First for Mondays

I read somewhere that this is a special December with five weekends though that also means five Mondays. The good news is that I will have two of them off from the day job. The bad news is the other three. At the least, I have lots to talk about on this first Monday.

With the holiday season comes lots of gatherings with friends, families and coworkers. It also means lots of food, delicious, fun, fattening food. It's very difficult to avoid and refuse all the wonderfulness. So my first Monday health tip is to not refuse it. Instead of being strict about what you eat, try policing your portion size. You can even help yourself with your own baking. Make your cookies smaller. Cut those holiday marshmallow treats into tiny squares. Use smaller plates and even smaller cups for your sweet holiday drinks. And then cut yourself off early in the evening. Eating late can really ruin your weight management goals.

Onto other great things about this first Monday. Today, Lynda R. Young, announces her release of the anthology, Make Believe. Lynda's book can be purchased at this link. And read this short blurb:

Birthright by Lynda R. Young
Christa can mask the pain and hide the scars, but running from a birthright is impossible.

She’s tried to escape her grief by fleeing to a small town in Florida. Much to her frustration, the locals think they recognize her even though she's never been there before. To make things worse, a man named Jack spouts outrageous theories about her.

Both spur Christa to bolt, to start fresh yet again, but there’s something about Jack that intrigues her enough to stay. The only problem? Someone else wants her to leave, and they won’t stop until she’s dead.


Blurbs from all the stories included in Make Believe can be found on the J. Taylor Publishing website HERE.

Read an excerpt here. You can also read the excerpts from all the stories in this series here.

So, how are you going to watch your caloric intake this holiday? Or do you throw caution to the wind and enjoy the feasting and work it off after? Did you go check out Lynda's book?

First Monday Health Tip

It's been a gloomy year here in the northeast of the USA. I don't mean emotionally, I mean literally.  We had record setting rain in 2011 with flooding and lots of depressing destruction.  2012 has been warmer than usual and only the skiers are complaining because most of us are happy for some breaks from high heating bills.  But this year has started out with plenty of rain. I think we had one dry week and now we're back in the pattern of two rain storms per week.  If you have a rain storm, you also have cloudy days leading up to in and following it.  Lots of cloud and little sunshine.

Somewhere you might have read about the winter blues and how this phenomenon actually exists. Our bodies crave daylight and sunshine. The short days of winter depress us in real, physiological ways.  I won't go into the chemical theories about that, but some of the remedies recommended are changing the lighting in your home to brighten your living area.  There is another thing you can do also.  Go outside.

On Saturday for the first time all week, the sun was shining brightly on the browned, hibernating lawn.  A brisk wind kept the temperature at winter levels, but the sun makes up for a lot of that.  The air was fresh and clean around our country home as I walked around the back acre and thought about the spring chores to come.  We're still cleaning up some downed trees from 2012's stellar destruction weather.  Everywhere in my flowerbeds, the warm winter has tricked the bulbs into early appearances. It looks like spring even though I know it could snow anytime of the next few weeks.  But the sun kissed my skin, warmed my back and fueled me with energy and hope for the coming months.

So the health tip for this week: step outside.  Push away from the keyboard and search outside for signs of spring and the renewal it brings to hearts and hopes. Our bodies need the sun to manufacture vitamin D and our souls recognize that distant glowing orb as the source of our energy and a promise of warmth and life. 

Do you feel the winter blues? How do you combat them? Is spring making an early appearance where you live?