How many times have you told your own children “Wait!” or “Settle Down!” or “Stop!”? In most cases, these instructions are given to protect us, or to teach us to think before we act.

May I suggest that right now, as you leave behind the season of Thanksgiving and before you plunge headfirst into the Christmas Holiday Season, that you say the same thing to yourself? Wait!  Stop! Settle Down!   Make time now to take a deep breath, protect yourself and think before you act.

For many, this can be a wonderful season of joy, filled with family, giving, and love.  But often times outcomes are less than wonderful things like disappointment, debt, weight gain, exhaustion, and disconnection.  How do you eliminate or minimize these outcomes?  What can you do now to adapt your schedule, attitudes and commitments into a pattern that will bring you through this season without regret?

Here are a few ideas:

Stop to consider what your two most important priorities are during the holiday season. Then, as you schedule, plan, decorate, shop, eat, drink, entertain, select gifts, ask yourself, “Does this support and align with my top priorities for this holiday season, or does it sabotage them?”

Adapt and Be Flexible with Traditions

Do you have some die-hard traditions you have always followed during this season of the year?  Is it appropriate to change them this year or to skip them all together?  If you finally have lost 40 lbs after years of struggle, is it still a good idea to invest your time, money and effort in making 14 dozen of your grandmother’s sugar glazed Christmas cookies?  Can a healthier option be substituted?  If it does not make sense or your efforts are unappreciated, reconsider.

Lower your Expectations of Others and Events.

It is easy to get disappointed or let down during this “magical” season. The gift you want may not be affordable, Uncle Charlie is the same person he was last year and your young adult child may not come to his or her senses.  Adopt a mental mantra that whatever the holidays bring, you will be thankful and content in all things, focused on doing your best to contribute in ways that build others up.

Take care of yourself.

The most effective strategy to be able to love others well is to first, love yourself with adequate sleep, a healthy diet and stress reducers such as exercise and meditation.

Happy Holidays to You and Yours!

The costume stores are open and the decorations, candy, and treats are already starting to line the aisles at the local grocery and retail stores.  The Holiday Season is beginning again.  I don’t know about you, but if our family can just come out of the nutritional gate the right way at the end of October, we can get pretty organized and motivated to eat right throughout the holiday season.  Alternatively, if we give in at Halloween and start the candy and Starbucks pumpkin treats, it is a struggle to get back on track  and finish the season healthy and happy.  So for all of you struggling to keep yourself and the whole family on track, here are some ideas to start out right for candy free Halloween fun….

• Ideal edible options for Trick or Treat snacks include mini raisin boxes, fresh small apples or tangerines, mini Lara Bars, mini KIND bars and mini bananas.
• Everyone is thirsty during Trick or Treat, so offer mini bottles of water or Honest Kids Fruit Drinks, or homemade lemonade as a treat.
• Fill up a basket with spooky scary stuff like plastic eye balls, slimy rubbery snakes and spiders, and fake fingers.
• Include Halloween pencils, tiny books, writing tablets and mini Play Dough from the dollar store, Walmart, Michael’s or Target.
• Glow Sticks, necklaces and wristbands increase safety during Trick or Treating and are a welcomed treat for all ages.
• Give out stickers and temporary tattoos
• Know that it is OK to run out of treats, turn off the lights and lock the door!
• When your kids come home with their candy, allow them to keep a couple of pieces, and then negotiate a trade-in with you in exchange for a trip to the toy or dollar store.
• Contact www.operationgratitude.com to help out our troops with your Halloween candy donation and show the kids how to give back.

One of the best ways to love your children well is to send them to school with foods that promote good energy levels and mental alertness.  This year, as you prepare for a busy school year, take a couple steps in the right direction to improve those lunch boxes and snacks for the kids.  Every lunch box should have a piece of fruit and one raw vegetable!  Eliminate a couple processed food items such as traditional bread, popcorn, gold fish and chips as well as high sugar foods in exchange for whole foods. Buy appropriate, good quality containers to make packing lunch easier (check out www.lunchbots.com as an example).  Then plan ahead.  Fruit salad,  tossed salads and meat based mayo salads as well as many other items can be made on Sunday and packed up for the week ahead. Here are some food swap ideas to help you get organized.

Instead of traditional or whole grain breads, try Organic Corn Tortillas or homemade Wheat Belly Basic Bread recipe (Wheat Belly Cookbook by William David, MD, Rodale 2013).

Instead of a sandwich, try Meat Roll-ups – use a piece of deli meat, spread with mayo, mustard, guacamole or hummus, add lettuce or field greens and roll it up.

Instead of a sandwich, try Chicken, Egg, Tuna or Salmon salad in a bowl.

Instead of a sandwich, try left over meat bites, hummus and veggie strips.

Instead of high sugar yogurts, try Stoneyfield YoKids Squeezers or 4 oz yogurts.

Instead of potato chips, try Mary’s Gone Crackers Pretzel Sticks, Central Market Exotic Vegetable Sweet Potato Chips or Beanito Chips.

Instead of granola bars, brownies and cookies try Lara Bars or KIND Bars.

Instead of soft drinks, fruit juices or smoothies, try Bottled Water, Fruitables or Honest Kids fruit drinks.

Instead of cookies and brownies, try homemade trail mix with 60% cocoa dark chocolate chips, raw cashews, peanuts and almonds and add in some roasted pumpkin seeds and unsweetened coconut flakes and a few organic raisins or dried cranberries.

For more breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas to feed healthy hungry kids for a busy school year, schedule an appointment with me by calling 281-298-6742. We can help with picky eaters and children’s weight management concerns.

Knowing How Much Water You Need

As the hot summer months approach, it is important to remember everyone loses water everyday through sweating and urinating.  We need to be sure to replenish this water loss.  While we can survive several months without food, without water we would not last more than a few days. This is especially important for children, the elderly and pets too!

Your body is the best guide to use when determining how much water you need every day.  So listen to it!  The three best communications your body provides to you are your thirst, the color of your urine, and the frequency of urinating.  If you are thirsty, you need water.  If your urine is a deep, dark yellow, then it is very likely you need more water (though some B vitamins and Vitamin C can cause this as well).   Additionally if you are urinating very little or very infrequently, you are not drinking enough water.  A healthy person urinates, on average, seven to eight times per day.

What NOT to drink

Soft drinks and the highly marketed sports drinks are not wise choices for hydration and we recommend avoidance.  They are chock full of sugar, high fructose corn sugar or artificial sweeteners, as well as phosphoric acid, artificial flavorings, and food coloring.  The salt in sports drinks is processed and more likely to increase thirst rather than quench it.  Additionally, the acidic nature of sports drinks is also highly corrosive to teeth.

Ideal Options for Hydration

Water remains the ideal choice for hydration. Ideal options include:

Natural Spring Water

Filtered tap water by reverse osmosis

For profuse sweating when doing vigorous exercise or outdoor activities for 45 minutes to an hour or more, it is helpful to add ½ tsp of Himalayan or Celtic salt to the water, available online or at most Health Food stores.

Other options for hydration include:

• Alacer Corporation’s Electro Mix packet, pour into a 1-liter bottle of water for a convenient and healthy alternative to sports drinks. This is also gluten free and sweetened with stevia.
• Coconut Water – Besides water, this is the most ideal hydrator. Be sure to purchase 100% pure coconut water with no added fruit juices, sugar or additives.  Grams of carbohydrate and sugar for an 11.2-ounce serving should be under 15.  Try O.N.E. or Zico brands.
• Suero Viv, Cultured Whey beverage is available at www.Livebeyondorganic.com.  This is a pricier, designer option for discerning sports enthusiasts.