The Holidays – The Final Stretch

Here are some more ideas to help you reduce stress and enjoy yourself through the holiday home stretch:

• Try ten-minute workouts – they do have benefits!  (It’s about the cumulative time spent throughout the day, not just one particular workout.)  Some ideas:
• Perform one set of exercises, to fatigue, for each of the major muscle groups (legs, chest, back, arms, and abdominals).
• Try a quick cardio blast: start at an easy intensity to warm up for one minute then perform a variety of moves to increase your intensity for the next eight minutes (you should feel like you’re “working”).  End with a one-minute cool down.
• How about a yoga break performing ten minutes of sun salutation?  You can find this series of yoga poses online or in most yoga books.
• Avoid crowded malls and finish your shopping online.  There are many websites that have almost anything you need, and your favorite stores probably have websites too.  During the holidays you can often find great deals, like free shipping!
• Carry individual serving size snacks for those times you get hungry while away from home.  Items such as nuts, bars, peanut butter and crackers, and string cheese work well.
• Get plenty of sleep! This will help with stress, keep your appetite in check and maintain your energy.

You can do this!  Promise yourself this year will be a less-stressed, fun, and relaxing holiday season. You deserve it!

Message From The President:

Happy Holidays to all!

Between dance rehersals, school programs, swim practice, homework,shopping, baking, workouts, and other festive activities, oh ya, I forgot work too, time has flown by this month. But it amazes me what you can do when one sets out to do it in a calm manner and focused. When nerves start to frazzle I always remind myself to take a couple deep breaths and look at the bigger picture and grab the moment full force and appreciate it all because there may be other Christmas's in the future but there is only this one this year and there won't be another one like it.

By next year Ethan will be old enough not to grab all the ortanments therefore the tree probably won't look like only the top half was decorated. Sidney will only have her first christmas program this year and Jori probably won't be a "lamb" again in her life. (Christmas Program)

When the season becomes frantic, frusterating, or a little difficult what can you do to help youself through? Some suggestions: breathe, listen to soft music, count to ten, but most important is to find time for yourself to nourish your own soul. Iits much easier to appreciate the holiday season and all its wonderful festivities through a calm mind and nourished soul rather than a sense of frazzle and frusteration and a longing to have time for oneself. Give yourself a present, time.

To your health,

            Amy Lundberg
            Aim For It, President

It Seems Easier To Be Told What To Do

I receive this newsletter and I love her articles and wanted to share this one with my devoted readers
Nourishing Nuggets

"War requires at least two sides. When you decide that you will listen to yourself and not to your calorie counter or your fears, there is nothing to rebel against. There is nothing you can’t have tomorrow so there is no reason to eat it all today." ~Breaking Free by Geneen Roth

"[Wom]en seldom, or rather never for a length of time and deliberately, rebel against anything that does not deserve rebelling against." ~ Thomas Carlyle

Reflections for Staying Attuned

We follow these rules initially because we have been told that we must in order to be healthy and attractive. We are told that these rules are the “solution” for our unhappiness with our bodies.

But these very rules end up making us feel out of control. Whereas before our first diets, we rarely suffered from "deprivation-driven" eating, after we started dieting, we developed intense food cravings and food preoccupation -- and possibly binging and weight gain. No one tells us that dieting causes these things, so it’s no wonder that when the diet fails us, we still believe that certainly more food rules will help.

We find the food rules becoming increasingly stringent. At the same time, we become more fearful that there is no alternative.

But there is something else going on in the background that makes this feel even scarier -- we each have a deeper knowing self that rebels against these food rules. This rebel self hates the imposed rules, hates the constraint and hates the disrespect of these simplistic solutions. This rebel self knows that these rules are based on false "facts" presented as truths and is insulted that these rules are not connected to our true needs. This rebel self is tired of the disrespect implied in, "Just follow this diet, it’s easy to lose 10 pounds." The rebel self will rebel. " This is not what I need. I don’t want to do this. I’m not going to do it. In fact, I’m going to do the opposite."

This rebel self, which often feels destructive, is actually in tune with our internal guidance systems. This rebel self knows -- better than any diet rules, better than any professional -- exactly what and how much we need to eat and when to stop. This rebel self knows that self and body trust is not only possible, but also the only sane approach to eating. "I know I’m full now. I need to figure out how to cope with these difficult feelings without using food."

So, although it may seem easier to be told what to do, and although the rebel self may overreact with overeating out of spite sometimes, the core of its reaction is "Don’t insult me with imposed rules." And that is worth listening to.

Stay Attuned Tip

This week, tune into your "gut" reactions to choices and decisions you make with food, in relationships, at work. Can you hear the rebel? What truths about your needs and feelings is the rebel declaring?

Stay Attuned Affirmation

"My rebel self is wise and worth listening to."

What's New at Nourishing Connections

We are recommending a book that just came out this month, Taking Up Space:
How Eating Well and Exercising Regularly Changed My Life, by Pattie Thomas.
Don't let the title fool you -- eating well and exercising is not what changed Dr. Thomas's life. What changed her life and allowed her to begin taking up space in the world is much more profound than changing food intake and exercising. Taking Up Space is among the best books on the costs of stigma for fat people and society. Written for the "average reader," it is sophisticated, funny and touching. It is a must-read for all people of size and people of all sizes! You can order it at:

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Stay Attuned™ is written by Karin Kratina, PhD, RD
(Dr.K@ nourishingconnections.com) and Amy Tuttle, RD, LCSW
(amyt@ nourishingconnections.com). Edited by Cassie Tuttle.
Please visit us at www.nourishingconnections.com!

© Copyright 2005. Dr. Karin Kratina and Amy Tuttle. All rights reserved.

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