I’m going to keep this quick and easy, given that I’m about to embark on my first activity of about 500 scheduled for this next week. I’m very excited for all the festivities, and yet I know that the thing that gets me every time, every holiday, since as long as I can remember, is this: If you don’t take a timeout, you will have a freakout. The nonstop people coupled with the nonstop consumption can leave one energetically exhausted, cursing that last piece of cake (cocktail, cookie, candy cane), and praying for a vacation… from your vacation. Here are six foolproof ways to stave off a holiday meltdown:
Take a bath. In a full house, the bathroom can be the only safe haven from that crazy uncle or those sugar-charged nieces and nephews. Turn down the lights, light a candle, and give yourself twenty minutes of alone time. It will go a long way.
Take a walk. Whether you need an escape, or want some QT with someone you don’t see all that often, walks are the one type of exercise anyone can do anywhere. Most of us forgo our fitness routine during the holidays, so daily walks are a great way to not totally lose that yoga tone.
Watch your alcohol intake. At this time of year, drinking can happen every single night. Everyone’s different, but alcohol can be a real buzz kill the next day. My plan is to pre-plan which nights are for partying and need to end with just a glass or two of wine.
Don’t overdo the sugar. Easier said than done, don’t I know it. Last Christmas, I went all out on the treats and I came home with a bonafide I’ve-got-the-shakes-for-sugar addiction. I’ve vowed to be a little more careful this year, while still indulging here and there when it’s worth it.
Smell something other than cookies. We’re coocoo for aromatherapy. If you’re one of the converted to Lotus Wei, Essence of Vali, Hope Gillerman, or other purveyors of powerful, healing smells—keep that bottle handy. It only takes a moment to take a deep inhalation and switch up the internal energy, even as chaos rules around us.
Feel gratitude. For your family. For your gifts. For the time you get off of work. Remembering to be grateful at this time of year, as always, offers a quick reality check when you’re screaming inner teenage self tries to rear her ugly head (which happens to the best of us around family, am I right?).
Have a wonderful holiday weekend, and we’ll be back with sporadic postings next week!
This post comes via our friends over at Well+Good. Tell us what you think about this research in the comments! Have you seen a link between dairy, sugar and your skin?
Turns out, if you’re following the USDA nutrition guidelines of MyPlate and getting your 3 servings of dairy a day, you’re inviting a face full of pimples.
Confirming the long-suspected link between dairy products and acne is a systematic review of 21 observational studies and six clinical trials conducted over 2009 and 2010.
While the link between dairy and acne isn’t news to the holistic community—or most facialists—it is to the medical one, which has come up with drug after zit-fighting drug to treat something that’s not about the skin at all.
This morning marks the beginning of my caffeine detox. Now, I don’t actually think there’s anything wrong with caffeine. In fact studies have shown that it may actually come with certain health perks like increased metabolism and reduced risk of diabetes, among others.
So why am I cutting caffeine out this week? Well, sometimes writers get lucky, and next week I am going to visit and write about a super luxurious but rather strict retreat program at the Ranch at Live Oaks in Malibu (or as Siobhan and I like to call it: Malibooya).
What’s on the menu? No much: no sugar, no alcohol, no caffeine, no meat. What will be is yoga, hiking, swimming and clean (but probably small) vegetarian meals. I’m thoroughly excited, if a little scared.
This past Friday I got what I’d describe as a motivational phone call from one of the Ranch’s employees. The gentleman on the other end told me kindly (but firmly) that if I didn’t detox before coming on the retreat it would be veryveryvery hard. So here goes nothing.
While sugar, alcohol and meat are relatively easy to give up, coffee notsomuch. I haven’t gone without my multiple morning espressos for years, and I am definitely one of those cartoonish types who does not like speaking to anyone before I’ve had it.
What about you? Do you drink caffeine? Have you ever gone off it? Most importantly, do I have anything to look forward to people?!
P.S. I’m sipping yerba mate right now. I know it has some naturally occurring caffeine in it, but much less than coffee. Baby steps, I still have six days.
Speaking of high fructose corn syrup—oh, excuse me, I mean “corn sugar”—we have our suspicions about what it might do to skin. Is there proof? No. But dermatologists love to say that food has nothing to do with your complexion as they hand you a prescription for industrial-strength benzoyl peroxide.
Don’t get us wrong—we love our french fries as much as the beauties in this pic, and we don’t think they’re to blame for our breakouts. But with all the weird chemicals pumped in food (and you know, all the nutrients stripped out), we know people are having reactions left, right and smack in the center of their faces. Some friends we know break out from wheat, others from dairy or nuts, some from sugar…
So have you noticed any correlation between what you eat and how your skin looks?
Image of hot and hungry gals via
