Healthy Tips To Get Through The Holidays

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The holidays are here, getting us caught up in a whirlwind of activities, dinners and cocktail parties. Every party may seem like an excuse to splurge, but the consequences of overindulging can leave you feeling uncomfortable and unhealthy.

Here are my top five healthy tips for thriving through the holidays.

1) Before going to a party eat some fruit, a salad, or a high protein snack. Doing this makes you feel comfortable and prevents you from showing up to a party really hungry, which can lend itself to overeating.

2) When in a buffet line or at a party where there is an amazing amount of food, use an appetizer or salad plate instead of a dinner plate. People who do this, on average, eat 40 percent less than if they fill up  standard dinner plate. Enjoy some goodies but don’t forget to also include fresh veggies, hummus, and other truly healthy foods.

3) If overindulging in spirits is a problem, here are a few natural ways to help relieve a hangover.

Remedy #1: Combine 1 tsp. honey with 1/2 cup of orange juice and ¼ cup of kefir or yogurt.

Remedy #2: Eat a banana.

Remedy #3: If feeling nauseas, try cutting up a bit of fresh ginger into little pieces and steeping it in hot water for about 3 minutes to make a ginger tea. It is very effective for relieving nausea.

4) Make sure to get enough rest. Everyone has experienced the fatigue, lack of focus, and short temperedness that can follow a poor night’s sleep. We don’t want to experience that during the holidays!

If you have trouble sleeping, try having a little chamomile tea with a tiny bit of raw, unfiltered honey. If you are under a lot of stress and need a little relief, valerian root can help with tension or anxiety. For thousands of years, the herb valerian has been used in Europe and Asia to aid with sleep or anxiety. For insomnia, it’s suggested you use between 400 milligrams to 900 milligrams of valerian up to two hours before going to bed.

5) Most people are so busy doing during this time of year they forget to make time to nurture and take care of themselves. Let’s face it, the better we take care of ourselves, the better we can take care of the ones we love. Make sure you take some time each day to slow down, calm the mind, get a little exercise, drink a sufficient amount of water, enjoy some sunshine, and love yourself.

Remember, the holidays only come once a year and last for a short time. So many of us have an idealized idea of what the holidays should be like and can be disappointed when they don’t live up to those expectations.

Try to be realistic and remember nobody has a perfect holiday or perfect family. If you follow these tips, you might just find this year to be healthier, less stressful, and actually filled with pizazz!

 

 

Nancy Addison is a certified health counselor, certified in plant-based nutrition, certified raw food chef, certified in Health-Supportive Cooking, and certified in Mediterranean Cooking. Nancy has written award-winning books on health, nutrition and cooking. You can reach her on her website, Organic Healthy Life, or find more easy, healthy recipes in Nancy’s books, using her universal author link for amazon: Author.to/nancyaddison

The information from Nancy Addison and Organic Healthy Lifestyle LLC is not offered for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of any disease or disorder nor have any statements herein been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We strongly encourage you to discuss topics of concern with your health care provider.