ready for battle?

By Fiona Kirk

I don’t know about you but I find Christmas very stressful.  But not stressful in a BAD way really.  More in an exciting way! 

I can cope with the whole thing and really enjoy myself as long as I don’t come across any of the ‘super-organised’!  You know the ones.  They’ve got the cards written, the presents bought and wrapped, the Christmas lunch pre-ordered, the tree up and beautifully decorated, the children’s presents ordered months before to avoid the ‘rush’, their desks are clear long before Christmas eve and they turn up at the Christmas party looking fabulous in a little designer dress they picked up in T K Max ‘for a song’ and their nails are perfect!!  If even one of them drifts elegantly through my life in the run up to Christmas I can guarantee stress! 

Christmas is all about OVERLOAD.  An overload of food, drink, kids, relatives, shopping (and spending!), partying etc. and most of us muddle through it each year somehow or other.  But how do you usually feel when you come out the other end?  Once you slow the pace down just a fraction do you find you pick up the first virus that’s going round and end up with a stinking cold which develops into a secondary infection and the first couple of months of the New Year become a real struggle?

If that’s you, you’ve got to prepare yourself for battle right now – today!  The stronger your immune system is in the run up to Christmas, the better you are likely to cope with the ‘overload’ and hopefully swing into the New Year feeling exhausted but otherwise good.

Here’s a few things you can do over the next few weeks:-

• Your body needs to sleep in order to rest and repair – try to get at least six hours sleep every night (eight is better)
• Have a mug of hot water with a squeeze of lemon, some grated ginger and a swirl of honey every morning before you do anything else to cleanse and refresh your system – your digestion will certainly benefit
• Get a bottle of Echinacea and follow the instructions (every day) to provide a shield against viral attack
• Plenty of protein is essential.  Whatever damage you do to your body has to be repaired and protein provides the building blocks.  Make sure you have some protein with every meal and snack throughout the day.  Lean meats (especially game), chicken and turkey, fish, fish, fish (cheap, quick, tasty and there’s such a huge variety, you will never be bored)
• Submerge yourself!  Everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) in your body works better when you are hydrated so make sure you always have a little (or large) bottle to hand and sip throughout the day.  If you have a coffee or tea, have a glass of water alongside.  For every alcoholic drink you have over the festive season, have a glass of water.  Yes, you have to go to the loo more often, but you tend to feel pretty good the morning after the night before!  Divide your weight by two to get a rough idea of how many ounces of water you should be aiming for in a day.
• There are always loads of fresh nuts in the shops around this time of year.  Eat them!  A handful of fresh (not salted) nuts, a chunk of hard cheese and a piece of fruit provide a great, balanced snack mid morning, mid afternoon or late evening (if you find you wake up in the night and cant get back to sleep).
• You’re probably tired of hearing the word ‘antioxidants’ but if there ever was a good time of the year to build up your ‘antioxidant shield’ its NOW!  Fill a fruitbowl with a huge selection of fresh fruit and graze your way through them (then fill it up again!)  Buy bags of baby vegetables and have them with dips (hummus, tzatziki, salsa), buy bags of ready chopped vegetables, steam them quickly, drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil and have a large plate BEFORE you have your main meal of the day or before you go out (you wont be so tempted by salty, sugary snacks or puddings).
• Oh, and one other thing.  DON’T read any of those articles or listen to any of those programmes dedicated to leading you down the path to a ‘healthy’ Christmas Day!  Its only ONE DAY for goodness sake and it’s a celebration – what’s a celebration without a feast and copious amounts of drink with friends and family intent on having a good time!  I say “eat it, enjoy it, forget it and move on”.  There are 364 other days to focus on ‘the healthier options’!