3 Health Strategies to Help You Get Through the Holidays

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Plan now to assist prevent overeating, hospital visits, and depression.

Winter holidays are imagined to be a joyous time, filled with celebration. But they arrive with health risks, corresponding to loneliness and depression, overeating, weight gain, falls in snowy weather, foodborne illness, and heart problems. Here are ways to guard yourself while having fun with the weather.

1. Avoid the blues

Ways to combat the blues include exercise, which releases feel-good chemicals within the body and is understood to enhance mood. distractions, corresponding to watching a movie; Socialize and volunteer for a worthwhile cause (see “Year-round Mood Booster”).

If feelings of sadness last greater than two weeks and are accompanied by symptoms corresponding to insomnia or difficulty concentrating, it might be an indication of clinical depression, which it is best to report back to your doctor.

2. Use Buffet Savvy.

It's easy to overeat at holiday parties. The best method to avoid this: Have a plan in place before you permit your house. Eat a light-weight, healthy breakfast an hour before party time and ask a friend to aid you persist with your meal goals.

At the buffet table, use a salad plate to maintain portions small and reduce calories. Avoid foods high in beef and unhealthy saturated fat (anything with cream, cheese or butter). Avoid or limit foods that raise your blood sugar, corresponding to sugary cocktails, desserts, potatoes, pasta, rice and bread. And be careful for salty foods that may raise blood pressure, corresponding to processed meats, gravy, soups, crackers and chips. Instead, give attention to low-calorie selections, corresponding to fruits, vegetables, and baked or broiled poultry and fish.

Once at your table, eat slowly; Limit your alcohol consumption, as an excessive amount of can sabotage intelligent intentions to eat. And whenever you're done eating, take the conversation off the table.

3. Prevent illness and injury.

Some experiences throughout the holidays can land you within the hospital. An example is slipping and falling in icy conditions. If you need to exit in snowy weather, don't carry heavy shopping bags filled with gifts on icy paths or stairs. Wear rubber-soled shoes for higher traction, and take small steps to assist keep your balance.

Another reason to go to the hospital throughout the holidays: foodborne illness. Avoid getting sick by ensuring any dish with raw eggs—which may contain bacteria called salmonella—is cooked to 160°F, even eggs. Do not let anyone lick a raw cookie dough spoon that comprises eggs. Make sure turkeys are completely thawed before baking, so the within is hot enough (165°F) to kill bacteria. And keep in mind that food not noted for greater than two hours becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, so refrigerate it beforehand.

Overdoing it at a celebration — drinking an excessive amount of alcohol and eating an excessive amount of salt — could cause a quick and irregular heartbeat referred to as “holiday heart.” This often represents a temporary episode of an irregular heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation (or AFib), and infrequently resolves inside 24 hours. If you experience an episode that lasts for hours or is accompanied by symptoms corresponding to chest pain, shortness of breath, or fainting, go to the emergency department.

A year-round mood booster: Volunteering Ideas include having a younger member of the family babysit. bell ringing for the Salvation Army; offering a ride to someone who can not drive; helping a nonprofit group corresponding to the Humane Society or Meals on Wheels; Share your skilled experience as a profession coach with the Resource Center; Tuition at an area school; doing things for a neighbor who needs help; Or volunteer at a museum.