10th December 2024 Joyfully Jolly

Dear Readers:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.. Unless it isn’t, that is?

Finally, it’s that time of year when everyone in the corporate world has switched their ‘out of office’ on and you know that you should be winding down and making the most of the break that you deserve (and need!). Sometimes this is easier said than done. If there is something bothering you or stressing you out, we have a few tips to offer you. Here’s to taking a well-deserved break from work and working through the things that prevent us from feeling joyfully jolly!

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Katherine x

A special thanks to DMH Stallard LLP for supporting us.

Joyfully Jolly

Be more ‘bear’ - Chance Marshall, co-founder of Self Space, gives us some ideas to navigate stresses and anxieties over the festive period.

You CAN enjoy the holidays without food guilt or body loathing - Lyndi Cohen, TV nutritionist and dietitian, and host of ‘no wellness wankery’ podcast, tells us how to stop feeling guilty after eating over the holidays.

Why indulging a little over Christmas isn’t always a bad idea - Overindulging is part and parcel of Christmas. But could indulging a little actually be good for your health?

Be more ‘bear’.

Chance Marshall, co-founder of Self Space, shares his thoughts on managing guilt and navigating stress and anxieties over the festive period.

As bright and merry as it is, there is no denying that the festive season can be stressful.

December throws it all at us. Increasing pressure inside and outside of your work with nearing deadlines, staff parties, travel worries, full social calendars (or wishes for full social calendars), financial pressures, family conflicts, that end of year existential self-reflection; all of this can leave even the most psychologically robust of us shivering in our snow boots.

We know what helps us, but that gets thrown out of the window when we’re stressed and in survival mode: Have you drunk enough water today? Do you need an early night? Have you had good food? Have you had enough Quality Streets? Have you been outside and stretched? Have you been in contact with those you love?

Good stress is a burst of energy that advises us on what to do. It’s motivating, short-lived and helps us meet daily challenges. Bad stress is chronic, long-term and leads to an inability to concentrate. Bad stress can mean getting ill more often with colds, body aches and headaches, trouble falling asleep or staying awake, changes in appetite and getting more angry, irritable or anxious than usual.

Make space for less: feeling a bit rubbish as a result of the darker and shorter days? Don’t fight it. Also, don’t let it have a seat at your table for too long. Notice it and adjust accordingly. Know that:

• It's okay to do less

• It’s okay to shift gears

• It’s okay to work within your capacity

• It’s okay to get outside and see the seasons changing

• It’s okay to temporarily withdraw when you need to

• It’s okay to drop down into unhurried rhythms of walking, sleeping, resting

Be more 'bear'. The Dutch concept of Niksen - aka doing absolutely nothing or being idle as a form of stress relief, is good friends with wintering. Appropriate activities are purposeless ones, like staring out the window, hanging out, or listening to music. Find a space in your house for Niksen, preferably with a window, or someplace relaxing and quiet, let go of all distractions and just be. Start with 5 minutes, and work your way up to however long you want it to be, so you get back to your activities refreshed and ready to go.

The idyllic, harmonious, cinematic image around the dinner table pulling crackers in jubilation is far from reality for most of us. Time with family can be messy and awkward. It's important to radically accept this. Try not to hold on too tightly to how you think it 'should be'.

Lean into the givens: the turkey will be dry, arguments will happen, passive-aggressive eyebrows will be raised, talking about politics will cause chaos, personal values won't always match up, and painfully and frustratingly, you will have changed, whilst everyone else has probably stayed the same.

Name it to tame it: get specific about what’s causing you anxiety in advance of the Christmas period. By naming the things that are stressing us out, and pinpointing them exactly, we are able to bring the executive part (prefrontal cortex) of our brains back online and reduce anxiety caused by a build-up of vague stressors. Say it out loud, to yourself or to someone you love or write it down. "I am [insert feeling] about [insert thing that is bothering you]". It sounds almost too simple to be effective, but try it.

💖Did you know that Self Space not only supports individuals, but there is a Self Space for Organisations too, providing 1-to-1 therapy, therapist-led workshops, talks and trainings to industry-leading organisations that want to do right by their people (and their bottom line). It is recommended that you follow Self Space on Instagram too.

Chance Marshall

Chance Marshall, co-founder of Self Space - the UK’s leading mental health service on the high street. Working with individuals and across 80 businesses, Self Space is transforming the culture around therapy and mental health, one person, and one company at a time such as Depop, Oatly, & Selfridges. The team offers one to one therapy for employees alongside expert-led workshops and mental health training enabling people to build healthy relationships and thrive at work. This includes the first-of-its-kind Mental Health Champs, providing an impactful therapist-led and written training that looks broadly at workplace culture and crisis-prevention that’s missed in Mental Health First Aid.

You CAN enjoy the holidays without food guilt or body loathing.

Lyndi Cohen, TV nutritionist and dietitian, and host of the ‘no wellness wankery’ podcast, shares ways to stop feeling guilty after eating over the holidays. This article comes from Lyndicohen.com with permission.

It’s cruel when you think about it. At exactly the same time you know you’re meant to relax around food - the festive season - the food guilt and weight worries turn up like unannounced in-laws just in time to ruin your holiday. Don’t let this mess with your holidays. Come back to these tips.

How to stop feeling guilty after eating over the holidays

If food guilt and body hate have ruined too many holidays…I know they have messed with mine in the past, here are some things I want you to know – and come back to.

1. It’s totally okay to give yourself permission to overeat. The holidays are exactly the time to relax around food. If not now, seriously when?

2. You may gain weight over the holiday. It’s natural. It happens. It’s nothing to stress about. When the holiday is over, and your body returns to its pre-holiday routine, voila, so will your pre-holiday weight.

3. If a family member or ‘friend’ judges your body or food choices. Firstly, ugh, that’s so not okay, and secondly, it’s their problem. It’s got nothing to do with your weight and everything to do with their own body hang-ups. Food shaming really sucks.

4. Guilt won’t help you eat less or lose weight. It will give you a sinking pit-of-your-stomach feeling, screw with your happiness, isolate you from the people you love and ruin what’s meant to be a happy time. What a hoot, food guilt!

5. And while we’re at it, food guilt doesn’t help you eat any healthier. It sets you up for all-or-nothing thinking and we all know how that ends, right? Hello under-eating that immediately spirals into out-of-control overeating.

6. You’re worthy. It doesn’t matter that you ate Christmas pudding for breakfast, whether you have makeup on or that photo angle isn’t your best, you have permission to like yourself. Your worth is so much deeper than how you look.

7. You know that deep in your bones, right? But there’s also a mean girl voice in your head. Imagining your brain is a radio can help. When you hear that neg voice, try to see if you can change the channel – from self-loathing to self-acceptance, because the second one is way more enjoyable to tune into. Let’s work with some examples here. I start by simply telling myself:

   1. “It’s not my life’s purpose to have a flat stomach and look good from every angle.”

   2. “I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.”

   3. “I accept myself – and I accept others.”

   4. “My body is allowed to change. I trust that my body will look after me if I listen to it, instead of criticism.”

   5. “I’m allowed to relax around food. When I return to my usual routine, my body will return to its usual shape.”

8. How many more years or holidays will be wasted because you never looked “perfect” enough? Bare with me while I get all end-of-year-existential for a minute and ask you a few questions I’ve asked myself before I ditched dieting for good:

   1. What would you prefer to count - almonds or happy memories?

   2. At the end of your life, will you remember your soft stomach, or will you regret how much time you spent worrying about it?

It’s time to start thinking differently about your body and your relationship with food.

If you can have one goal this holiday – or this year – decide that you won’t spend yet another year controlled by body dysmorphia or diet culture. Don’t let diets be the only constant in your life. It really is time to live your best life.

by Lyndi Cohen

There are several links to other related articles and podcast episodes throughout this article on the website https://lyndicohen.com/blog/feel-guilty-for-eating-over-the-holidays/.

Why indulging over Christmas isn’t always a bad idea.

Author: Lauren Cressey - Senior Content Executive

Reviewed by: Dr Sam Rodgers – Chief Medical Officer, MBBS, MRCGP

Source: https://www.medichecks.com/blogs/news/why-indulging-a-little-over-christmas-isn-t-always-a-bad-idea

5 reasons why indulging a little is good for your health

1. Eating keeps us warm - when you eat, you create heat through a process called thermogenesis (where metabolising food warms your body up). Yes, that’s right. There may be a reason why you crave stews and home-cooked roast dinners in winter. Foods such as root vegetables take longer to digest and can in turn help to raise your body temperature. Alongside root vegetables, Christmas spices, such as cinnamon and ginger, both help to promote blood flow and increase metabolism. So, we could say, that the occasional cinnamon-topped hot chocolate served with a gingerbread biscuit might just help to keep you warm during your winter walks.

2. Indulging creates endorphins - chocolate and wine may both have a bad stigma attached to them, but did you know the likes of dark chocolate and red wine boost the production of the feel-good chemicals, endorphins? Endorphins help to relieve pain and reduce stress – which is exactly what you want after a full day of shopping and wrapping presents. Food isn’t the only indulgence that creates endorphins, seeing friends and family can also help release those cheery chemicals. It is important to note that endorphins are only released for a short amount of time. It’s not a good idea to rely on chocolate and red wine as a long-term source of good mood. But every now and then, a little boost can’t hurt.

3. Surrounding yourself with others is good for your body and mind - meeting with friends and laughing together has many proven benefits, including reducing stress levels. Meeting with friends for a coffee and a mince pie (or two) over the holidays may just create a bit of calm during the chaotic storm that can be Christmas. You could even kill two birds with one stone and maybe take a walk around a Christmas market and tick some shopping off your list. With the possibility of work Christmas parties returning this year, there is the assumption that alcohol intake may also increase in social situations. Having a few pints or glasses of red is allowed but take it steady.

4. Naps can be good for you - yes, that’s right – naps are a good thing. So, get cosy on the sofa under a blanket without feeling guilty. Naps provide several benefits to both your physical and mental health, including:

   1. Counteracting daytime drowsiness

   2. Boosting productivity

   3. Improving cognitive functions (such as memory)

   4. Lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease

   5. Relieving stress

   Naps may seem like a treat (or indulgence) to some, but the Christmas period is the perfect time to let your body unwind and give it the rest it needs. So, treat yourself to that guilt-free nap on Christmas Day afternoon – after all, it’s good for your health.

5. It helps to create better habits - it may sound counterintuitive, but indulging a little can lead to building healthier habits in the long run. If I were to raise the question: is it better to overindulge a lot occasionally or indulge a little every day? What would be your answer? The research suggests the latter. Research has shown that people who follow a strict or excessively rigid restrictive diet often fall off the wagon sooner than people who are on less rigid diets. It’s all about creating healthy habits and a healthy and balanced diet, and this includes things such as fats, salt, and sugar – but in moderation. This isn’t just to be said about food either, this goes for other lifestyle habits such as trying to quit smoking (or vaping). Generally, it is better to wean yourself off slowly than go cold turkey (pun fully intended) because you’re less likely to crave it and more likely to create better health habits.

Here’s a thought….

According to several media outlets this week Zebra Striping is the new trend this party season……

This is the mindful act of alternating alcoholic with non-alcoholic beverages.

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