I don’t know about all of you, but I've started planning for the holidays. This year, not only do we have the usual (and wonderful!) excesses of the season to worry about, but we also have the new Omicron variant to take into consideration. Planning ahead can make a difference...
So here are some suggestions to help you have a healthy and happy holiday season that you won’t regret come January 1st:
· Pay attention to portion size. Holiday buffets always look so delicious I want to taste everything and end up with the way too much food on my plate. Then I feel guilty and eat it all! One way to limit how much you take, is to choose a smaller plate… less room for food. Another idea is to make a deal with yourself: take less than you think you will eat, and then to go back for seconds later if you're still hungry. You may just discover that you have no room left for seconds when the time comes.
· Watch alcohol intake. Healthy drinking guidelines recommend only one drink a day for women and no more than two for men. While I have always wondered about this gender discrepancy, the recommendation may have more to do with hormone systems than simply with body weight. While they don’t recommend “saving” your weekly quota and drinking it all in one night, it does make sense to have a few alcohol-free days before and/or after that Christmas party. Try to alternate alcoholic drinks with alcohol-free ones during the gathering, like bubbly water or (my favorite) a virgin Caesar that really tastes the same as the alcohol version. Bring your alternative with you and drink it from a fancy glass, just to feel special!
· Make time for exercise. As the weather gets colder, especially up here in the north, it’s easy to turn to sedentary activities. Last winter I made puzzles, this year I’m trying to improve my portrait drawing skills… both sitting activities. One idea to create of good habit of daily exercise is to tie it to another activity. For example, my hubby likes to walk to get the mail every day. I try to do Spanish lessons every day (because we’re hoping to get to Spain again this winter) so I’m going to try to do my daily lessons on my ellipse machine… kill two birds with one stone, as they say.
· Get a good night’s sleep. “Sleep hygiene” is a term for a group of things you can do to improve your sleep, like avoiding caffeine late in the day, having a cool comfortable sleeping environment, avoiding screens for an hour or two before bedtime, and more. I wrote a blog about this that you will find here. And don’t forget about the benefits of brief naps that I’ve also blogged about in the past, found here. (The links will pop up in a different window so you can read them later...)
· And this year, there’s Omicron… Currently, we’re still waiting for more news about this variant. But it makes sense to be extra careful in the meantime since it appears to spread very easily and is suspected to be more resistant to our vaccines. Rapid answer (i.e. rapid antigen) tests that give results in just a few minutes, if you can access them, are an extra measure that’s a smart to use this season, along with the usual COVID precautions we all know so well. Try to test before a get-together with family or friends, especially anyone who is not fully vaccinated (including booster), or who has unavoidable exposure to many others. Of course, if you have symptoms or a potential exposure to the virus, you should still arrange for a full PCR test, as this is more accurate.
More holiday plans...
So, I’m thinking of taking a break from blogging for a little while, although you’ll likely hear from me from time to time when I feel some inspiration (which I feel I’m somewhat lacking these days, it seems).
As I mentioned, we’re hoping to get to Spain again this winter—a trip planned and paid for before the outbreak of the Omicron variant, of course. But we’re seeing that COVID counts in Spain are relatively low, and have heard from those who’ve visited there this fall that Spaniards are closely following protocols. They've told us they felt safe there and perhaps safer than in Canada, where we all need to spend most of our time indoors these chilly days!
I enjoy writing this blog and especially hearing from readers (that really makes it feel more worthwhile!). I plan to do more art (learning to do portraits in pastels) and perhaps some different writing projects (maybe Flash Fiction [stories of 300-1000 words] or finally writing that book about the environment I’ve had outlined for months!). But this blog is so much like talking to customers in the pharmacy (the part of being a pharmacist I most enjoyed!) I’ll likely be drawn back to it from time to time. Who knows?
This is blog #246, so there’s lots to look back on from the past 5 ½ years (if you happen to miss me… haha!), including the collection of blogs “The Pharmacist is IN” I’ve published in e-book form on Kobo, Nook, and other non-Amazon sites (Amazon no longer allows books containing material published elsewhere, including in a personal blog). Just search “Jeannie Collins Beaudin” on any major e-book website and you’ll find my work … My first book “Can I Speak to the Hormone Lady?” (about how to figure out what’s going on when hormones get out of whack) is published on Amazon also, being completely original work. I’ve chosen to distribute widely, internationally and through many services, since my purpose, as with my blog, is to share research-based information. And, of course, a book makes a great Christmas gift… 😊
Meanwhile, on to writing about the Environment… I’m planning to talk about the big picture, what we can do in our own homes, and our “internal environment”, the microscopic world of organisms that live inside us and influence more than we realize, as suggested in many recent research results. All these systems can be improved or damaged by our actions and choices. Maybe talking about it will get me going…
So, wishing you all happy and healthy holidays, however you choose to celebrate… stay safe, stay well!
References/links:
4 Strategies for a happy and healthy holiday season--McMaster University Optimal Aging Portal
The Pharmacist is IN; Answers to Health Questions You Didn't Know You Had--Universal Book Link
Can I Speak to the Hormone Lady? Managing Menopause and Hormone Imbalances--Universal Book Link
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