November 30, 2017

The holidays are supposed to be a happy time. But studies show that a lot of people experience acute depression during this season. Here are 15 ways to avoid being one of those statistics.

1. Choose Joy

Happiness is a choice. It’s not about what you don’t have. It’s all about what you do. There are third world countries that score far higher than we as Americans do on happiness indices. And there are a ton of depressed millionaires out there. It’s all about perspective. It’s all about choice.

2. Choose Foods that Honor Yourself

Your gut is filled with trillions of microbes. Eating whole, healthy foods feeds the beneficial parts of your microbiome. Eating terrible food feeds the bad parts. And research over the last decade has shown, time and time again, that your gut plays as much—if not more—of a role than your brain does when it comes to mood. Keep your gut happy and your mood will follow.

3. Give as Many Hugs as You Can

The data is in: People who engage with others in physically-positive ways are happy. And nothing says physically-positive more clearly than a big old bear hug!

4. Spread Happiness

Focusing on the happiness of others is a surefire way to boost your own mood. Isolation, especially during the holidays, is one of the main reasons that depression rates tend rise around this time of year. So, spread your joy… especially to those who seem like they need it the most.

5. Don’t Say Anything Negative for 24 Hours

This exercise is wonderful for boosting your happiness quotient. It also forces you to choose your words carefully and keeps you from spreading negativity to others.

6. Banish All Negative Thoughts for 24 Hours

Negative thoughts are going to happen. They just are. But you don’t have to allow them to linger. So, for 24 hours, when a negative thought pops up in your head, kick it out. Don’t let it put down roots.

7. Understand that Families Can be Stressful

The holidays are a time for family. Which can be wonderful. But, it can also be stressful. So, know that your family gatherings might bring up some tension—spoken or unspoken—in both yourself and others. Just being aware of this fact can go a long way in choosing your joy, no matter the circumstances this holiday season.

8. Search Out the Silver Lining

No matter what happens to you in life, you can find something positive in the situation. If you get into a fender bender, sure it’s annoying. It’s inconvenient. But you can be thankful that no one was hurt. You can use it as a moment to diffuse a stressful situation and be an inspiration to the other driver.

9. Recognize that Other People Find the Holidays Stressful

Again, this is an awareness issue. Even if you don’t get particularly down during the holiday season, others do. So, going into each moment of your day with this knowledge will allow you to show patience and empathy. And maybe brighten someone else’s day!

10. Volunteer

Get out of your routine this holiday season and help others. Soup kitchens, Salvation Army donation kettles, food drives… the opportunities are endless. The key is to be intentional about getting out of your rut and help the less fortunate in your community.

11. Find Your Holiday WHY

What do the holidays mean to you? Because, they aren’t about maxing out your credit cards, stressing over buying gifts for people who are probably going to return them anyway, and eating until your pants no longer fit. Finding your reason for the holiday season will put your mind in a place where happiness isn’t a hard choice.

12. Go to the Mall… But Not to Shop

Go to the mall (or anywhere people are shopping) and be intentional about spreading joy. I’m not suggesting anything radical here. A hello, a smile, a quick compliment… it doesn’t take much to brighten someone’s day. And when you do, that light will shine back on you.

13. Understand What’s Being Marketed at You

Every commercial on TV and the internet this holiday season is a lie. That happy family attempting to shovel that huge pile of food past their fake smiles? Yeah, they don’t exist. We’ve been marketed a vision of the holidays that simply isn’t real. And many people feel like failures when they can’t live up to these false expectations. Understanding that it’s all a mirage designed to sell you cat food or a new vacuum cleaner takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders.

Happiness can happen when you no longer have to live up to an impossible ideal.

14. Focus on Connection

The holidays aren’t about food, gifts, and stress. So, don’t focus on those things. Instead, focus on connecting with the people in your life. Inspire them. Let them inspire you. Be real. Be vulnerable. Be kind.

15. Presence Over Presents

The best gift you can give someone this holiday season is to be present in the moment with them. Put down your phone and have a real conversation. That’s where real joy begins.

Watch more below…

The post Happier Holidays: 15 Ways to Bring Joy to Your Life This Holiday Season appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.

November 21, 2017

The holiday season is synonymous with food… and lots of it! So, with all the events you’ll be attending this season, how do you keep from destroying your health… and actually lose weight?

Whether you’ve been trying to take back your health for a while now, or are just starting out during the last months of this year, the holidays can be daunting. Food—most of it bad for you—can feel like it’s everywhere. Holiday parties, big family meals, all those extra boxes of calorie-packed treats Dorothy at the office keeps leaving in the break room… it can feel inescapable at times.
But, here’s the thing…

It’s not inescapable. The temptation to indulge—or, more likely, to overindulge—doesn’t have to be irresistible.

Here are five surefire strategies for tamping down the temptation and holding on to your health this holiday season.

1. Understand What You’re Up Against

Your health starts with one thing, and one thing only: Awareness.

When you understand where your bad habits have their roots, you can make healthy choices. You can say “no” to death and say “yes” to life.

It’s no different when it comes to your health this holiday season. Understanding what you’re up against will go a long way in allowing you to make the right choices for your health.

So, what exactly are you up against? What, exactly, do you need to be aware of?

First, understand that holiday overindulgence isn’t a real thing. Instead, it’s the primary message of a marketing campaign you’ve been subjected to for your entire life. The holidays can mean a lot of things, but NONE of those things are overeating.

We have this vision of huge, calorie-packed meals—and the lethargy that follows—because that’s what they’ve sold you. You hear a lot about the over-commercialization of the holidays when it comes to gifts. But it’s the same thing with food.

Notice the commercials on TV this time of year… In an attempt to sell you french-fried onions, for example, they’ll show those onions posed within a square acre of “holiday food.”

You won’t just see Acme Turkey gravy.

No, you’ll see it poured over a metric ton of meat, stuffing, potatoes, and who knows what else. Those big meals aren’t there by accident.

Toy companies target your kids. Food companies target everyone.

Second, you’re up against the idea that everyone eats terribly during the holidays. It’s social pressure 101. Because it’s “just a thing people do,” it makes it much easier to indulge yourself. Despite the fact that no, not everyone eats terribly during the holidays.

Third, know that eating is never an isolated activity. It’s rooted in emotion. Around the holidays, it’s also rooted in the feelings we have about traditions. Apple dump cake might be tempting. Grandma’s apple dump cake, though, is on a whole different level.

Traditions are powerful. So are emotions. Understanding those connections—and building awareness around their existence—can go a long way in keeping you healthy—and happy—during the holidays.

So, awareness is the starting point.

2. Don’t Look Forward to New Year’s

New Year’s is a tough animal to tackle. Because, while it’s good to feel like you have a fresh start, and equally good to set healthy goals for yourself, too often it tends to have the opposite effect.

It can be easy to overindulge during the holidays when you “know” that you’re going to get your health in order on January 1st. That day has become more of an excuse than anything else. It’s easy to see it as a chance for a do-over… even when you know, in the back of your mind, that most, if not all, of your resolutions will be broken and forgotten by the second week of January.

It’s human nature to want to improve yourself. It’s also a noble endeavor. But New Year’s Day isn’t the time to do that. For one, there’s a ton of added pressure. And secondly, just like a lot of people wrack up credit card debt buying gifts during the holidays, there’s also often a “health debt” that comes due once the holidays are over. Overindulge for the last two months of the year, and you’re setting yourself even further behind the eight ball, health-wise.

Also, look… The truth is, there’s no good time to start making healthy lifestyle changes. The fourth quarter of the year is problematic because of the holidays, right? But the first three months of the year are inconvenient because, well, it’s cold and no one wants to leave the house to go to the gym. The second quarter isn’t great because you’re busy and vacation is coming up. And the third quarter? It’s hot. You’re trying to pack in more summer fun before the leaves start turning brown, and honestly… after the holidays you’ll get things in order.

All of which combines to mean one thing: Because there’s no “good” time to start taking back your health, any time of the year is the best place to start.

Don’t let your excuses get in the way of everything you can accomplish.

If you’ve already started taking back your health by slowly replacing the bad habits with good ones, then take this holiday season as an opportunity to continue.

If you haven’t started making those changes, start today. Now is as good—or bad— a time as any.

Either way, let New Year’s Day be a celebration of everything you’ve accomplished so far instead of the starting point.

3. Have a Plan

No one’s ever done something good for themselves in a sustainable way without a plan. So, as you tiptoe through the minefield that is the holidays, go in with a plan.

This plan doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as making sure that you’ve filled up on a healthy meal or snack before you go to a holiday party. Or it could be just making a promise to yourself that you’ll drink water instead of punch, or pop, or eggnog.

You know yourself. And because you’ve built up that awareness about what your triggers are going to be back in step 1, you’ll be able to come up with a strategy that works for you.

4. Bring Your Own Food

Part of that strategy might be bringing your own food to meals and other events. Make something healthy… and make a lot of it to share!

Thanks to the internet, there are tons of super healthy holiday recipes right at your fingertips. Here are a few to get you started. 

Choose one, take it with you, and share it. You can even decide not to tell anyone it’s healthy. See how they feel about it before you tell them it’s the only dish on the table that won’t cause a coronary.

Be an inspiration to others.

5. Remember What the Holidays are Actually About

Finally, take a step back. Take a deep breath. Let it out slowly. And then think about what the holidays REALLY MEAN.

Your answer is going to be your own. The holidays mean as many different things as there are people who celebrate them. Family, faith, togetherness, joy, thanksgiving… for you it can be about any combination of these deeper meanings.

But what this time of year is NOT ABOUT holds true across the board.

The holidays are not about spending more money than you have on gifts that no one needs.

They aren’t about raiding the shopping mall at midnight on Black Friday.

They aren’t for stuffing yourself until you pass out on the couch in front of the football game.

So much of what is marketed AT you this time of year are lies, plain and simple. Those huge meals you see in the commercials? Most of the time, that’s not even food.

Everything you see is an idealized—and FALSE—expectation that you’re being psychologically manipulated to attempt to live up to.

Take this holiday season back for yourself. Build that awareness. Understand your own reason for the season.

And above all, choose your health. Choose your happiness.

Choose life.

Watch more below!

The post How to Actually Lose Weight During this Holiday Season appeared first on Wellness Training Institute.