Thursday, December 15, 2011

Beating the Winter Time Blahs


I’m not sure what happened, but this last weekend nothing got done at my house. I had a whole “To Do” list ready (I LOVE making lists!), but aside from going to the grocery store and making sure a little laundry got done, we were LAZY. Here’s a big secret… I didn’t even take a shower one day! Oh my! I won’t tell you which day it was in case you saw me in public that day. ;-) My husband and I decided it was the cold, gloomy, crummy weather that just sucked all the motivation out of us. We vowed not to let it happen two weekends in a row because neither of us felt good about our lack of productivity. Here are some ideas of ways to avoid having a weekend like we did (I plan to follow my own advice!):

·        Make a list (much like this one!) and put it somewhere you can’t help but see it – like on the refrigerator.

·        Cross things off said list. It’s very satisfying!

·        Make plans with friends or family so someone is counting on you. Invite people over for dinner or a game night. I don’t know about you, but inviting people over motivates me to clean the house like there’s no tomorrow!

·        Make it a point to get some exercise in – even if you do nothing else the rest of the day, you’ll feel great knowing you did something good for your health. 

·        Shower. Don’t be like me.

·        If you’re going to veg-out in front of the TV, at least make it a true “veg” session and have some veggies for your snack instead of junk food.

What other fun things do you do to beat the winter time blahs?

- Dr. Emily :-)

Friday, December 9, 2011

How I'm Staying Sane This Holiday Season


          This is such a hot topic this time of year. With all the Christmas cheer and cookies comes a heaping helping of Christmas stress. There are very few people who are immune to this crushing disease.  I certainly have no immunity built up. But I am trying to lessen the load this year (especially with a new baby), and here’s what I’m doing:

×          Getting adjusted. You might think this is a no brainer, but it’s harder than you think to remember. We get busy in the office and it’s easy to run out the door without an adjustment, but I try to make time with Dr. Loder every week. Even I have to make an appointment so I won’t forget! :-)

×          Cutting down on the gift giving. I have made a point to tell those coming to family gatherings this year that I will not be buying them a gift and I don’t expect them to buy me anything. I only get small gifts for the very small circle of people close to me (my husband, my parents, and Laramie of course!). The holidays are about spending time with your loved ones and not spending oodles of money.

×          Getting enough sleep and exercise. Getting enough sleep with a new baby means going to sleep when she does. And that happens to be 8:30 pm. I may feel like an old lady, but I’m not a Scrooge when I wake up! I also make it a point to get 3 – 5 days of exercise in each week. Since I’m going to bed at 8:30 pm, I might as well get up at 5:00 am to go work out!

We had some other great ideas on ways to cut down holiday stress during our Beat Holiday Burnout day in the office. 

What are some ways YOU’RE de-stressing this Christmas?

- Dr. Emily :-)