16 Ways to Keep Calm, Balanced and Stress-Free During the Holiday Season

Holidays can be such a special time of the year to gather with family and friends. The holidays can also be a difficult and stressful time due to thoughts of loved ones who have passed, all the pressures of shopping, preparing food, having everything just right and clashing energy of certain family members. Many times our health and emotional well-being need extra support. Here is my list to help. Happy Holidays!

1. Be kind and gentle to yourself.
2. Be sure to get good quality sleep, around 8-9 hours, good quality sleep helps support the adrenals, your stress handling glands.
3. Don't use holidays as a time for a free pass to binge on processed foods, grains, sugars and alcohol.
4. Eat a protein and fat breakfast, this helps balance your adrenals and helps prevent overeating later in the day.
5. Be sure to take all your supplements that help keep you balanced.
6. Invite a friend or family member to the gathering or over to your place who really “gets” you.
7. Still try to get in your workout, exercise or any type of movement, even if only for a few minutes. This helps release charged energy in the body that can make us anxious.
8. Don't overextend yourself, we are not going for perfection, but fun!
9. Focus on your fats. Remember, fat is your best friend when it comes to de-stressing your body. Examples; coconut (oil, milk, cream, etc…) butter, the fat of the turkey, chicken, eggs, etc.. Fats help you to rest and digest! Here is more information to help you sort out the fats.
10. Keep alcohol intake to a minimum. Alcohol wreaks havoc on your stress handling glands, the adrenals.
11. Overcrowding with real foods. Simply keep adding the healthier foods until you're full, then there will not be room for all the grains and sugar items.
12. Make your own dishes with real foods even if you are going to someone else's for the gathering. That way you can enjoy your favorite foods and eat guilt-free and feel your best.
13. Avoid grains as much as possible. Simply google “Paleo” before the dish you want, and get the step-by-step instructions to anything, made without grains, and honestly, tastes so much better! This will help you avoid gas, bloat and indigestion. Here are all my paleo recipes.
14. Keep the vibe very light-hearted. The holidays are ego's playground. If you keep conversations light and fun, the gathering is bound to be successful.
15. Play board games or bust out Rock Band. Playing games really is a fun way to let loose and just enjoy each others company. This is a recipe for laughter!
16. Remember that the holidays are traditionally a time for creating stronger bonds and spending time with family and discovering more about each other and helping out others (people and animals) in our community and beyond. Be thankful today and everyday.
17. BONUS: Massage/Myofascia Release At Home. My readers are sending me fabulous feedback on one of my most favorite ways to de-stress. The myobuddy is like a wake-me-up for the entire body. You can use it everyday for a myriad things from full body massage starting with your feet all the way up to your jaw. You can press it up against your jaw and just open and close the jaw repeatedly. It's great therapy for the vagus nerve, which is interconnected to every organ in your body. And you can actually create any level of detox with the myobuddy too.It's a mixture of infrared heat, percussive massage, and vibrational therapy that targets both muscle and fascia. It's fantastic for weight loss and pain. It is basically deep tissue massage and myofascia release rolled into a handheld at-home device that costs about the same as a few massage appointments.They are offering my readers a $100 discount with the code “melissa100” through 12/4 only and you can check it out and snag the discount at this link.