Here's to Us...

As we are at the end of a challenging holiday and preparing for another, here's a toast to us:


May we recover from our indulgences of this last holiday celebration,

And may we survive the next with little or no regrets.




Don't know if this will help but it couldn't hurt.

This is a really hard time for those of us that are trying to become healthier and happier through weight loss and/or exercise. I've noticed that a lot of us (me included) have been struggling with sticking to our regiments lately. Whether they are obsessions with trying to eat correctly or struggling with trying to keep up the exercise programs we have set for ourselves. After giving these problems considerable thought, I've come to the conclusion that it may just be the holiday seasons that we were facing. Now that one is down and there's one more to struggle through, we are going to need all the encouragement we can get. So lets be sure to read and comment as often as we can to help each other out.

We all know that stress makes us struggle harder with our plans for becoming or staying healthy, and there surely is a lot of stress during this time of the year.

I've been searching for help on this problem and have come across these:

1. Write about your stress. (we are doing this with our blogs so we've got that one covered)

2. Basic breathing exercises...with this technique you breath in through your nose to the count of 5 and breath out through your mouth to the count of 8 being mindful that you breath with your stomach. This is also called "baby breathing."

3. Music therapy...helps change the mood of your day and can be very relaxing.

4. Humor therapy...laugh, laugh, laugh, even at yourself.

5. Guided imagery...find a relaxing place to set and begin the basic breathing exercise. Then call up an image of yourself in the most relaxing setting you can think of. As you are in this setting try to involve all your senses. Think about how it looks, smells, feels, sounds and tastes. Stay here for as long as you can and enjoy your mini-vacation.

6. Progressive muscle relaxation...You do this through flexing and relaxing each of our muscles to help us relieve tension and feel more relaxed. Start with the face, then work down the body from the shoulder to the toes.

7. Sex...don't think I need to go into this one any further. But the article I read said that when we are stressed this may not happen as often as needed to be helpful so those of us that have a partner may want to try to make a little more time for it.

8. Yoga

9. Exercise...we need to keep those endorphins flowing to help relax us.

If you have any suggestions or other stress relievers you use please share them with us.