Wait a minute…I need to put on my “Gosh I really care” face

The stress of the holidays and family obligations can be downright brutal with all of the parties, shopping, work, and home responsibilities. Eventually something has to give and hopefully it’s not your sanity. All the chaos can make a person tense and hard to deal with putting a strain on anyone who interacts with them.

As hard as it may seem, forcing a smile and pretending you are happy can make the season easier to get through. According to a Harvard study, pretending you're happier than you really are has positive benefits. Exhibiting pleasant emotions will grant others to react more favorably towards you and in turn may actually change your mood for the better. Besides, no one really wants to listen to you go on about how you were stuck in traffic for forty-five minutes, then spilt coffee on your favorite shirt, and hit your head getting into your car. We all have been there, and no one wants a play-by-play of your bad morning.

When someone approaches you and you are in a terrible mood, kindly smile and pretend that you are happy and listen to what they have to say. It’s possible that this person will help lighten your spirits and make your day a lot more pleasant. According to Psychology Today, smiling can actually improve your mind-set and inspire others to smile as well. I know that I appreciate it when someone smiles at me. It warms my heart and cools my temper when I’m not having a good day.  

Attempting to alter your state of mind to get you through the holidays can  have positive consequences. However, please do not get into the habit of suppressing negative feelings and anger as this can produce harmful effects. Habitually burying these feelings and avoiding them altogether can lead to serious health risks such as high blood pressure and heart disease. People with clinical depression should seek help and consider therapy with medication if your doctor deems it necessary.  Mental illness is not to something to mess around with and there is support for those in need.

Healthy Attitudes will Improve Relationships

As the end of the year is quickly approaching, there is a lot of focus on those dreaded resolutions of losing that excess fat that you accumulated over the last year. Whether you’ve gained six pounds or twenty, come January slimming down becomes an obsession. Sometimes the obsession is damaging physically and emotionally affecting you and your relationships.

First of all, let me make it clear that there is a difference from being health conscience and fixated on being skinny. Understanding your body and keeping cholesterol in check, sustaining the proper muscle mass, and fighting heart & bone decease are prudent as you age. Getting the proper nutrition and exercise are important and should be made routine in your life. Crash dieting and excessive exercise leads to poor choices at the dinner table sometimes with devastating consequences.  Young women in particular have image issues that result in unhealthy behavior such as drug use, broken relationships, and shortened life spans.

Eating healthy doesn’t mean that you can’t indulge and enjoy real food such as cheese, chocolate, or pasta. When it comes to heavy or fatty foods, keep in mind it’s about portion control and sticking with your exercise routine. (The importance here is routine) Besides, you can’t avoid cheesecake or ice-cream forever. What kind of life sad would that be?

Having a good attitude about one’s body image will benefit your physical and emotional health. Feeling good is the goal of a weight management plan. If you feel better most likely everyone around you will have a better attitude towards you, hence the relationships you engage in will blossom. This great attitude of yours may also improve your marriage.

Spend life living, not counting every single calorie that enters your body then running an extra two miles to burn them. This year instead of vowing to be skinnier, try pledging to yourself a happier healthier lifestyle. You will not be disappointed by those results. Most people won’t be judging you on your waist line anyway, and if they do maybe it’s not the weight you need to lose.