Empowering You Organically – Season 1 – Episode 7

Title: Holiday Hacks – 27 Tips for Staying Healthy During the Holidays

Hosts: Jonathan Hunsaker, TeriAnn Trevenen

Description:  HOLIDAY EDITION, where you will learn helpful tips for heading into the holidays, before a holiday party, while you are at the party, the morning after the party, and to deal with holiday stress…….all to help you stay happy and healthy during the holiday season!

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Has this ever happened to you? You’re in a routine of eating well, exercising, and making time for activities that keep you emotionally and mentally well… and then the holiday season arrives and   all  your  healthy habits seem to fly out  the window. If this sounds like you, you’re definitely not alone. To help, here are 27 tips to keep the holiday weight gain and stress at a minimum this year, while helping you feel as good as possible going into the new year.

Helpful Tips Before the Holidays Hit

#1. Rather than accepting every single holiday invitation that comes your way, pick and choose carefully. Politely decline all but the most important invitations with the people who mean the most to you. At this ultra-busy time of year, quality is more important than quantity. For example, if you receive invitations to more than one work-related function, choose the one you most want to attend.

#2. Make a commitment to yourself to eat as healthfully as you can during the holidays. Of course, this is also a time for enjoying your favorite holiday foods. Just ensure that you only indulge when you really want to. Do it mindfully, and in moderation. Make sure to include plenty of healthy fruits and vegetables, and very few refined, sugary, or prepackaged foods. Completely abstain from eating fast food. All of this will have a positive impact on your waistline, your emotional health, and your energy levels.

#3. Forget trying to be perfect. The house really doesn’t need to be scrubbed

from top to bottom in preparation for the holidays. Clean and tidy, yes, but not perfect from wall to wall. Presents do not have to be perfectly wrapped – after all, they are going to be torn to shreds in seconds anyway! No one is going to judge you (and if they do, do you really don’t want them as friends?). This year, try to let go of caring what others might think of your home and decorating skills and just enjoy the season.

#4. This is a good time of year to appreciate others. If someone for whom you feel gratitude is in your daily life, you don’t have to buy them a present (unless you want to and can easily afford it). Send a quick message or call them to let them know that you appreciate them and all the things they do for you. They will enjoy being told that they are appreciated and you will make their day.

#5. Limit time with difficult family members. Most of us have a person in our family who seems to make it their personal goal to push all our buttons. If that sounds all too familiar, make a plan ahead of time for how you can limit your time with them. If avoidance isn’t an option, a good strategy is to plan in advance whether or not you will respond to any comments that make you feel angry or hurt. A good option might be to resolve to keep the peace, and not let their bad attitude affect you. Just smile and politely ignore them.

#6. Schedule in some reflective time, such as meditation or prayer, and don’t ditch the yoga or stretching routine. Taking some quiet time for yourself during the holiday season is helpful on so many levels, and will definitely increase your inner peace.

 

Healthy Holiday Tips – Before a Party

#7. Do a quick but intense 5-15 minute workout prior to the party. This could be a brisk walk or running up and down stairs. The workout will not only help you to feel good and look great, it also raises your heart rate and offloads a few calories before any party indulgences.

#8. Have an organic green juice or smoothie before going to the party (such as this heart-healthy smoothie or this green detox smoothie), so that you will not be starving when you arrive. This will also give you a wide range of healthy and protective antioxidants and phytochemicals as a good base for whatever else you consume at the party.

Holiday Hacks – At the Party

#9. For every cocktail, glass of wine, or beer you drink, have a glass of filtered or sparkling water. This helps to slow down the intake of empty calories and keeps you from getting tipsy too fast. If you add a squeeze or lemon or lime or a drop of a citrus essential oil to your water, you will also be supporting liver detoxification along the way.

#10. Try to eat mindfully. Carefully choose what you want to eat beforehand and

then stick to that. Don’t stay too close to the food table, grazing continuously.

Once you’ve eaten, don’t go back to the food table unless you are truly hungry.

#11. When filling your plate, choose cut vegetables, fruit, and nuts over fried foods, chips, or other carb-laden foods. This will help fill you up with healthier options that actually provide your body with nutrients.

#12. When it comes to dessert, choose special homemade treats over store- bought goodies that you can get anytime. In other words, if you’re going to indulgence, make sure it’s for something that’s worth it.

#13. If you have the opportunity to do so, get up and DANCE! Not only will you be

benefiting your body with movement, it’s fun and helps to offload stress.

#14. Don’t stay at the party so long that you miss out on several hours of precious sleep. Decide beforehand when you would like to leave, and then stick to that time as closely as possible so you can get to bed as close to your usual time as possible. Be aware that for every hour of sleep you lose, it can take several days to catch up. Also, loss of sleep during this time of year impacts your immune system and can put you at a higher risk for catching colds and flu.

#15. Before hitting the hay, take some digestive enzymes. This will help your

digestive system better cope with all the extra food and beverages you’ve just consumed. You’ll likely sleep better and will be less likely to wake up with a “food hangover” the next morning. Not familiar with what digestive enzymes do? Click here to read more.

Health Tips for the Morning After

#16. Add a scoop of collagen powder into your morning coffee or juice – your joints, digestive tract, skin, nails, and hair will all be better for it. An added bonus is that if you had alcohol to drink the night before, collagen supports liver health and detoxification plus so much more.

#17. If you’re feeling a little bloated or unwell from your indulgences,drink a cup of peppermint or ginger tea. Peppermint and ginger both aid digestion, help ease an inflamed gut, and assist with any nausea.

#18. When you’re able, have another green juice. The wide range of nutrients will help your liver and kidneys with detoxification, give you some instant energy (which is great if you stayed up too late), and an immune boost as well.

#19. Take some probiotics if you had a little too much to drink. Alcohol consumption can have a bad effect on beneficial gut bacteria, so for the next few days be extra diligent in supplementing with a good quality probiotic.

#20. Follow this tip from the French. After overindulging with rich food, the next day they will have soup laden with fresh vegetable and herbs, and lots of water. This is an excellent way to counteract the excesses from the day before and your gut and liver will thank you for it.

#21. If you aren’t feeling too shattered, go for a walk, but drink a glass of water first. Drinking alcohol can dehydrate you, and intense exercise will do that as well. A gentle walk combined with a big glass of water is much better for you in the long run after a big night out than a hard gym workout.

If Holiday Stress Hits Anyway…

#22. Lock the bathroom door and take a hot epsom salt bath. Drip in a few of your favorite essential oils along with a cup full of epsom salts (magnesium sulfate), light a candle or two, and take a mini holiday to calm the nerves. The magnesium in the epsom salts is beneficial for sore muscles and has a calming effect on the nervous system.

#23. Revisit tip #5.

#24. Do some or all of your shopping online. This will save wear and tear on your nerves, your car, and it is easier to stay on budget.

#25. Get more sleep.

#26. Realize that at any moment you have the right to say “no” when things get too hectic.

Exercise that right whenever you need to.

#27. Take a breathing break. Just four or five minutes will make a difference and you can do this exercise anywhere. Sit quietly, close your eyes, and set your phone or watch timer for four minutes. Now breathe deeply: in for a count of five, hold that breath for a count of five, slowly exhale for a count of five, and hold the exhale for a count of five. Got it? In for five, hold for five, exhale for five, hold for five. Even just a couple of minutes of this breathing exercise will lower your blood pressure, alter your brain waves, and help to calm you.

There you have it – 27 tips and ideas for how to stay healthy during the holidays. Pick and choose the suggestions listed above that make sense to you, and don’t worry about the rest. Just do the best you can when you’re not at holiday events to stick to your healthy habits, even if you have to pare them down.

The most important thing is to enjoy yourself over the holiday season, don’t get drawn into the idea that you have to say “yes” all the time, and remember that less is usually more.

 

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Episode 7 – Holiday Hacks – 27 Tips for Staying Healthy During the Holidays

Subscribe to Empowering You Organically 
Never miss an episode! 

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Episode 7 – Holiday Hacks – 27 Tips for Staying Healthy During the Holidays

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Jonathan: Welcome to Empowering You Organically. This is our special holiday episode. I’m joined by our co-host, TeriAnn Trevenen.

 

TeriAnn: Hey, everyone.

 

Jonathan: So, we put an article up on our Organixx website the last week. It was called Holiday Hacks: 27 Tips for Staying Healthy During the Holidays. And we just want to go over that whole article, go one-by-one, talk about things too, to stay healthy here during the holidays.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. I mean we all have our routines and the things that we’re doing, and the holidays come, and it throws everything out balance, and we get out of our routines. And so, what can we do at this time of year to survive the holidays and even stick to our routines?

 

Jonathan: Absolutely. Before we get into the list, I’ve got to do a quick plug for the website empoweringyouorganically.com. If you want transcripts or cliff notes of any of our episodes, you can go there. If you want to watch us on video. I went and dug out the only red shirt in my closet, so I could feel festive for this podcast because all I wear is black shirts, I think. But empoweringyouorganically.com for everything podcast related.

So, let’s get right into it. Number 1 hack. Rather than accepting every single holiday invitation that comes your way, pick and choose carefully. So, lucky for me, I don’t have a whole lot of friends around here, so I don’t get a lot of invitations to go to a whole lot of parties. But I think the big point here is don’t get overwhelmed with all these to-do’s, right? We always feel like “Okay we need to go shop and buy all these presents for everybody, and now we need to look a certain way and we have to go to Aunt Susie’s house for dinner, and that’s never fun,” and all of these other—

 

TeriAnn: Just drop the kids in a sweater—

 

Jonathan: Exactly. I mean, so, really pick and choose what you want to do. And I think one of the big keys here, and I don’t know how many times I want to repeat it, but you’re not obligated to do anything this holiday season but take care of you and be with your family.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. Well, I think we over-complicate things. I think I go back and visit family for the holidays, and everyone’s got parties, and everyone has things going on, and you feel like, “Oh, I have to go to everything and I have to be at everything.” And you forget to enjoy the holidays for you. So, I think that’s a really important one, putting yourself first so that you enjoy the holidays for what’s meaningful to you, not everyone else.

Number 2 on the list. Make a commitment to yourself to eat as healthy as you can during the holidays. Of course, this is also a time for enjoying your favorite holiday foods, just ensure that you only indulge when you really want to. Do it mindfully and in moderation. I love this one, because one of the words I use all the time, and a lot of things in life but in particular with food, is intentional, intentional eating. How are you eating? Are you intentional about your eating? Thinking about it. Weighing out your options. Eating slowly, enjoying your meal.

And I think even at the holidays when we get out of our routine of how we typically eat, especially for a healthy eater. We just need to slow down, take a breath. You don’t have to eat everything that’s laid out. Pick the things that you’re like, “Wow! I really can’t get that any other time of year.” Like when I go out to eat at restaurants, I will pick something on the menu that I can’t get anywhere else. And I think you have to do the same thing with the holidays. What’s something that you’re eating at that meal that you don’t really get any other time of year? And choose that as your option for something to eat. Be intentional with your food.

 

Jonathan: And I think it’s also setting your guidelines for, “Okay. Yes, I am going to “cheat” on Christmas Eve and Christmas.” And that’s it. Now, cheat’s not a good word, right? Because I don’t really believe in diets. I definitely believe in a way of eating. And for me, I generally follow a Ketogenic style diet, just works really well for me, because I’m addicted to sugar. I love sugar.

 

TeriAnn: Me too.

 

Jonathan: What you said is very important because what happens if I get really clear, it’s like, “Alright, I know that I’m going to eat.”— You know, “I’m going to go to town on Christmas Eve and Christmas, I’ll go to town and eat everything.” It’s like, “Okay. This has sugar, eat it.” “This has sugar, eat it.” But I’m just eating anything with sugar, and it’s stuff that I could get any other day of the week, that I easily, not easily, that I say no to any other day of the week. And so, I love the idea. It’s like, “Okay. Like I don’t get homemade cinnamon rolls generally. And it’s Christmas. I’m going to enjoy those different things.”

 

TeriAnn: Right.

 

Jonathan: And stick to your commitment. Make the decision beforehand how you’re going to eat. So, I’ve already decided that I know that on Christmas Eve and on Christmas I’m going to enjoy whatever I want. On the 26^th, I will be back to the way that has me feel the best. And so, making that commitment ahead of time makes a big difference.

Not just, “Well, let’s wait and see how it goes,” and before you know it, Christmas Eve turns into Christmas, turns into the 26 and “I’ll just start on New Year.” Weeks gone by, the New Year’s hits and you wake up hungover on New Year and it’s like, “Well, let me go eat some more junk because I feel like crap.” And then the second comes, “Well, I’ve already missed the first.” Before you know it, it’s rationalization—

 

TeriAnn: See? But I always think about that. I always think about how I’m going to feel after. And so, I think that’s another thing. Before you go to a family party, or for my family, we have brunch on Christmas morning. Before you go, think to yourself “Like am I going to totally overindulge?” I’m not someone that typically eats a lot of gluten, sugar or dairy, but that’s all stuff that you eat at a family brunch for Christmas. Slow down, take a breath. “What am I going to eat here? How much am I going to eat? And do I want to feel like crap after?” Because you can eat things in moderation, especially when you’re not eating them all the time, and you’ll be fine. Just think about it. Be intentional with your food.

 

Jonathan: Love it. Number 3. Forget trying to be perfect. Listen, the house doesn’t need to be spotless before your parents come over, or your brother and sister come over, and everything doesn’t need to be perfect. Your presents don’t need to be wrapped perfectly. Like, let it go. There’ll be another Christmas next year and the year after that and the year after that. Enjoy the present, not the presents, but the present.

 

TeriAnn: I enjoy the presents though.

 

Jonathan: Of course.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah, and I think – thinking that the house has to be perfect and the gifts have to be perfect. Just enjoy your time with your family and enjoy the time off from everyday life. I think that’s the most important thing.

 

Jonathan: And if somebody’s coming over that’s going to judge you for not being perfect, maybe don’t invite them next year. That way you can have a less stressed holiday season, right? Because we don’t need to be perfect in any way.

 

TeriAnn: No, absolutely not. I love Number 4. This is one that’s near and dear to my heart. This is a good time of year to appreciate others, and I don’t think we always have to do this with gestures of gifts and spoiling people. I think for me I would much rather receive a message or a note from someone, “I’m so grateful for you. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.” I think we’re overindulged in our gifts and our presents.

I know I find myself every year trying to cut back on how much I’m giving to my kids. They just don’t need that much. And I think it’s so important in appreciating others. Gift service. Do something for someone else. Reach out to someone who you haven’t talked to in a while. Let them know you’re thinking of them. Tell someone how much you appreciate them and express gratitude for them. This is something we should be practicing year-round, but it’s especially good at the holiday time to do this for others.

 

Jonathan: It’s interesting when you talk about that. I mean I hate to go on the sad side of it, but a lot of times it’s too late, right? You lose somebody that’s close to you and you think, “I wish I would have just told him one more time that I loved him.” “I wish I would have just told him one more time how much I appreciated them.” And this is a time of year to do it.

I think that there’s many times of year to do it, if not daily, but I think it’s a really good point. I know I have friends in my life that just simply leaving them a message like, “Hey bro. I really appreciate you. Thanks for always being such a good loyal friend and supporting me and this and that,” means more than any kind of gift or anything like that.

 

TeriAnn: For sure, and I think something that I’ve learned a lot, and I’m sure you have as well, we’ve been on a health journey and a mission of health for quite a long time now. We’ve learned a lot about health. Another thing in appreciating others I think is letting go of some things. I think letting go, when we appreciate others, we let go of some of those things may have been harder than the past.

Sometimes the most important person to appreciate is someone who we haven’t talked to in a long time, who maybe we had an issue within the past. And it’s like sometimes you just have these moments in life where you realize some of those things just really didn’t matter. We hold grudges. We hang on to things for so long. And one of the greatest gifts we can give to yourself in appreciating others is appreciating someone that it may not be easy for you to appreciate.

 

Jonathan: Yeah. I love that you said that, because we’ve all gone through times in our lives when it’s been a best friend, or a good friend, or a brother or sister that’s done something that’s upset us, and we stop talking to them for a certain amount of time, or something like that has happened. And really, we’ve learned so much during that experience, that time of not talking, that time of anger, that time of whatever, like you probably learned a lot of stuff in life that you may not have learned without that fight, without that argument.

Maybe it required you to step up and be a better person. It required you to really look at your life honestly and make some changes. And while you may not be happy that that person said it the way that they said it, or they challenged you the way that they challenged you, throughout it is maybe that challenge from them has changed your life. And maybe it’s time to pick up the phone and call them and say, “Hey, I appreciate you. Thank you for calling me out on my shit.” You know, “Thank you for doing this.” It’s probably a good time to apologize, too. “I’m sorry we didn’t talk sooner.”

 

TeriAnn: Yeah.

 

Jonathan: It’s just life is way too short to let these little grudges and all of this little stuff stop you from being happy and being—you know.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. I think we think that we only have to appreciate the good in life, and I think we fail to appreciate the bad, because the bad also brings us to where we are, and it’s a part of our journey. And I think one of the greatest gifts we can give to ourselves this holiday season is to let go and forgive and appreciate some of those harder situations and individuals in our lives, which is interesting leading into our next topic, which is number five on our list.

 

Jonathan: Number 5. Limit time with difficult family members.

 

TeriAnn: Yup.

 

Jonathan: Everybody says blood is thicker than water and things like that, but you know what? Sometimes, there’s just toxic family and you can love them and also love them from a distance.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah.

 

Jonathan: You don’t have to love them close to you and you also don’t need to accept their narration of you or accept their judgment of you, right? It reminds me of what you think about me is none of my business, right? And yeah, limit your time with them.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. I think that you can put boundaries around family members, friends even, going back to our comment of appreciating others. Just because you appreciate someone, or you reach out and you want to let go of something doesn’t mean you have to be best friends with a person or best friends with a family member. I think you can go to a family party around other people and have fun and enjoy yourselves and then walk away. You don’t just spend 12 hours with every person in your family. I think you have to set those boundaries for yourself and do what feels good to you.

And number 6. Schedule in some reflective times, such as meditation or prayer. Don’t ditch out on your yoga, your stretching routine. And I love this because I think we get so busy, and I think especially at the end of the year, it’s a great time to look back and say, “How did this year go for me? What did I accomplish? What did I not accomplish? How do I want to be better?” And I think we need to take that time to ground ourselves and where we’re going and where we want to be.

And some of those routines that I have daily I can fall out of. I have a routine of being grateful every day and feeling gratitude, and I find it the holidays, “We’re shopping.” “We’re working.” “We’re wrapping presents.” “We’re decorating.” “We’re going from party to party.” “We’re making food.” It’s all these different things, and we can’t lose sight of those things that ground us on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. And some of those things are even more meaningful during the holidays as we close out our year.

 

Jonathan: I think you’re 100 percent right. Take some time to reflect on your year. Take some time to listen. Just because it’s the holidays doesn’t mean it has to be crazy, it has to be hectic, right? We’re led to believe that it is, right? We get conditioned, and the consumerism takes over, and the Black Friday sales kick in and, “Got to go get this and got to get that.” And, “Little Jimmy wants that.” “Little Sally wants that.”

It’s just slow down, you know? You don’t need to do all of that. It’s not—listen, January 7^th, when that day comes around, it’s not going to matter. What happened on 90 percent of that stuff, the presents that you buy, all of that? So, stay grounded. Stay centered in yourself, and it’ll make the holidays I think a lot more enjoyable.

So, the next section here in the article that we’re going over is healthy holiday tips before a party. So, Number 7 in our overall 27 hacks to survive the holidays. Do a quick but intense 5 to 15-minute workout prior to the party. It’s really interesting, because as we talk about making good choices, we all know that when—if you wake up and work out in the morning, you run in the morning, you do something like that, it changes your choices for the rest of the day.

If you wake up in the morning and you hit the snooze button, and you slack off and you don’t go for that run that you said you were going to go for, you’re probably eating some crappy food for lunch and letting yourself go all day to the vending machine and things like that, I think the concept is very similar prior to that party. Do 5 or 15 minutes, one, to make you look a little better probably in your shirt or clothes. But two, it helps get you present so that you’re not gorging at the party.

 

TeriAnn: You know what my 5 to 15-minute workout prior to the party is? It’s chasing after my kids and trying to get them ready and out the door. So, that’s my 5 to 15-minute workout. But yeah, I think it’s an interesting concept, for sure. Maybe it’ll get some of your emotions out of being around the family because you don’t want to be around—

 

Jonathan: Because there’d be times, who’s going to be at the party, right?

 

TeriAnn: Yes. True story. Number 8. I love this one. Have an organic green juice or smoothie before going to the party, such as a heart-healthy smoothie or green detox smoothie. I will take this for me to the juice side. I love smoothies, but I am big into juicing. I almost juice every single day. I make my own juice at home. I put in apples, cucumber, celery, kale, spinach, mixed greens, lemon, and beyond. And I’ve been doing a little more research around the green juice and how it benefits us, and one of the things that it does is it draws water out of our body. We retain a lot of water when we’re eating a lot of these holiday foods—

 

Jonathan: Sugar.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah, absolutely. And drinking these juices before and after the party are going to benefit you, draw that water out, get a lot of those gross toxins and sugars out of your body. And so, I would take a green juice to the party and just sip on it.

 

Jonathan: Yeah. You’re stronger than me. So, for me, I like this drinking that juice ahead of time because then you can go party. “Like, hey, I did my healthy thing before the party.”

 

TeriAnn: There you go.

 

Jonathan: Now, I can go on and indulge. I can enjoy a few adult beverages and eats and drunk—

 

TeriAnn: Your green juice is your permission to just go along.

 

Jonathan: That is my permission. Why not? If that helps you—

 

TeriAnn: Yeah.

 

Jonathan: Listen, you’re going to feel guilty after the party, or that next morning, if you’re generally living a healthy lifestyle. So, this helps eliminate some of that toxic built—

 

TeriAnn: But like what about the smoothie? Don’t people put like fruit trays out of parties? Can’t just take a little blender and make your smoothie and call it good? That’s what—

 

Jonathan: You’re the awkward one at the party.

 

TeriAnn: Taking my blender.

 

Jonathan: Exactly.

 

TeriAnn: That would totally be me, my little Nutri Bullet.

 

Jonathan: All right.

 

TeriAnn: Anyway, I’m for juicing.

 

Jonathan: Let’s move on to our holiday hacks at the party. Number 9. Overall, for every cocktail glass of wine or beer you drink, have a glass of filtered or sparkling water. Yeah. Listen, we all enjoy, maybe not all, but there’s certainly a time and a place when it is nice to let loose and relax, and have a little buzzed, but we never want to be that person at the party, right? Especially if you’re going—

 

TeriAnn: Some people do though. They want to be the light of the party.

 

Jonathan: If you’re going to a work party, please-please-please drink water in between all of your beverages. You do not want to end up on everybody’s social media pages.

 

TeriAnn: On the table, dancing.

 

Jonathan: Yeah, you know, pictures of you on the watercooler the next day. So, it’s just smart. Listen, we all like to loosen up a little bit, but I don’t think—it’s obviously not healthy to overdo it, and I think that that’s where a lot of regret comes from too, is from overdoing it. So, have some good water, slow yourself down.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. And you can always add a little lemon or lime too, to your water, which is great for detoxifying your liver. So, squeeze a little bit of that juice in there.

 

Jonathan: And for those of you who don’t like to consume alcohol, but maybe you’re around parties or you’re around friends or people that want to influence you, go to the bar. Ask for a cranberry and club soda with a splash of wine, and nobody will know the difference. They’ll all think that you’re having an alcoholic beverage when you’re just being healthy. And it could just help eliminate some of that peer pressure and some of that, “Here, drink this.” “Here, have this.” Idea.

 

TeriAnn: Yup, absolutely. So, we talked about this a little bit before, but Number 10. Try to eat mindfully. Carefully choose what you want to eat beforehand and then stick to that. So, I mean we already talked about intentional eating, and I think make your choices before you go, and it makes it easier to stick to them.

No peer pressure. No food pressure when you’re staring at those really yummy treats that everyone’s been making. And mindfully, intentionally just make a plan and stick to it, and it makes it so much easier. Write it down. Tell someone about it and hold yourself accountable after you’ve been to that party and you’ve eaten your food. You’re like, “The next day I’m not going back to it.” Make sure you have someone to be accountable to. I think it’s really important.

 

Jonathan: I agree, and I think the eating mindfully can also go on this side of if you chose to ahead of time that “Yes, I’m going to let go and eat whatever I want on this day or at this party,” then also do that guilt-free, right? Because—and to me, that’s part of eating mindfully as well. If you’re going to enjoy it, just enjoy it. Don’t beat yourself up over it. Don’t go down that guilt path and all of that. That’s way worse—

 

TeriAnn: And don’t talk to everyone at the party about how you never eat this way. Just eat it and enjoy it.

 

Jonathan: Exactly.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah, absolutely.

 

Jonathan: Number 11. When filling your plate, choose cut vegetables fruit and nuts over fried foods, chips, or other carb-laden foods. Yeah, for me I mean—and I will go to some party if they do have a friend or two. I will stick with my way of eating that works for me, which is keeping the carbs low, the sugar low, and I’m just going to tangent. I hate saying low carbs because vegetables are carbs, right?

 

TeriAnn: True.

 

Jonathan: Even—

 

TeriAnn: Absolutely.

 

Jonathan: And those are very much healthy for you. For me, I stick mainly to vegetables, and instead of carbs, I should say sugars and pastas and things like that. But yeah, I mean that’s going to be part of the challenge. And for me, personally, the trick is just staying away. If the food is on that side of the room and the party put me on the other side, right? Let me make sure that I eat something ahead of time so that I’m not showing up to a party starving, hoping that they have good options, and then realizing it’s nothing but junk.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and the next thing going along with this, Number 12. When it comes to dessert, choose special homemade treats over store-bought goodies. And we’ve talked a lot about organic versus non-organic. And I have to say my family likes to tease me about how much I love to make organic food, organic ingredients.

I’m probably not going to get invited to the holiday party this year now, but they tease me all the time about it, and I’m big into that because it really does matter if you’re going to the store and buying Oreos, which used to be a huge weakness for me. And those aren’t even real food, versus making a homemade cookie with all organic ingredients, big difference.

And so, take your own treats to the party. Make your organic treats. Guess what? They’re just as delicious as any other treat you can get at that party, sometimes even better, in my opinion. So, bring your own treats too, to make it easier.

 

Jonathan: And it goes back to the indulgence, something that you can’t get all the time, right? If you can get that crappy Snickers any day of the week, then why fill up on it Snickers, you know? Or some other equivalent. Eat the good stuff.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah, absolutely.

 

Jonathan: Number 13. If you have the opportunity to do so, get up and dance. I agree. I mean for some of us, it kind of goes hand in hand with some of the earlier ones where—which one is it here Number 9, for every cocktail or glass of wine, you maybe have a glass or two of that and then your water, and then get up and dance.

 

TeriAnn: On the table.

 

Jonathan: But no, not unless—

 

TeriAnn: Just kidding. Just saying don’t dance on the table.

 

Jonathan: That’s why you need the water. Otherwise, you’ll end up on the table and you end up on everybody’s Instagram.

 

TeriAnn: Don’t dance on the table. But no, seriously, my kids and I love to have dance parties at home. We turn on the music. We just had Christmas music on the other day and had our little dance party. So, we have no problem being the group at the party that dances, and I think it’s important. And I think it brings the holiday cheer to every party as well, super important.

 

Jonathan: Even if you’re the only one dancing, sorry.

 

TeriAnn: Yup, dance party of one. Number 14. Don’t stay at the party so long that you miss out on several hours of precious sleep. Decide beforehand when you’d like to leave and stick to that time closely, so you can get to your bedtime as close as possible. I am a huge advocate for sleep. This is actually something I’ve been studying a lot lately around sleep, reading articles, listening to podcasts with sleep experts.

It’s so important when you look at how it impacts your brain, your overall health; two things that are so critical or sleeping exercise, but specifically talking about sleep. Getting at least seven to eight hours of sleep as an adult is so important. And then for kids, it’s even more; anywhere between 9 and 12 hours. I can say personally in my own life, this is something that I’ve been working on with myself and my children.

We’ve seen a huge change in our everyday life in how much sleep we’re getting. And especially at the holiday time of year food habits change, we’re busier. We have a lot going on and if we want to be in a happy mood and enjoy it, don’t change your sleep patterns and don’t stay later just to lose out on.

I’m definitely one of those people who people, you know, make the comments to me like, “You are so rigid with your sleep routine with your kids.” But I’d rather have a happy kid all day and at the party, leave a little early so they get their sleep, then deal with the cranky me in the morning and the cranky children in the morning.

 

Jonathan: I was going to say the same thing. I mean my daughters are 2 and 4, about to be 2 and 4, and yeah, I mean we’re at the—I’m that party pooping dad that says, “Hey, it’s time to go,” when it’s 6 o’clock, because that’s bath time, and they’re in bed at 6:30 to sleep by 7:00. And why? Because then they sleep till 7 o’clock in the next morning and they get 12 hours of sleep. It’s something I’m working on myself. I haven’t been good at it.

Being an entrepreneur all my life and having the mindset that I have to go-go-go and grind-grind-grind, that I’m working myself up, I actually wear, it’s an Oura Ring. And it’s a great sleep tracker. And I’m using this to find out how good am I sleeping. How many wake ups am I having in the middle of the night? About how much REM sleep am I getting? How much deep sleep am I getting? And really monitoring that because it makes—it doesn’t just make a difference in how you feel. I mean they talk about this can affect how long you live and everything else that goes into it.

 

TeriAnn: Brain performance, everything. And we’re absolutely going to be doing more podcasts in the future on sleep and how important it is.

 

Jonathan: Absolutely, yes. Alright. Number 15. Before hitting the hay, take some digestive enzymes. This will help your digestive system better cope with all the extra food and beverages. Again, we’re talking about when you’re at the party, I—quite frankly, I put a few enzymes in my pocket and just take them. Some people are a little bit more sensitive on taking supplements on an empty stomach. It doesn’t bother me at all.

And I actually prefer to take my enzymes and probiotics on empty stomachs in the morning, the evening, and then I take a couple every time I eat. So, I put a couple of my pocket, but if you didn’t do that, definitely take some before bed. I mean, as long as it hasn’t been several hours since you’ve eaten, and you are susceptible to upset stomach when you take supplements on an empty stomach.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. And every individual needs that supplementation with enzymes, and helping your body to digest food, everyone does. There’s just no question about it. I’m definitely one of those people who takes after I eat. It actually impacts me if I take supplements on an empty stomach. So, it’s really important to just do what works for you. So, Number 16. Add a scoop of collagen powder—

 

Jonathan: So, really quickly. I’m just going to cut you off.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah.

 

Jonathan: Now, we’ve moved into the section on health tips for the morning after.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. Thanks for making that point. I forgot to cover that. So, Number 16, add a scoop of collagen powder into your morning coffee or juice. I put it into my smoothie. Let me just tell you how much I love collagen. 100 percent, I can notice a tremendous difference in my skin, my nails, my hair, how my body feels overall. It’s been a game changer for me. And I think at the holidays it also helps to support our liver health and detoxification in a lot of ways. It’s so important after you’ve had a day of eating garbage and junk food at the holiday party to take your college in the next morning.

 

Jonathan: And that’s something I wasn’t aware of beforehand. Collagen really does help with that liver health and detoxification, but if you’re not taking a collagen supplement, consider looking into it. It’s amazing for your hair, your nails, your skin, your joints. Quick plug, Clean Sourced Collagens at ox2022.organixx.com, cleanest on the market. Alright, back to our list.

Number 17. If you’re feeling a little bloated or unwell from your indulgences, drink a cup of peppermint or ginger tea. Personally, I am a chai tea drinker. I much prefer the chai tea that comes from the company Yogi Tea Company. That helps me with my digestion a lot of times the next morning. And I also enjoy green teas. I don’t do the peppermint or ginger tea very often.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. I’m not a peppermint or ginger tea person, but I definitely try to have teas that help with digestion, especially at the holiday times. There are a lot of different options out there for teas that will help with digestion, inflamed gut, things that you experience in evenings, the foods that come with the holidays. So, look for a tea that can really help with that digestion, but I drink tea every day. So, I definitely am on board with this one.

Number 18. When you’re able, have another green juice. I love green juice. I said it again. I just think it’s so important, and people just have no idea. If you haven’t done your research and you’re not doing green juice daily, you just have no idea how much better you feel, how rejuvenated you feel, how it helps your body to bounce back if you need to bounce back from unhealthy eating or getting back into a healthy routine. I love my green juice.

 

Jonathan: I mean you can go to your—a lot of local health food stores will have juice bars, right? So, your Whole Foods and things like that, you can get juices from. You can buy a juicer on Amazon for 60 bucks, I think. You can get—is the lowest one that I’ve seen. There’s no reason not to juice. Or do a smoothie, right? Get a Vitamix or just a regular blender and put your greens in there. Don’t let yourself have an excuse for not getting the greens that you need in your body.

 

TeriAnn: Absolutely.

 

Jonathan: Number 19. Take some probiotics if you had a little too much to drink. This is good to know. No. I’m just kidding. So, alcohol consumption can have a bad effect on beneficial gut bacteria. So, you definitely want to just add in the good stuff, right? And there’s a lot of things that we have in our standard American diets that are bad for our gut health. So, I personally I think probiotics is one of those daily supplements that you take right along with enzymes. To me, enzymes get taken with my probiotics. I just need to take them together to try to keep that gut healthy, keep my gut healthy.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah, and if you haven’t done research before on gut health, we have a lot of articles and information on Organixx.com in our INSPIRED Health Library where you can learn more about it, but gut health is so misunderstood. It’s so important. And again, as we mentioned in the article, alcohol consumption really can have a bad impact on your gut health, and probiotics can help regulate that and get that into balance.

 

Jonathan: I liked your little plug for the INSPIRED Health Library on Organixx.com.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. It’s a great place to go. Number 20. Follow this tip from the French. After overindulging with rich food, the next day, they will have soup laden with fresh vegetables and herbs and lots of water. So, this can counteract, again, gut and liver issues from the food and the alcohol that people are consuming. It goes back to the juicing. If you’re not getting in juicing, and you don’t like to juice and drink a green juice, which I used to be totally opposed to it.

And now, I’ve found ways to make them really delicious, love to drink them. Make a soup, veggies, herbs. All these things that are going to counteract all of that garbage you’re putting into your body and lots of water to flush out your system and detox your body.

 

Jonathan: Yeah, and a little side tip, because I’ve done a lot of juice and I’ve even done 30-day juices before, less is more when it comes to making your juice. So, I used to think, “Ah, this will be good with this and this and this.” And you end up putting 8 ingredients in there and it’s horrific. So, less ingredients is more like—

 

TeriAnn: Yeah, six or seven really does the trick. And I think too, back to the soup conversation, bone broth is a hot topic right now. Add some plain bone broth to your soup. I drink bone broth every day, and it really helps with digestion as well, which is critical at this time of year when you’re eating a lot of different types of food.

 

Jonathan: Well, that’s something I think that not a lot of people realize as well, is your collagens and your bone broth. Especially the Pure, obviously, can go into hot drinks. I guess if you want—if you’re making a hot chocolate, you can put the chocolate in there as well, but you can mix it in hot or cold.

 

TeriAnn: And minimal flavor there. So, it’s easy to mix it with things for sure.

 

Jonathan: Yeah, exactly. All right, Number 21. If you aren’t feeling too shattered, go for a walk, but drink a glass of water first. Listen, I hope you don’t feel shattered at all the next morning after a party. That means you didn’t follow tip number 9, drinking water, every other drink. So, don’t let yourself get shattered, but if you do, get up, have a drink of water. I’m going to give you another tip that I do every morning, and it’s not to try to plug, but it is a plug, is I put the liquid Multi-Vita-Maxx in my glass of water every morning.

The liquid absorbs faster into my system. So, especially if you wake up the next morning a little hungover, consider putting a liquid vitamin in with your drink, or a liquid multivitamin. Drink that glass of water. Go for a nice walk. It just helps get the blood flowing, get things processing, and get you hopefully back to somewhat normal.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. Yup, absolutely. Next part of the article, if holiday stress hits anyway, number 22, lock the bathroom door and take a hot Epsom salt bath. I take these regularly. Epsom salt, baking soda, and your favorite essential oils. I love to do lavender and eucalyptus. There’s a lot of different ways you can do it. People have lots of different concoctions of essential oils that they put into their bath, but one thing I want to mention on this is I take my bath super-hot, and then you really should not be sitting in your water after you detox.

If you have Epsom salts and you have baking soda and essential oils in there, you’re detoxing things out of your body, and you should let the water out and start over if you want to continue to sit in the bath. Because all of those things will draw the toxins out of your body. The essential oil benefits of whatever essential oil you put in there is it differs, but it, specifically with the Epsom salt and the baking soda, you want to let that water out after about 30 minutes of sitting in there, because you’re sitting in those toxins. But these baths, these detox baths, are so important at this time of year to get all the toxins out of your body.

 

Jonathan: And I think—I mean we’re talking about holiday stress, and sometimes it’s just getting away and taking care of yourself. I’ve been talking a lot with our team at Organixx about a work-life balance, and I drive a pretty hard team here. I mean I push the team pretty hard, and I’m really learning to back off and slow down, because if we don’t have that work-life balance, we all get burned out. It’s the same thing here with the holidays, right? It’s not a work-life balance, but this is a life-holiday balance. And just take that time to get away.

A lot of times we feel like we have to take care of everybody else, and “If I don’t take care of them then the whole world is going to fall apart, or this that or the other is going to happen.” The reality is if you don’t take care of yourself first, then all of that other stuff falls apart because you don’t have enough left in you to take care of other people. And when you are taking care of them if you are fully burned out, now it doesn’t feel as good. Now, you’re doing it out of spite, or you’re doing it because you have to do it, or it’s not as enjoyable.

So, take some time to yourself. One thing that I’ve been talking to our team about is just take 15 minutes every morning to yourself, only to yourself, read a book, go on a walk, do some working out, but do 15 minutes just for yourself. And I think that’s the big thing here about taking that bath. It’s not just detoxing but detoxing from the stress itself.

On to Number 23. Number 23 says revisit tip number five. For those of you taking notes, tip number five is limit time with difficult family members. I just can’t stress this enough. I am the youngest of six kids raised by a single mom. And I understand family for sure, and for a lot of my life, a lot of us have really gotten along well. There’s no doubt that there can be some that are more stressful to be around over the holidays than others, and it may not always be a direct sibling, but maybe it’s their spouse or maybe it’s a friend that they’ve brought along or just—who knows who it can be, right?

I mean I’ve got my stories. Everybody has theirs. There’s nothing requiring you to stay there in that situation. And if it’s not good for your health, if it’s not good for you emotionally, then you have the power and the right to leave and go somewhere else. And “no”, doesn’t require an explanation, right? There’s a lot of times when people, “Hey, will you do this?” And then they say, “No.” And then give a reason. No does not require an explanation. “Are you coming to the party?” “Are you coming to the family and get-together?” “Are so, and so are going to be there?” “Nope. No, I’m not going.” “Why?” Don’t even need to answer the question.

So, I’m very clear that I think a lot of people put themselves in situations out of not peer pressure, but family pressure and things like that when you know that you’d probably be better staying at home taking an Epsom salt bath and having a glass of wine, and taking an evening to yourself than having to go somewhere where you get pulled out of your zone or your space.

 

TeriAnn: Yup, absolutely. Number 24. Do some or all of your shopping online. I don’t know that I bought one Christmas gift last year in the store. I think I bought it all on Amazon. I do all of my Christmas shopping online. I don’t like to go to the stores where everyone is just so busy and chaotic, and the lines are long. And it’s just like I’d rather quickly do my shopping online and spend more time with my kids than have to go and fight the crowds and not find what I want. And I love that it’s so easy to shop online.

Now, I think there’s pros and cons to everything being online now. We can get sucked into so much time being online, but there’s definite benefits of quick shopping, easy shopping, more time for kids, fun, happiness, being with people that you want to be with, and really enjoying the holidays for what they’re meant to be.

 

Jonathan: And I think the key here is have your shopping list ahead of time, right? It’s very easy to go on Amazon and buy something, then something else, and everything’s right there. You don’t have to go to five different stores. You can get it all right there. And before you know it, you’ve overspent. You’ve gone over budget. And keep in mind, I mean we all hear this growing up, right? That it’s not about – your parents have always told you, “I just prefer a homemade gift.” I’d prefer something like that. I think it’s really true.

We talked earlier about just sharing your appreciation for somebody. I’m going to challenge you, that may be one of the ways to decrease the stress is don’t shop at all. And maybe you got to buy some presents of course. I’ve got girls. I’m going to get them some things, but what if there is a different way? What if instead of giving a gift to your mom or your dad, you chose to just take them out to dinner or maybe go to a movie or—

 

TeriAnn: Experiences.

 

Jonathan: Yeah. Take them to an experience and not go buy them something. Do something that builds your relationship, makes you closer together, so…

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. I think there’s one other thing to add to this as well. We know that emotional health and spiritual well-being is so important to our overall health. Health is a multi-faceted thing, and I think one of the things with shopping when you talk about—let’s talk about intentional shopping. One of the things that can happen at the holidays is we go over our budget and we go into debt to make the holidays happen. Why? That’s not a necessity. And I think that increased debt and financial chaos can bring a lot of turmoil and chaos internally for you at the holiday season.

The holidays really aren’t supposed to be about stuff. They’re supposed to be about people and love and gratitude and giving. And so, when we talk about doing our shopping online, one of the things that mentions is staying on budget, and that is so critical. Finances can be one of the biggest stressors in our lives, and stressors can deteriorate our health.

And so, for all of us, money or no money, don’t make the holidays about gifts. Make them about people, gifts of experience, gifts of gratitude. Have fun. You don’t have to have a big Christmas to enjoy your holidays. And it’s nice to get things, but I do think it’s fun to lean towards the side of not so much stuff and more people and experiences.

 

Jonathan: Well, and not only you stressing out during the holidays to buy those presents, but you’re going to be stressed out January, February, and March, and the next year just to pay off.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah.

 

Jonathan: That debt, I read in an article or statistic last week, that 15 percent of Americans are still paying off their debt from last holiday season. That’s not what the holidays are about, because I don’t care how old you are. Make your presents, right? How fun would it be to show up and give your niece or nephew a gingerbread house that you made, right?

 

Or make your parents I don’t know, a popcorn necklace or a popsicle stick house. Just for the laughter that will give them that you gave them something you would have given when you were six. Don’t go spend the money. You really don’t need to, and I think you could get a lot more out of it and a lot more out of the experience, doing something fun that’s way cheaper.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. Yup, knit a sweater.

 

Jonathan: Sure.

 

TeriAnn: Number 26. Now I see—

 

Jonathan: Number 25.

 

TeriAnn: Oh, I almost skipped, and this one is so important.

 

Jonathan: I know. We’ve talked a lot about it. So, we don’t go too deep—

 

TeriAnn: Once again, get more sleep, sleep-sleep-sleep. We don’t need to go down that rabbit hole again. We’re going to have more podcasts on sleep too. It’s so important.

Number 26. Realize that at any moment you have the right to say no when things get too hectic. Exercise that right whenever you need to. We’ve talked a lot about this, just setting boundaries, being intentional. You have choice. You have power in your own life. So, use it and use it in a way that helps you to have a happy healthy balanced holiday season.

 

Jonathan: Yeah, and I’m going to go on a little bit of a tangent here, that we don’t say no enough, right? We all feel like we have to please somebody else, and the way to please them is to say yes. I can tell you on a business level, my businesses have succeeded much more the more that I say no. No to this idea. No to that idea.

No to this strategy. No to that strategy. The more I said no the more successful they were. The same thing happens in life. I feel the more that you say no, and one of the good keys, and I need to learn to follow this better, is if it’s a maybe, it’s a no. And I think it’s very key. So, if somebody asks you something and you’re stuck in that “Well, maybe,” just make it a no. Unless it’s a hell yes, just say no.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah.

 

Jonathan: And I think it’ll keep life simpler.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. I would go on a tangent on this. And I just listened to a podcast the other day with someone that I idolize, his name Seth Godin. And he’s an incredible marketer. And he was being asked, “How do you say no and yes to certain things? What are your boundaries? What are your rules?” And he speaks.

He’s well-known for his speaking engagements that he takes on. And he said, “I have rules. I only do certain things, certain ways in my life.” One of those things he said, “When I do speaking engagements, I have to be paid for those, and they have to have certain requirements, and if they don’t, it’s a no. Even if I’m interested in it and I want it, I say, “No, I won’t do it.” He sets these boundaries.

And I love when I hear things like that from people. We don’t have to say yes to everything. We don’t have to deliver the world to everyone. It’s okay. Even when we’re really good at some things, we have to set boundaries around them. Yes, we love doing it. Yes, we want to have that experience in our life. But we have to say no sometimes. We have to set boundaries and requirements around what we will and won’t do. And I think the holidays are so important. Food, sleep, family, money, those are all part of the holidays, and we have to be, again, intentional and have boundaries and rules around those. It’s so important.

 

Jonathan: So, Number 27. Take a breathing break. Just for four or five minutes, take a break and just breathe. Get away from the situation. We’re talking about how to de-stress, how to manage the holidays better. Sometimes it’s just a matter of go to the bathroom. You don’t actually have to go to the bathroom. Go to the room that is a bathroom. Close the door. Lock it. Maybe turn on the water or something, turn on the faucet, sit on the toilet, seat up or down, however you want to do it, and just relax. Take some deep breaths and open the window. Get some fresh air. Go outside. Go for a walk. Do something.

You’re allowed to take care of you. You really are. If you’ve been made to think that you’re not, then you’ve been lied to. And it doesn’t matter if you’re the host of the party. It doesn’t matter if you’re a guest at the party. It doesn’t matter if you’re the guest of honor at the party. If it’s getting too overwhelming at any point in time, leave. Walk outside. Re-center yourself. Get refocused on who you are, why you’re there, how much you love all those people in the room, even if it’s only a little bit. Then decide for yourself, “You know what? 30 more minutes and I’m done.” And then go back in, give it 30 minutes and then be gone, right?

I mean there’s just so much here. We talk about taking a breathing break. Take that break and get re- centered, and then get really clear. “Do I want to still be here?” And if you don’t, it’s alright to leave. And I don’t care who you are. And even if you’re hosting the party and you need to end the party early, there’s nothing more important than your health. They’re just really isn’t, and there’s no reason, especially not a party or a holiday gathering or something like that, that’s worth jeopardizing your health in any way.

 

TeriAnn: No, absolutely. I do this little exercise with my two little girls, and they’re pretty even keel. They’re pretty good little girls. But I think all kids have their moments where they just totally break down. And I will actually get in their face and just say, “Let’s breathe. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.” Because that air flow and just breathing and taking that moment to recognize like “Okay, the world’s not going to end,” helps them get back to their center.

And I think as adults, we can even experience overwhelm at times, where we just need to stop, do some breathing exercises, truly breathe. Breathe in big breaths. Breathe out big breaths. And just get that air flow going in your body. Take that time to think. Breathe in the good, breathe out the bad, and just take a moment to be. And I think it’s really critically that we do that, not only at the holidays but year-round. It’s really important to just take a breath.

So, I’m going to take liberty and add one more to this list as we’ve been going through this. We’ve talked a lot about sleep. We’ve talked about juicing. We’ve talked about healthy food choices. We’ve talked about family relationships and things like that, but I think this is a great time of year to get centered on who you are and accept yourself for who you are. I think that we get to a place where we worry so much about what other people think, and we worry so much about what they’re going to think about who we are, what we believe, what we’ve done in our lives.

And the holidays bring that to a central focus because we’re around family. We’re around friends. Everybody’s together. It’s just a heightened sense of awareness of issues of things you’re facing, of what you do or don’t have, what you who you are and who you are not. And I think we really need to be kind to ourselves, accept ourselves and be more accepting of those around us. It’s a time for love and joy, loving people as they are, having gratitude.

And so, I would just add my last little—my Number 28 to this, acceptance, and accepting people and loving people as they are. That’s what the holidays are all about. And I think it’s important to accept ourselves and show up and just be okay with who we are and who we’re around. It’s so important.

 

Jonathan: I agree 100 percent. I think they sometimes we need to just high-five ourselves that we’ve made it another year.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah.

 

Jonathan: Because there’s hard things in life. We all experience hard things. I’ve had a few really hard things come up in the last couple years, and sometimes it’s overwhelming. Sometimes it’s tough to see that light at the end of the tunnel and hope that it’s not a train, right? And so, you get through another year, and you’ve made it to the other side.

And sometimes we just have to stop and give ourselves a high-five and realize “I did the best that I could and I’m still here and I’m still fighting, and I got a new year to start some New Year’s resolutions and some. And I get to try again next year, right?” And not that we should wait to the end of the year to do that, not that we should necessarily only start good habits on January 1^st. I definitely don’t believe that either, but it’s an appropriate time of year, right?

And so, I think in life we are way too hard on ourselves anyway, and I think that that brings the guilt in, and I think that the holidays can bring a lot of that, right? We overindulge, and it’s couple days after Christmas, and we’re still eating like crap, and we feel fat, and we’ve got that sugar hangover and the sugar makes you feel like crap. And now, you’re just not feeling good about yourself. And maybe that’s maybe some people need that to get motivated for the 1^st. But I think that it would be much healthier obviously if we follow some of these some of this advice here and not overindulge on the sugar.

But instead of feeling the guilt, why don’t you reflect on not just the last five days but reflect on the last 350 days, right? What did you do this entire year? And how did you pull yourself up every single morning and take yourself to work or to school? And every evening you went and picked your kids up from school and you made dinner for everybody, whether you’re a single mom or a single dad. Or—the hardships come in all different shapes and sizes. Maybe you fight with a food addiction or a different kind of addiction. To just recognize that you made it another year, and that you did it, and you’re strong enough to do it.

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. Well, and what if we changed our perception that this is a time of year to be surrounded by love. And not even just starting on January 1^st just because it’s the holidays. As human beings, we have the power to choose now. We can use the holiday time to get centered, to find more love and joy and make choices that are better for us.

Pick some things out of this article that you can work on. You don’t just have to overindulge because it’s the holiday season. Maybe you’re overindulging your health. Maybe you overindulge in choosing you. Maybe you overindulge in finding more love in your relationships and in more giving and gratitude and service.

We don’t have to overindulge in all the negative. Let’s overindulge in in our ability to choose better things for us even though it’s this holiday time of year. It’s a great time to start. We don’t need to wait for New Year’s resolutions. That power is ours, right now. Maybe that’s the biggest gift we can give to ourselves is the power to choose and be better now, and overindulge in the healthy, in the positive emotion, in the happiness, in the joy, and all of those things that make us who we want to be and live a better life.

 

Jonathan: If you want to get access to any transcripts, any cliff notes, if there’s something you heard on here, maybe we referenced a website or something like that, you’ll find those in the cliff notes, in the transcript. If you want to go back and just download any of these audios to listen to on your morning walks, while you’re at the gym, while you’re cleaning the house, whatever you’re doing.

If you want to watch us on video, you’ll find links to YouTube. I would ask, please subscribe. You’ll find several subscribe buttons on empoweringyouorganically.com. Click that Subscribe button. That way you get instant notification every time we upload a new episode

 

TeriAnn: Yeah. We just want to say thank you to all of our listeners and supporters. You’ll get our new episodes each week. And the feedback has been wonderful. The support has been wonderful.

And if there’s anything you want to hear about, reach out to us. Let us know what we can cover for you. We’re happy to add topics into the mix. Some of our topics this season have come from frequently asked questions from our followers and listeners. So, thank you for the support. It’s been an amazing journey so far.

 

Jonathan: Thanks everyone and stay strong during the holidays.

 

TeriAnn: Thank you. Happy holidays.

 

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Episode 7 – Holiday Hacks – 27 Tips for Staying Healthy During the Holidays