{"id":9838,"date":"2017-11-15T17:46:17","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T01:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeandhealth.wordifysites.com\/?p=8198"},"modified":"2021-09-29T12:58:56","modified_gmt":"2021-09-29T19:58:56","slug":"is-it-the-happiest-time-of-the-year-or-a-bermuda-triangle-of-bad-health-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/lifestyle\/is-it-the-happiest-time-of-the-year-or-a-bermuda-triangle-of-bad-health-decisions\/179838.html","title":{"rendered":"Is It The Happiest Time Of The Year, Or A Bermuda Triangle Of Bad Health Decisions?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re fast approaching my favorite time of the year: Thanksgiving! Then, following close afterward is Christmas and New Year\u2019s Day. Combined, these are often called the \u201chappiest time of the year\u201d. But, is it?  These three holidays, back to back to back, are often laden with pitfalls, making it more like a \u201cBermuda Triangle\u201d than the \u201chappiest time\u201d for some.<\/p>\n

Am I just being a Scrooge? What\u2019s there to worry about?<\/p>\n

\"\"Cold weather<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cold temperatures, specifically cold air, can induce airway spasms and shortness of breath. They can also constrict blood vessels leading to angina (chest pain) or even heart attacks. If you\u2019re lucky enough to have a white Christmas, you may end up shoveling snow, which often leads to heart attacks due to the combination of cold and strenuous labor.<\/p>\n

Stress<\/h4>\n

You know how it goes. Holiday stress.<\/em> Stress about getting gifts, getting the right gift\u2026not too cheap, but not so expensive that it causes even more post-Christmas stress when you get your credit card bill. Sigh.<\/p>\n

Stress about feeding all the people coming over to your house. Who eats what, what allergies do people have, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free options for everyone, and finally \u2013 will it taste good?<\/p>\n

Eating holiday fare<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>Remember that we just came out of Halloween and we\u2019re probably polishing off the kids\u2019 candy and are now faced with an almost endless supply of treats, desserts, work parties, dinner parties, eggnog, and of course minty, pumpkin-y holiday lattes. The amount of sugar, fat, and excess calories will probably put you deep in the hole even before you start on your New Year\u2019s resolutions to eat better, exercise, and lose weight.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s be real about this for a second because it\u2019s serious stuff.<\/p>\n

Fatty foods<\/em> acutely make your blood likelier to clot, thus increasing your risk of heart attack and stroke.<\/p>\n

Sugary foods<\/em> acutely suppress your immune system, which makes you likelier to get sick, especially with the cold weather, lack of sleep, and stress you will also be dealing with.<\/p>\n

Alcohol<\/em> directly irritates your heart and can put you into atrial fibrillation (a fast and abnormal heart rhythm). In fact, this is so common that it\u2019s been dubbed \u2018Holiday Heart Syndrome\u2019.<\/p>\n

Are you scared now?<\/p>\n

Fortunately, there\u2019s a happy ending to this story. After all, what would you expect from a holiday article?<\/p>\n

The happy ending.<\/h3>\n

Cold weather? Dress warmly.<\/h4>\n

Yes, it can be cold, just dress warm<\/em>. Use this time to break out your ugly sweaters (we all have them) and layer up, making you nice and toasty and the giver of your ugly sweater very happy.<\/p>\n

Gift-giving, party-planning stress? Have a good attitude.<\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a>Gift giving is stressful, but you know what? It\u2019s been shown that the act of giving a gift actually turns on infection-fighting and immune system-boosting genes. It doesn\u2019t work if you get a gift for yourself \u2013 seriously! Also, consider group gifts and experiences that bring people together, like coupons for miniature golf, rather than a costly individual gift.<\/p>\n

Also, limit the gifts (no one really needs more than one simple gift) and use a budget.  Debt is a gift that keeps on giving \u2013 giving you pain. Having time off from work shouldn\u2019t be used for more shopping; it could be used for more exercise. So, jumpstart your New Year\u2019s resolutions at Thanksgiving, and make good decisions throughout the rest of the holidays.<\/p>\n

Preparing for parties can be difficult, but there are some ways to limit the stress. For example, allow your friends to bring over their favorite dishes. No one expects you to be the perfect host a la Martha Stewart.  Just have a potluck instead of cooking the whole thing. Social interaction has been shown to help cognition and overall well-being so involve everyone\u2019s participation in your next big get-together.<\/p>\n

The big one: the food.<\/h4>\n

You might be thinking that the above tips are all doable, but the food is the insurmountable challenge. Well, here are a few simple tips.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Eat mindfully. Don\u2019t nibble and snack on everything that\u2019s available. Remind yourself that you will have multiple opportunities in the surrounding weeks to eat really delicious things. You won\u2019t have to deny yourself too much, so pace yourself!<\/li>\n
  2. Eat before<\/em> you go to parties so you literally can\u2019t cram all of the food and desserts you want to eat in your stomach.<\/li>\n
  3. Remember to eat the healthy options first, and drink a lot of water to fill up your stomach so hunger doesn\u2019t weaken your will to control your eating.<\/li>\n
  4. Taste, but don\u2019t eat a ton of sweets and deserts. Once again, you\u2019ll have many chances to try all sorts of good stuff.<\/li>\n
  5. If you taste something and it\u2019s not mind-blowingly delicious, stop eating it! Move on and save your calories for something you\u2019ll love.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The most important thing: be grateful.<\/h4>\n

    No one has a perfect life but most have a lot to be thankful for. The process of expressing gratitude (writing it down in a journal, saying it out loud, expressing appreciation directly to others, etc.) has been shown to actually reduce death rates in heart patients.<\/p>\n

    Don\u2019t get sucked into the Bermuda Triangle of poor health choices this holiday. We\u2019re all adults and we all get to choose what we do and how we feel about what we do. So, what choices are you going to make this holiday season?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    We\u2019re fast approaching my favorite time of the year: Thanksgiving! Then, following close afterward is Christmas and New Year\u2019s Day. Combined, these are often called the \u201chappiest time of the year\u201d. But, is it?  These three holidays, back to back to back, are often laden with pitfalls, making it more like a \u201cBermuda Triangle\u201d than the \u201chappiest time\u201d for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":10990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,2,5],"tags":[516,182],"thb-sponsors":[],"yst_prominent_words":[907,918,902,791,913,922,934,928,906,915,919,909,920,904,925,699,675,867,931,911],"class_list":["post-9838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-habits","category-lifestyle","category-relationships-community","tag-holidays","tag-mind-body-spirit","post_format-post-format-image"],"acf":[],"views":434,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9838"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21826,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9838\/revisions\/21826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9838"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=9838"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=9838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}