PowerLiving with Kimberlee Langford
PowerLiving with Kimberlee Langford
Health, Wellness, and Joy: Navigating the Holiday Season Mindfully
Join some of Specialty Care Management's team as we talk about some of our favorite tips for how to enjoy the holiday season without compromising your health or succumbing to stress. Let's journey together as we share our favourite meals and strategies for mindful eating during holiday gatherings. We also delve into the emotional side of the holidays, acknowledging the revitalizing effects of family gatherings - and some of the financial stress that can often overshadow the joy of the season. Together, we'll help you shift your focus onto gratitude and the true essence of the holiday season.
We'll share some tips on how to balance diet and exercise, the benefits of essential oils and noise-cancelling devices, and why it's crucial to take screen breaks. Curious about relaxation methods like massage and float therapy? We've got you covered! As we wrap up, we'll discuss how to enjoy the holiday treats without guilt, emphasizing the importance of cutting ourselves some slack and savoring the moments.
Our team provides valuable tips on staying active, managing stress, and appreciating time with loved ones. Get ready for a lively, enlightening discussion that will leave you feeling equipped and empowered to tackle the holiday season.
I'm so excited because we have the nursing team out full force and we have some of our other SCM family here. Merry Christmas everybody.
Speaker 2:Merry.
Speaker 1:Christmas. So fun fact, one of my favorite things to do in the holidays is to beg, borrow and steal people to come caroling with us. Last night, actually, we had another family and some of the missionaries come around and we knocked on total strangers doors and took them cookies. Only time of year besides Halloween you can pass off home baked goods and not have somebody arrest you. But yeah, so we were talking earlier. Holidays are really fun and for me, the holidays are my favorite time of year.
Speaker 1:That being said, holidays can also be a really stressful time for a whole lot of reasons, and for some people they're not as holly. For some people, I mean, we're missing family members or people that we love and cared about. For some people, the holiday blues and the winter blues sad or seasonal affect disorder rears up. So I thought that we might just kind of go around the table, so to speak, and just share some of our favorite tips. How do you stay healthy at a holiday table, how do you keep your spirits up if holidays are hard, and what are your favorite tips and strategies to manage stress, not just in the holidays, but anytime? Maybe, nancy, do you want to kick us off?
Speaker 3:Sure, absolutely so. Around the holiday table that's a hard one because I'm sure, like everybody else, you know, when family gets together everybody has their favorite dish that they bring. And you know, I know, in our family we have certain people who bring, you know, the same dish every year and that's the only time we eat that dish.
Speaker 1:And so it's cheesecake at my house, come on.
Speaker 3:We have a few like. My mom makes her, you know, flan. One of my aunts makes her coconut rum cake. My sister makes her Brazilian cookie cake, which is like layered with dulce de leche. I mean just yeah, amazing. Oh my gosh, I'm coming. Save me a seat.
Speaker 3:So it's definitely hard, but I feel, you know, like we teach our members portion control, you know you can have, or you know, for me it's like I have a little bit of everything. Doesn't have to be a whole piece, but just like a sliver of this, a sliver of that, you know. So you taste everything, so you don't feel like you're missing out on anything. So that's my, you know my little way of, you know, enjoying the holiday and around the table, but not sort of overdoing it.
Speaker 3:And as far as stress, you know there's a lot of ways. You know, for me I feel like getting together with family is my way to, you know, lower my stress. I know some people getting together with family it has the opposite effect, which I'm sure every family can, you know, relate to. But with my family, you know, I enjoy getting together with those people who I haven't seen, you know, probably all year or maybe like one other time a year but that sort of brings on those endorphins. You know what I mean, those feel good feelings, that like relief stress, you know. So that's. You know that's how I relieve stress during the holidays just by getting together with family and just knowing that you know we can share together and just talk about. You know, lifetime of memories.
Speaker 1:No, I agree. That sounds good to me. Those are great tips. Thanks for sharing. Thanks for watching who's next we should pick on a non-nurse? What do you think, emery? Emery Johnson comes to us from Texas. He's one of our Cracker Jack sales folks and honorary nurse. What do you think? How do you stay fit and healthy and happy during the holidays?
Speaker 2:Really strange Restraint.
Speaker 4:Restraint.
Speaker 2:If there is such a thing. I'm like everybody. It is a stressful time For me. I look at it differently. It's more of an overwhelming experience. Just because we have an extended family, we have so many things to go for. From my perspective, we have so many presents to buy for. It's just overwhelming.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it's just to sit down and regroup as a family and really think about what's important this year and encounter blessings and be. Sometimes we take for granted the gratitude of what we have, instead of focusing on those things that we don't have. It's just changing your mindset. Instead of going to these family parties, instead of dreading it, it's changing it to saying I'm looking forward to it and just being that positive motivator to the family, the cheerleader. When we all do go to that family party, it's overwhelming. But yeah, we're all looking forward to it, looking forward to seeing people we haven't talked to in a while or in the past engaging conversation. What I usually find is, before you know it, it's over with. Time flies and everybody wants to do it again in the next few months.
Speaker 1:Is that kind of like a colonoscopy? Maybe it's different from a colonoscopy.
Speaker 2:You know what Exactly you want to get it done again. As you would say, people thrive on colonoscopies. This is challenging and it can be stressful if you let it get to you. The key is not to let it get to you or your family and just change the perspective on everything.
Speaker 1:It's what we try to do you know what I love most about what you said? I think you brought up a topic that causes a lot of stress for families all across the globe not just to our country and that a lot of us don't talk about. That's financial wellness. When there's stress and the line regarding finances, it'll tear a family apart. I think there's a lot of commercialism in the holidays and the need to. You know, all of us want to give good gifts. We want to create a magical Christmas. When you've got little ones, it's interesting.
Speaker 1:As a nurse, I've had the great privilege of working with all kinds of people. Some of my clients have been really famous folks and truly lived in mansions. Some of my clients have lived in seriously and part RV, part cardboard, part, whatever we really are all the same, I think sometimes we miss the gratitude because we're trying so hard to hit a certain whatever we think is expected of us. Yeah, I think no magical moment is worth being up to your eyeballs and debt for debt is apps is absolutely a huge stressor and stress has so many Just bad consequences that will come Heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity is tied to stress management, sexual difficulties, relationship difficulties you know just all and even impact your blood sugars, and so I'm really glad you brought that up so that I know one of the strategies that our family is doing this year.
Speaker 1:One thing that has always helped us as a family with little ones is when my kids were little. We used to have a practice where we let them pick one present. They would take the money that they would have gotten, whatever, and we'd go shopping for somebody else and and Done the secret Santa thing. If you guys have ever done that, it's so much fun. One year we we secret secret Santa to gal and my ward, who was her husband, had left their shit five little ones to raise, left her right around the holidays and my kids were really little back then and we filled up a whole laundry basket full of stuff and we decided we were gonna go forgo on some of the things that we would have put under the tree for this other family, and I'll tell you it was one of the most magical Christmases that we that we had and really takes a lot of the pressure off of trying to impress and please. So thanks for bringing that up. Yeah, debt will not create less stress.
Speaker 4:And I think we should use that opportunity to go back to you know, remind everyone to do their colonoscopies, because that's also, you know, backs up your digestive system. So let's take that into account and get our colonoscopies done.
Speaker 1:You know to you could talk about. You know, especially in the holidays if we have diabetes. So, stephanie, maybe you can talk a little bit about that. But you know we bring up a really good point. Especially for folks that have diabetes, the holidays can be really tough. To your point, nancy, I mean one of my.
Speaker 1:I had diabetes almost 30 years ago and I, to this day, I will not touch pecan pie, praline pie, although I will tell you I could. I would let myself slip away into a coma on praline pie, but I just know it's not. It's not worth it, right. But you know, cancer cells love All that sugar, right? Cancer cells will eat up 15 times the sugar that a normal cell will will.
Speaker 1:And so I think, and sometimes during the holidays, if we're gonna fudge a little bit, if we have diabetes, sometimes people will say things like well, I'm not even gonna bother checking my blood sugar because I already know it's gonna be high. What? So? Here's a secret it does not hurt any less if I'm driving down the road blindfolded. I promise it does not hurt any less when I hit the tree Right, it's still gonna hurt. It's a whole lot better to have my why? So my eyes open, so maybe I can avoid hitting the tree. But you know for, from your perspective, understanding what you know about kidney disease and cancer, what? What are your tips for folks, stephanie?
Speaker 4:I think I preach the same thing to to all my patients, whether cancer or CKD, kidney issues and it's backtracking what Nancy was saying. And basically my tips are one Coursing control, but how to portion control? Grab one plate, fill one plate with your favorite things. Don't go back for seconds. Allow yourself to indulge, because I think when we restrict ourselves also we are more prone to overeat during stressful situations. Oh yeah, so Trying to avoid something is not helpful. Just grab one plate of moderate size. Don't get a big plate either, and you know. Fill it up once, don't go back for seconds.
Speaker 4:My other tip is always, before you eat your big dinner, just chug a glass of water. You'll see how much more you're gonna, how much less you will eat if your stomach is already full and you've already drank in at least a glass of water. It also helps her up your appetite and keep you fuller, so you're able to indulge and eat what you wanna eat, but you're gonna realize that you're actually eating more moderate and moderate amounts without even trying. So those are my best tips that I usually say. And then the third thing would always be trying to stay active, going for walks. It doesn't have to be anything rigorous. But if you look at the data, especially for cancer, when someone has cancer, survival rate of survivor, survivability of cancer increases per muscle mass. So the more muscle mass someone has, the more they're more likely to survive cancer and there's a lot of clinical research that show improve this. So exercise is very crucial for a lot of different reasons. But just staying active, even if it's just going for a quick walk, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Cancer cells don't like all that oxygen it comes with, hey. So what is everybody's favorite form of exercise? By the way, Just got out of curiosity, how do you exercise when you don't wanna exercise?
Speaker 5:Yoga.
Speaker 1:Yoga ooh, I like that one, I walk.
Speaker 6:Walk yeah. I've been 26 weeks pregnant. I mostly walk right now too.
Speaker 5:Yeah, getting out of the house and just being active half the battle. So yeah, going for a walk or run. I'm a swimmer.
Speaker 1:Oh really. Yeah, that's really good so my husband likes to swim and our pool is well, it's a big pool but it's around, it's not like a big lap pool. So he actually the summer he has a tether. I've never seen anybody. It's so funny. He has a tether and it puts it on the tree and then he wraps it around his waist so it tethers him and he just swims and it's like an infinity pool, but he's tied to a tree.
Speaker 4:It's funny, it's funny.
Speaker 1:Where there's a will, there's a way. My favorite way to exercise is like supernatural. I don't know if you've seen the VR Will. You did that, the VR thing?
Speaker 2:For sure.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. Today I was on top of the Alps in the snow with the bright sunshine at five AM when it was dark outside, and it was awesome. Yeah, I love that, well Will. What are your tips? You've got a young family too. That can be stressful.
Speaker 5:I do. It can be the health side of it. I was going to pick you back. Stephanie stopped there and just keep it pretty simple as far as keeping hydrated. So I was going to say Nancy wins the day with her water bottle. I saw you drinking and then I saw Stephanie's water bottle. I don't know what size that thing. Can you hold that up? Yeah, see, that's the answer. Give me one of those.
Speaker 4:To be completely blunt, it's not fair. I'm a breastfeeding mom, so I drink two gallons a day because it just gets out of me.
Speaker 5:You win the day. That's anyone of those. But yeah, that's the simple things. As far as the health side and as far as the stress side of it too I mean in our industry, I'm sure in many others this is a pretty hectic time of year and kind of setting the excitement for the end of the month. So family will be coming together, it can be stressful, it can be fun, so all that stuff. But to someone else's point, look at it as a positive and make sure you do enjoy it, because it is a good break from the normal work routine. So just aligning things and having finished lines to go to can help with kind of a stressful month.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Coming from the guy who knows all about finish lines. Didn't you just do a marathon recently? Right, you did the New York.
Speaker 5:I did. I did complete it. I won't share any other details, but I did complete it. I didn't set any records, but yeah, it was a bucket list achievement. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, I was shocked at how much fun it was to win through all the boroughs. But yeah, that was a recent achievement.
Speaker 1:So you know, I just got a bucket list of the marathon. Oh yeah, your bucket list of the marathon totally makes my now look really boring. Sarah, I'm learning to quilt.
Speaker 5:Different, different intensities, but I'm sure just a status that blanket down. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what about you, lindsay? I know, we know you've got a young family too and and oh my gosh, and pregnant and everything that comes with that. Tell us your favorite holiday stress management tips, wellness tips.
Speaker 6:Well, I'm going to start off sounding like a broken record, because moderation, watching my carbs and drinking my water are super important. I had gestational diabetes with my last pregnancy. That was well maintained with my diet and exercise. So I'm not yet at the point where I find out yet if I have it this time around, but I've just been trying really hard to be careful. At Thanksgiving I was really conscious of my plate, but then my mom sent home all those leftovers and there was one night when I ate, I ate a plate and I ate too many carbs and I was feeling it later. So I try not to do that I do.
Speaker 6:I got a walking pad and I've been using that because I can't get out as much in the weather and when I do start actually all the time, even before I start to feel stressed out I like to use a central oil to help me stay calm, but I also use them when I am feeling stressed. I have specific ones. I really like frankincense when I am feeling stressed just to remind myself to take a deep breath and calm down. Trying to pay attention to how I'm feeling when I am out with family is super important. I have a 10-year-old, a 14-year-old, a one and a half year old, and then I'm pregnant again, so I can get overstimulated and I just have to remember to tag my helpers in. If I need a break, I have to say hey dad, I need to step outside for five minutes, or.
Speaker 6:I need a bath or epsom salt baths are wonderful, and when I do that I make sure I don't take my phone in there with me and just take that time to just meditate while I'm in the bath tub and let go of everything that's been bothering me, trying to remind myself to take a break from looking at those screens. I also utilize my AirPods with the noise canceling, and I have some loop ear plugs as well that you kind of just turn down the volume on everything around you so you can still hear people, you can still interact, but if everything's too much it can just take it down a little bit if you're sensitive to those kind of things.
Speaker 1:Oh, I wonder if that would work for spouses. No, I'm just joking.
Speaker 6:Well, my husband thought you know, when I put them in, he was like you're not listening to me, you can't hear me and.
Speaker 6:I'm like no, I can still hear you. You're just a little quieter now than you were before. So it's not a complete. You're not going to turn everything off, but it does help. And then I like to get monthly chiropractic and massage treatments. I am also a massage therapist and so I haven't done massage since my 17 month old was born, but actually giving massage used to be one of my things. That helped me just take a deep breath and calm down, helping somebody else.
Speaker 1:Amen to that. Yeah so, as a Reiki master, I do this, you know, for me to when somebody needs a Reiki session, is it helps me every bit as much as it? Yes, yes. I agree, that's really nice.
Speaker 6:Make sure to slow down and take a deep breath, and yes, my massage therapist also has an infrared sauna and I can't use that right now while I'm pregnant, but I will be taking advantage of it after the baby is born because it's supposed to be really good postpartum to help with anxiety and depression and all that good stuff. And we have a new place in town that does float therapy, so I'm very interested in looking into that as well, Nice yeah all kinds of cool stuff over here.
Speaker 1:Ooh, I'm jealous.
Speaker 6:So I have an infrared.
Speaker 1:it's under the tree. That's what my husband doesn't know, that he bought me up for Christmas, woo-hoo. Oh, so you'll have to tell us how you like the float therapy. That's exciting.
Speaker 6:Yeah.
Speaker 4:It's exciting, but you know it's also I don't know if I'm the only one, but it kind of gets me scared to have to be by myself in my own thoughts somewhere, like secluded, like that. It's different when you're exercising and you're, you know, you're minus cleared, versus those floating pools that you're just in, like a pod by yourself, floating in your thoughts. I don't know, it can get pretty deep. Have you done it yet, stephanie? No, but I, you know I want to. Part of me wants to, but then I'm also like a little hesitant about it. So it was interesting that she mentioned it.
Speaker 1:So, as long as you have them, point out where's the escape button. I know you know what, though actually that's a kind of an interesting talking point too. There is that sometimes, when we're used to running really, really fast and you know Lindsay talked a lot I love the idea of, you know, tuning things down, slowing things down. You shared about unplugging, and I think there's a lot of value in stopping and allowing ourselves permission to stop and turn things off. Sometimes it's like when you're used to cruising at a really high altitude or have you ever been on the freeway and you're like in some parts of Montana, we can go like 90 miles an hour, woohoo, and when you have to slow down to 55, it feels like, oh my gosh, I can walk Well, you can't really walk that fast, right, but it feels so slow, and I think sometimes for many people, we have such a high level of chronic stress that when we do take some time to slow down, it's foreign, it's uncomfortable, and so I really like those tips that you shared, lindsay, about turning things off, turning things down that's fantastic. Or Will's tip about, you know, getting outside in nature. Those things can be really grounding and restorative.
Speaker 1:So I think we shared some awesome tips. I know I'm gonna go to Nancy's house for dessert. I'm gonna go over to Emery's pool. I'm not gonna run a marathon with you Will, yes, but it will definitely come float in the pool with Lindsay and Stephanie. I'm gonna come over and rock your baby to sleep so you can take it out. But do we have any parting words? I just wanted to thank y'all for sharing some really fantastic tips that I really hope will be helpful for some of our listeners and watchers, but do we have any dessert, so to speak, any PSs or?
Speaker 4:Don't be afraid to fall off the wagon. I say that to my patients, don't you know? Ghost me. So I'm already tried to and I'm just trying to check up on you, making sure that you're okay. I don't care that you ate, you know, the 20 pieces of pie. I promise I'm not gonna judge you. Just you know, stay with me, we'll get through the holiday season together. Oh, I love that Absolutely.
Speaker 1:We have I hear we have I hear we have an infinite amount of time to become perfect. I haven't met that perfect person yet, although I think my husband tells me he's pretty close to perfect Great tips. Well, thank you all, from our work family specialty care management to yours.
Speaker 2:We hope you have a wonderful holiday, thanks everyone Happy holidays, happy holidays, happy holidays, happy holidays.