Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 12-23-16 Online Edition

Health
The holiday blues affect 25% of the population. With the excitement of the season past, adults and children can ex- perience emotional letdown, become bored, lonely and blue. Life feels ho- hum and uneventful.
Adjusting your thoughts, attitude and behavior offers relief and allows an opportunity to reenergize and be happy for no reason.
Surround yourself with love.
Surrender unhealthy relationships. When you release someone from a friendship, you leave space in both of your lives for a better connection or re- lationship. You can repeat, “I bless you, I release you, I set you free. I allow you to be you and me to be me.” Decide to spend quality time with encouraging people doing uplifting activities you enjoy.
Meditate on love.
Place your hand on your heart and take a few deep breaths. Open your heart and think on love. Reflect on the different ways you give and receive love. Allow the memory of a recent lov- ing experience to fill you. Recycle this love by sending it forth to the entire planet. This will help restore wholeness and happiness to you and to earth.
Create an inner haven of safety and peace.
The pres-
ent moment is
a place of sim-
plicity where life and love flow. When things
work out. Moment by moment choose to feel safe.
Antidote for a pity party Choose to uplift others in need. Be creative with your kindness. Be spontaneous, outra- geous and crazy! Shared positive energy has a boomerang effect. Every act of love increases your experience of love in the universe. It’s a beautiful thing.
Look forward to each day.
Life is full of surprises. There are unimaginable opportunities, breath taking moments, soul connections, goodness and grace. When you become open to the possibilities, it’s easy to see how the world is plotting to do you good today.
Taste new experiences.
Go places you’ve never been before, do things you haven’t done before. Visit an art museum. Try new foods. Listen to quiet music. When you mix things up amazing things can happen.
Anticipate prosperity.
Reflect on this statement, “I wonder how much better life can get?” Let your imagination run wild as you think of fu- ture blessings. Let this exercise inspire you to become renewed and refreshed.
Walk your talk.
When you lose faith and doubt, step into principles and meditation like never before. Feel the wonder of being alive. Delight in the ordinary. Consciously choose hope, love and peace. Be persist- ent and move for-
ward!
If none of these
help, seek professional help.
happen, offer resistance. Gen- tly bring your- self to the present mo- ment. Trust things will
no
The problem with the holidays isn’t usually the — the average American gains only one or two pounds in between Thanksgiving and New Year’s — it’s the fact that most people never lose the excess pounds. So in five years you may have gained 10 pounds and in 10 years, 20 pounds. The best course of action? Stop weight gain before it starts.
The key is eating healthy throughout the holiday season and remembering por- tion control when it comes to your it-wouldn’t-be-Thanksgiving-or-Christmas- without-them foods. For the rest of the courses, all you have to do is make the right choices that will allow you to indulge and enjoy, yet keep you from loading up on the fatty, high-calories dishes that can quickly lead to unwanted weight gain.
Skip Some Alcohol Calories, Drink Wine Spritzer
The easiest way to cut unnecessary calories this season is to cut back on alcohol.
For a portion-controlled alternative that will help you save calories, replace 2 ounces of wine with club soda. Since a 5-ounce glass of red or white wine has about 150 calories, and club soda has no calories, replacing just two ounces of the wine already saves you 60 calories toward another slice of pie.
Skip Candied Yams, Eat Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Instead of serving candied yams, which have 215 calories per half-cup, try oven-roasted sweet potatoes at Christmas and other meals. A 3/4-cup serving of sweet potatoes brushed with a little canola or olive oil is only 100 calories. Not only do you get more potatoes for fewer calories, but also you’ll also get a healthy helping of vitamins and nutrients from the po- tatoes.
Skip Dark Meat, Eat White Meat Turkey
The dark meat in your Christmas turkey has about twice the fat of turkey breast and about 40 percent more calories. A 3.5-ounce portion of dark meat (about the size of a deck of cards) with the skin on has about 230 calories. The same amount of turkey breast without the skin is only about 160 calories, cutting about 70 calories as well as — that’s eating healthy as long as you stick to portion control.
Skip Store-Bought, Eat Homemade Stuffing
What would the holidays be without stuffing? But it
doesn’t have to be the unhealthy store-bought stuffing
that’s prepared with butter and cubes of white bread. For
a healthy holiday, make your own stuffing. Simply sauté
celery and onions and other cubed vegetables of your
choosing (from carrots to water chestnuts) in 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive or canola oil. Combine the mixture with cubes of whole-grain bread, moisten with no- or low- sodium chicken broth, and add your favorite herbs before baking. This version has less fat, more fiber, and more flavor.
PAGE 8-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2016