Be Well 11/13 Happy, Healthy Holidays
Progressive Health of Delaware’s November Be Well class focused on the holiday season and how to get through it with your health and happiness intact. The challenges of the holiday season, or perhaps more influential, the stories we tell ourselves about the holiday season (for example, that we do not have time to focus on healthy eating or movement, that it is much too hard to make healthy food choices with all the parties we are invited to, that we cannot insult our holiday hosts by not eating their meat and fat-rich dishes, etc.) were discussed as a group. Insights and tips for how to rewrite the stories we tell ourselves, continue to value our health, and make healthy choices were shared. The slides can be viewed here.
Here are the recipes shared in class and used in Karen’s cooking demos.
To summarize, here is a short list of tips provided in class to have a happy and healthy holiday season:
Stay active. Ten minutes of interval exercises a day can be enough to improve and maintain your fitness level when you are pressed for time.
Practice meditation. It can help you sleep better, lower your blood pressure, relieve anxiety, and more! The book, The Mindful Vegan by Lani Muelrath was recommended as a resource.
Be grateful! Take a few minutes each day to reflect back on the positive things that happened (this is a wonderful exercise to practice around the dinner table).
Give to others. Dr. Darren Morton, author of Live More Happy: Scientifically Proven Ways to Lift Your Mood and Your Life, shared that research indicates giving to others is one of the most effective ways to increase your happiness.
Pile on the plants on your plate! Continue to make whole, plant-based foods the staples of your meals. Take a plant-based dish to share at parties, plan ahead and pack snacks for busy days, limit your consumption of (or avoid) alcohol, and use some of the resources below that were shared in class for great-tasting, plant-based dishes:
Forks Over Knives (try the Forks Over Knives app)
Enjoy your Thanksgiving, and see you December 4th for the next Be Well class.