Year!

This mixed in with cooler weather, nights getting darker sooner, possibly less activity, and the want for more comfort food, tends to draw out over the next two months before we close the book on the current year and open a fresh page for January!  And no, I’m not trying to be the elephant in the room here, but rather give you some pointers to help you stay true to your wants, desires, healthy habits and goals you’ve worked hard at over the last 9 months.

So, remember:

• Choose from-scratch as often as possible!  What does this mean?  Cooking your own meals and getting help from family members, whether it’s a hearty bowl of chill, creamy mashed potatoes, or a decadent dessert, is the way to go.  We all have a few food skills embedded in us, the want to master some new techniques, or learning fresh – getting yourself to search for a quick simple recipe online and prepare will make it that much healthier just like that!  There is a joy and pleasure in making your own food that completely knocks out the boxed or frozen version from the store.  Don’t be scared to be creative!
• Throw some activity into the long-winded family gatherings!  Grabbing 15 minutes of fresh crisp air is so healthy for our blood stream, our mind, our muscles, our mental health – need I go on here?  You get my drift.  Be that person to get everyone up and go….and if they don’t want to join you, don’t let it be you to miss out too!  Remember every family needs a Leader!  You can be it.  Soon they will all follow!  My family and I, for as long as I can remember, have been taking the most beautiful walks on Thanksgiving between the meal and the dessert!  It never seems to rain, or the rain has just passed, or we go in the drizzle!  It is such a fun bonding time.  I can remember all of the walks we’ve made, whether we stopped at the store to get ice cream for the apple pie, or just looked up at all of the leaves changing colour, raced with the 5-, 6- and 7-year olds, or piggy backed the 2-year-olds on our back or shoulders the whole way!  Out of everything about Thanksgiving, the meal prepared, the Grace Before Meals, the one too many desserts that always seems to be around – I have to say, the walk and play time in the backyard are what I always remember the most!
• Make the decadent dessert!  Yup, you heard me!  I love recipe development, don’t get me wrong.  I love experimenting with new ways that food can be enjoyable without too much of the added sugar and fat!  But really, for once a year, enjoy a slice of your favourite pie, cheesecake or scone – without regret or fear.  Just savour each bite.  Also remember, if there are 4 desserts on the table, you don’t have to choose all of them.  Ask yourself and be intuitive with understanding what your body wants then and there.  It’s O.K. to say no to something.  You aren’t offending anyone by making the decision about what YOU want for YOUR body and mind at that moment.  If people get offended, that’s theirs to live with – not yours.  Please yourself!
• Eat slowly – Think about how long everyone took to prepare the meal and how much time, effort and love they put into each dish.  We are a society of “fast movement”!  Why do we have to face our meals that way.  It’s a holiday right?  You may not have work to get to, so place your fork down in between bites, chew your food, have some conversation in between, and give your stomach the time to talk to your brain to give it the cues of fullness and satiety.  Remember it takes 20 minutes or so for our stomach to let our brain know this.  Going in for seconds within the first 10 minutes may result in popping open the top button of your jeans.  And trust me, I sometimes go in for seconds, but it’s often after I’ve taken the time to eat my first plate, knowing that my tummy wanted a few more beets or turkey!
• Out of Sight – Out of Mind! How true is this saying!  We tend to over-due it when it comes to baking for the holidays, or grabbing that extra box of Hallowe’en candies.  And then those snacking habits add up with an extra cupcake, cookie, piece of pie, or chocolate candy.  And though I don’t ask you to deny yourself of these things if your body is craving or asking for it (in reasonable balance here), you may want to be accountable for whether or not it becomes harder to resist these items on a daily basis if they’re the first thing you see when you walk into your kitchen or open your pantry closet.  Make and buy what you need, and know that if you have un-opened boxes of candies after Hallowe’en that it is O.K. to return them.  Use the money to buy a bag of apples or carrots too! Hehe
• Use your evenings for some stretching or food prep.  Some may hibernate a little more in the fall and winter months.  With evenings that get darker sooner and television shows that have all started their new seasons, we tend to cuddle up on the couch for a few more hours.  Ask yourself how much television you may watch on any given night.  I am all about rest and allowing the body to calm down and zen out before bedtime, however, if you are aiming to get on top of your nutrition, consider spending 20 to 30 minutes making your lunch for the next day, or making up a quick meal to have for dinner the next night.  Or, what I think everyone should give to their bodies after each day is a good 10- to 15-minute stretch of your major muscles, whether you’ve sat at your desk all day, or exercised for 20-60 minutes.  We can all give to our bodies with a short stretch to end our day, and calm our central nervous system down.

Remember the power and control you have over your life and health – keep working at your goals, prioritizing what you truly want to accomplish each day and stay true to your self, your value and your worth.

xoxo Dre