Oh Well!

FITNESS

The Festive Five: Goal-setting tips to help you stay strong through the holidays and beyond.

By Jessica Porritt

1. Be SMART about your goals. That’s Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-based. Think of a goal as a destination on a map; you won’t get there in an instant. Come up with a clear path, leaving room for a few stops on the way.

2. Set Benchmarks. Big goals can be intimidating and discouraging when you don’t see results. Benchmarks break down larger goals into more manageable steps. Don’t forget to celebrate small accomplishments along the way to help support you emotionally and boost your morale.

3. Write your goal down (in pen) and share it! According to research by the Dominican University of California, people who wrote down and shared their goals were 33% more successful than those who didn’t. Mark it on your calendar, set it as the background on your phone, or even write it on your bathroom mirror. Then, tell your support system! Let them provide the accountability you need through good times and bad.

4. Be Prepared. You wouldn’t start a road trip without gas or a spare tire. You’ll need to identify the roadblocks you may encounter on your road, such as holidays, special events, or finding time in your schedule. Then, arm yourself with ways to overcome them. Misses and mistakes will happen; what matters is how you take them.

5. Don’t be so hard on yourself. We often put a great deal of pressure on ourselves, which frequently results in disappointment when we fall short. But what we aren’t seeing in those moments is how far we’ve come. Maybe we dropped a clothes size, made a new friend, or developed a healthier habit. Your goals always lead to something more profound than the actual numbers. Remember: you are doing this for you!

Jessica Porritt is the Family Center Operations Director at Roper YMCA. She is a proud dog mom of a 14-lb chiweenie named Ranger. When she’s not helping people achieve their goals, she’s at the beach, hiking, or traveling.

HEALTHCARE

Trigger Warning: A simple strategy to help you avoid family drama at your next get-together

Text: Tracy Kristoff, LMFT, RPT

Gathering around the family dinner table for the holidays can be wonderful, but it can also be uncomfortable. Tenuous relationships, insensitive comments, and unresolved arguments may bring up strong emotions. In those moments, you might feel triggered.

This is certainly the buzzword for 2021. Being “triggered” means experiencing a strong emotional reaction to external stimuli that prompts the body’s 3 Fs: Fight, Flight, or Freeze response. What you might not know is that you are not hostage to this response; you can redirect the energy in a healthy manner, turning your “trigger” into a multi-step process that leads to developing emotional intelligence.

I always tell my clients that the first step is to observe. You can glean so much from watching how your family members interact. How are they handling stress during the holidays? Drinking? Yelling? Disassociation? Preoccupation? Observe your own reactions to these patterns.

The next step is to practice the pause. I tell my clients to have a bottle of water handy, and when things get tense, take a sip. This keeps you from getting “hooked” into a toxic dialogue—and it helps you stay hydrated as well. During the pause, check in with your body. Ask yourself, “What am I feeling? Where am I feeling it?”

Finally, redirect the energy. Take three slow, deep breaths and then decide how you want to respond. This should help you manage those triggering events.

Tracy Kristoff, LMFT, RPT is a licensed psychologist and the owner of Simple Pathways Counseling. When she is feeling drained, she visits a state park and spends time reconnecting with nature. She enjoys walking downtown with her family and her almost-famous dog, Forky.

NUTRITION

Give (Just Enough) Thanks: How to eat in moderation this Thanksgiving.

By Jeanenne Hilliard, FNTP

We all love the mouth-watering food traditions of the holidays! But do you remember the after-effects of gorging on that meal last year? You can enjoy yourself and still feel good afterward by implementing these tips.

Decide ahead of time what and how much you’re going to eat—and stick to it.

Don’t starve yourself before a big meal. You will end up overeating.

Drink a glass of water before you eat. Sometimes dehydration can feel like hunger.

Plate lower-carb choices first, like meats and simply prepared vegetables, then add other foods like a condiment.

Engage in conversations away from snacks to limit overeating.

Jeanenne Hilliard, FNTP is a nutritionist and the owner of Revive and Restore Nutrition. She traveled the world serving the poor before returning to Winter Garden 1.5 years ago. Jeanenne loves cooking, reading, running before sunrise, and hiking with her husband.