Heather Holistic: Nutrition & Lifestyle Coaching

The holidays offer many opportunities to have fun, see good friends and indulge. The holidays are also the best time to put on the unwanted pounds of winter insulation. Set the intention to maintain your good health rather than gaining winter weight. This year consider indulging in excess fun with ice skating parties, boardgames with friends, dancing and holiday shows.

As you RSVP for your next holiday party, keep these easy tips in mind and share them with your friends for a healthy and happy holiday.

1. When you're invited to bring something to a party, make it a healthy dish. This is the perfect way to ensure you have something nutritious to eat. Find links to great recipes here.
2. If you have a dinner party to look forward to don't skip breakfast and lunch. You'll be famished and will eat more than you need and feel stuffed all evening.
3. For a cocktail party, have a balanced meal beforehand and let the party be about enjoying your friends not indulging in all the snacks you can pile on a cocktail napkin.
4. Let the festivities lift your spirits and keep alcohol to a minimum. Have a wine spritzer, order seltzer with a twist or slow down with a glass of water between each beer or glass of wine. Avoid sweet mixed drinks.
5. You'll enjoy your food more, digest better and eat less overall if you sit down and eat slowly, rather than standing and talking all evening.
6. At a generous buffet party, choose a table far from the buffet and just serve yourself once. Create a balanced plate with small portions of your holiday favorites and fill the rest with salad and vegetables.
7. Walk into every holiday party with an abundant attitude – there's no need to stuff yourself as if you're starving and will never eat again.
8. Last but not least, a dessert tray trick: when the cookies and pie are passed around choose your favorite and tell yourself "I will have the last piece". Sometimes the treats will vanish before your eyes - and your waistline will thank you - and other times you will enjoy that last, but not least indulgence.

Give yourself the Gift of Health this year. Schedule your free one-hour health history consultation with Heather Cottrell, HHC, HLC. All consultations conducted by phone from the comfort of your home or office. Visit HeatherHolistic.com to learn more and click here to make your appointment now.

Happy holidays!

For many people, Winter is associated with short dark days, fatigue, weight gain, isolation and even depression (or SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder). You may be experiencing lowered energy and cravings for sweets and fattening comfort foods. It's natural for the body to want to slow down and even hibernate at this time of year. It is important to take more rest during the cold days of Winter so you are refreshed and ready for action when Spring returns.

In the meantime, Winter need not be a time of misery. There are many small changes you can make to improve your health and your energy at this time of year so Winter can be a positive experience.

1. Reduce or eliminate caffeine. The ups and downs of caffeine use include dehydration and blood sugar drops, making mood swings more frequent.

2. Drink water. Most Americans are chronically dehydrated. Before you go to sugar or caffeine, have a glass of water and wait a few minutes to see what happens. Caution: soft drinks are now America's number one source of added sugar.

3. Eat dark leafy green vegetables. Green is associated with spring, time of renewal, refreshing, vital energy. They are full of vitamins and nutrients and great for improving circulation, lifting the spirit, purifying the blood and strengthening the immune system. Broccoli, collards, bok choy, kale, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, arugula and dandelion greens are some of the many to choose from.

4. Use gentle sweets. Avoid sugar and chemicalized, artificial sweeteners. Use gentle sweeteners like maple syrup, brown rice syrup and agave nectar. Also eat sweet vegetables such as yams, winter squash, carrots and beets regularly.

5. Get physical activity. Start with simple activities, like walking or yoga - start with 10 minutes a day and increase. Try fun exercise videos at home, like bellydancing or rebounding.

6. Enjoy more sleep, rest and relaxation. When you are tired or stressed, your body will crave energy often in the form of caffeine and sugar. These cravings are often a result of being sleep deprived, going to bed late, and waking up early, for months and years on end. Take time for yourself.

7. Find light. Sunshine raises serotonin levels, leading to feelings of happiness. In Winter, with less daylight you may feel sad and lethargic. On sunny days, soak up as much as you can. Remove your hat and gloves when possible and let the sun reach your skin for a few minutes. Replace your regular light bulbs with full spectrum light bulbs which simulate sunshine, last longer and are more environmentally sound.

8. Keep warm. Bundle up when you go outside and warm up from the inside with soups, teas and warming foods and spices such as cayenne pepper, ginger, millet, and buckwheat. Take warm baths and sleep with a hot water bottle.