Surviving the Holidays

Written by Julie R. Holland


The holiday season can wreak havoc on any woman, but those of us with health concerns need to be extra careful this time of year. With holiday parties, offices full of junk food, traditional foods and well-meaning friends and family pressuring us to let our diets go forrepparttar holidays. Don’t forgetrepparttar 130396 emotional stress of gifts, parties and family gatherings. As cold weather hits our bodies often crave more calories and more carbohydrates. Shorter days can lead to more munching to maintain energy levels and brighten moods. Add inrepparttar 130397 scheduling crunch so many of us experience this time of year and this time of year can be hard on your health.

Here are some pointers that can help you surviverepparttar 130398 season without losingrepparttar 130399 battle:

* Plan ahead and make sure you have plenty of healthy foods on hand. Slip carrot sticks, protein bars, nuts, cheese or other healthy choices into your purse before you leaverepparttar 130400 house. Carrying good snacks with you can help you withstandrepparttar 130401 urge to binge on mall foods while shopping or giving in torepparttar 130402 candy that seems to sprout in every office this time of year.

* Choose wisely when you snack. Gravitate towardsrepparttar 130403 veggie trays and nut dishes rather thanrepparttar 130404 cookies. Choose a splash of cranberry juice in water, lemon in water, or a diet soda instead of sugary drinks. One good chocolate, savored, can curb your desire to binge on other sweets. Chocolate is also absorbed more slowly than simpler carbs because it has more fat in it.

You’re A Mom, She’s A Mom: Being An Adult With Your Parents

Written by Mimi Azoubel Daniel, MS, CEC


On one of her quarterly visits to see her grandson, my three-year-old son, my mother ignoresrepparttar available front seat ofrepparttar 130395 car, crowds intorepparttar 130396 back next torepparttar 130397 car seat and promptly unwraps a lollipop. Feelingrepparttar 130398 tension rising, I recallrepparttar 130399 numerous conversations where I so proudly tell my mother how I keep sugar away from my son. “Mom, what are you doing? Haven’t you heard a word I said?” And so it starts. The struggle of being an adult with my parent.

So much is written today about taking care of our parents as they age. Monitoring medical care, determining living arrangements and providing emotional support arerepparttar 130400 new roles that we have taken on to help our parents age gracefully and with dignity. We arerepparttar 130401 “Sandwich Generation,”repparttar 130402 growing number of adult children squeezed betweenrepparttar 130403 needs of an aging parent andrepparttar 130404 demands of our own children, spouses and careers. But not much is written aboutrepparttar 130405 stage prior to this phase. That time when our parents are still healthy and active and still very much involved in our own lives. I am talking about that period of time when you, yourself, are an active adult, with a family and a husband and life of your very own. That is whenrepparttar 130406 struggle to be an adult with your parents begins. So, which Mom really knows best?

As a Relationship Coach, I often hear, “My mother can get under my skin in less than 10 seconds.” After all these years, your parents can still find ways to throw you off-balance and resurrect old habits. They are your biggest fans and your harshest critics. And, whether we like to admit it or not, we continue to want their approval no matter how old, how independent or how successful we are. In short, your parent’s opinions remain extremely important. We want our Moms to respect our choices and admirerepparttar 130407 lives that we created. After all, isn’t our success a reflection of their efforts as a mother? But sometimes, they seem so quick to criticize. So what can we do? Find New Ways to Connect As a fellow mother and wife, we assume thatrepparttar 130408 best way to connect with our mothers is on issues of parenting, family and marriage. However, these are often hot-bed issues which lead to unwanted advise. Discover other mutual interests to talk about and share. Talk about politics, take walks, meet atrepparttar 130409 gym, garden together, go torepparttar 130410 movies or theater, bring your Mother to your job so she can see where you work and meet colleagues, join a book club. Enrich your relationship by finding other ways to connect and other issues to talk about.

Create Boundaries We have all heard this, but what exactly does it mean? In an effort to be closer, we sometimes offer too much information. A small detail becomes a point of scrutiny. It is all right to answer our parents’ questions with limited information. Be proactive. Offer information about something you know your mother will ask about before she asks. This putsrepparttar 130411 communication in your hands. Be clear with your mother. Do not expect her to know which areas she can comment on and which areas are off limits. It is your job asrepparttar 130412 adult child to definerepparttar 130413 limits. But be careful, here. You cannot go both ways. You cannot tell your mother that she cannot comment on your husband and then call her when you have a fight with him. Call a girlfriend. Find another network of support for that area.

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