Author Archives: Cherylanne Skolnicki

Have your healthiest December ever!

It’s almost here – the most challenging month of all when it comes to healthy living – December! Amid insanely busy schedules and countless holiday parties and all those cookies, scores of otherwise healthy women are throwing their hands up in surrender. It’s so easy to write off this month and allow yourself to abandon healthy habits you’ve worked all year to build. Don’t do it.

Instead, decide which rituals you’ll commit to maintaining throughout December. Choose the ones that make you feel terrific and when the going gets tough, remind yourself that keeping up with these practices is a TREAT to your deserving body and soul. You don’t have to do everything on the list below; just use it to help you decide – what will you do for yourself this December that will help you arrive at January 1st feeling one step ahead of the game?

 

Healthy December Habits:

– 7+ hours of sleep each night

– Breakfast

– Vitamins

– Water, and lots of it

– Fruits and/or vegetables at every meal

– Strength training (even more important than cardio!)

– Your skin care regimen (stress, alcohol and lack of sleep can wreak havoc on your skin!)

– Yoga or stretching

– Meditation or prayer time

– Breathing exercises (like the ones Dr. Stevenson recommended in last month’s newsletter)

– Phone time with a close friend or relative every day

– Herbal tea as an afternoon or evening relaxation ritual

What will you choose? Tell me in comments and hold yourself accountable…you’ll be so glad you did!

Back on Track Smoothie

I’m going to go out on a limb and say  that by this point in your life, you’ve probably read enough about how to use leftover turkey. So rather than add yet another tired idea to that list, I’m instead offering a recipe to get you back on track after your Thanksgiving feast. I hope you enjoyed every bite of it, including the late night cold turkey sandwich, but tomorrow is another day! And I’d like you to start it feeling energized and alive, instead of sluggish and weighed down. If you’re ready to lighten up after Thanksgiving’s heavier fare, this smoothie is for you.

Just a quick whir in the blender transforms these fruits and greens into a refreshing drink that will get your Black Friday off to a healthy start so you’ll have plenty of energy to hit the stores in earnest. Happy shopping!

 

Back-on-Track Smoothie

adapted from Real Simple

 

makes 1 serving

 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup chopped kale, ribs and stems removed (or 1 cup of fresh spinach leaves)

1 stalk of celery, chopped

1/2 banana

1/2 cup apple juice

1/2 cup crushed ice

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

 

Directions:

1. Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth.

Stop and smell the pumpkin pie

Seriously. Who decided that we should start celebrating Christmas in November….or October?! This week we’ll celebrate Thanksgiving, which, in full disclosure, is my favorite holiday of the year. An entire holiday dedicated to food, and beautifully set tables, and giving thanks…what could be better than that?! And yet everywhere I looked this weekend I was confronted not with turkeys and cornucopias and Pilgrims, but rather with twinkling lights and evergreen wreaths and flyers advertising “40% off.” Really?

This jumping-the-gun phenomenon is a symptom of our cultural predisposition to rush through life looking ahead rather than savoring each and every moment. We plan for what we’ll do when we get the promotion, or lose the weight, or finish the class. We wait until the weather improves or the construction is finished or the kids grow up. And all the while, magical moments are regularly occurring and we’re too busy to notice. It’s hard to be in the moment when you’re focused on racing to that spot just up ahead.

This Thanksgiving, give yourself a gift. Choose to be in the moment. Gather around a table with the people you hold most dear. Break bread. Give thanks. Reminisce.

And when you’ve cleared the last of the Thanksgiving dishes and put the children to bed, you can turn your attention to the next holiday with renewed energy and wild abandon.

My admonition to relish each moment applies to December as well. This year, will you remember that it’s not all about one BIG EVENT, instead recognizing that some of your best memories will come from the days and weeks leading up to your family’s gift-opening extravaganza? Baking cookies with Grandma. Wrapping gifts. Unpacking decorations. Lighting the fireplace and making hot cocoa with marshmallows. Opening cards from distant friends. The Nutcracker. The Grinch. The first snowflake.

Each little moment holds its own magic. Drink it in.