Tis the season to enjoy festive dinners, feast on sweets, attend boisterous parties, and reminisce with friends and family late into the night. Yet despite the joyousness of this holiday season, studies reveal that the winter season can have a poor impact on your heath with a long-term cumulative effect over your lifespan.

This holiday season, I urge you to safeguard your health without spoiling any of the fun. Here are a few tips.Lose the Stress Nearly all of us feel the extra stress that comes with the winter holiday season. The best way to combat this is to think about how to make the holidays work for you and your family. Look at your priorities and don’t force unnecessary events into your already full schedule. If necessary, take breaks from the excitement at festive get-togethers.

Alternatively, you can implement a new stress buster tradition. For example, every year on Dec. 27th the ladies in my family unwind with our traditional spa day, while the men prepare a delicious dinner for us!

This holiday season take charge of your health. Make good choices, start new holiday traditions and remember your reason for celebrating

At one time or another, we all have become carried away with shopping, letting it become a competitive sport.  Too often, we end up spending more time on our feet, while skipping meals and forgetting to drink water.  After all, it’s easy to forget eating and drinking when you’re obsessed with finding that perfect toy for Billy. With the extended holiday hours and holiday parties, make sure you drink plenty of water and eat balanced meals. If you don’t have time to eat balanced meals, take healthy snacks with you during the day and remember to drink plenty of water! Lastly, make sure you take time to rest and rejuvenate between shopping and parties. Pace yourself! If you don’t it can lead to a weak immune system and leave you susceptible to colds and flues.  Eat well, take your vitamins and get plenty of rest.
In closing, remember that the holiday season is not about the presents, but being present!

Dr. Paul Wong, a Professor of Psychology at Tyndale University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, knows that gratitude is invaluable to both our physical and mental health and well-being.

“What is the worth of saying “Thank you?” My answer is that it is priceless, when it is said in sincerity. The magic power of a simple expression of gratitude has almost limitless potentials,” he said.

“My thesis is that a genuine expression of gratitude, whether verbally or non-verbally, can transform personal relationships, improve a work climate and create a more peaceful world.”

Who wouldn’t want to improve all areas through just a little gratitude? Thanksgiving is the perfect time to make this a habit for all times of the year.

I want to leave you with this final thought. Get rid of all the things that are no longer serving you, such as poor behaviours or bad habits and take time to “harvest” those good qualities that will improve the quality of your life.

Have a happy and healthy fall that is full of thanksgiving!
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I don’t know about you, but some days the constant materialistic images in the media really get me down and cause me to lose focus on what’s really important to me. Instead, I feel as though I’m constantly being pushed and pulled in directions I don’t want to go, and am told that I should never be happy with who I am and what I have. So today, I encourage you to block out those negative messages and take time to better yourself through the power of gratitude.

Take a moment right now to meditate on being grateful for all the blessings that exist in your life. Instead of letting the media tell you what you are missing, think instead about all you have. What are your grateful for? Try to get into the habit of focusing on gratitude every morning and evening, and work towards leading a life of constant gratitude.

Did you know that Vitamin D deficiency is a major problem in the United States? According to William B. Grant, Ph.D., a top vitamin D researcher, an estimated 80 – 90 percent of Americans are currently at risk for vitamin D deficiency.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that there is a large and growing list of diseases related to vitamin D deficiency. Bone diseases, such as rickets, osteopenia, osteoporosis and osteomalacia are fairly well known. Other conditions include muscle pain and weakness, about 16 types of internal cancer, type 1 diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease.

Vitamin D is produced in the body when skin is exposed to ultraviolet light, making summer the perfect time to absorb this important vitamin.

To get the recommended 15 – 30 minutes of sunlight needed, take your workout outside!

(You can read the report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/bonehealth/docs/Osteo10sep04.pdf)

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season already in full swing, I wanted to take a moment to remind you to make your health and wellness a priority.

During this busy time of year, we are all guilty of stretching ourselves a little too thin. Between get-togethers with family and friends, shopping, and a myriad of other festive activities, we can easily take our health for granted. Instead of ignoring our health and well-being right in the middle of cold and flu season, we should instead be mindful of the small ways we can strengthen our immune system.

For example, vitamin C is an excellent antioxidant that boosts the immune system and is easy to find during the holidays. The mandarin orange is everywhere right now; it’s easy to peal, tastes great and is an easy way to add some vitamin C to your daily diet.  Also, keeping a pre-mixed green leafy salad in your fridge is a convenient way to grab a quick snack.  If you don’t add the salad dressing on until after, it will stay fresh for a few days.

Once you’ve incorporated a few immune system boosting foods into your diet, don’t forget about the importance of exercise. Now I don’t honestly expect you to get to the gym everyday over the holidays, but I do want to remind you that it is important to stay on track and not to lose focus. Too often people feel guilty after the holidays and that guilt can prevent them from returning to their previous healthy lifestyle.

Fortunately, you don’t need to feel guilty about taking a little break from exercise – in fact, a little period of rest is actually a good thing. A seven day period of complete rest actually allows your body to re-stock muscle fuel and can help heal any nagging injuries. When you resume exercising, you’ll feel stronger and more energetic. So take a break if you need one and don’t feel guilty about doing so. But after your weeklong rest, be sure to get back into the swing of things.

Lastly, now is the time to start thinking about the New Year. I know it may seem a little early, but if you start planning now for the New Year, you will be ready to implement your new plan right away and be ahead of the pack. So many New Year’s resolutions fail because people just don’t have a plan. When January 1st rolls around they start thinking about making a plan, but soon abandon it because it feels like they are already behind. If you start planning your New Year’s resolutions now, you will be ready to put them into action on the first of the New Year.