It's the time of year when  everything seems to happen at once.  End of year school activities, organising holiday breaks, Christmas parties and yes Christmas!  Add to it all a family crisis or extra unexpected expenses and its easy to feel overwhelmed trying to manage it all.

If you are starting to feel stressed or in the past this time of year has been a  mad rush to the finishing line, make a commitment to yourself to plan a different approach this year.  

Plan your events, activities, holidays, get togethers  around your health and wellness so you can turn up  full of energy, with clear skin and bright eyes ready to enjoy your family and friends.  If unexpected stressful situations or events happen, be kind and nouirsh yourself like you would a close friend who needs support.   

Planning to nourish yourself with nutrition is a great way to stay on top and provide your body with the nutrients it needs to cope with this extra stress and pressure.

Stress, alcohol and coffee can deplete you of vitamin B, C and magnesium which are key nutrients essential for energy production and maintance of skin, hair and eyes.   They are also essential for helping you cope with stress.  Nourishing yourself with nutrition is the best way to get healthy doses of these nutrients from unrefined whole foods.

Plan to Pre - plan  Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks that are hight in Vitamin B , C & Magnesium to help you cope.

B Vitamins
Spinach, Dark greens, Broccoli, Lentils, Black beans, Soya beans, Kidney beans, Oats, wholegrain cereals, mushrooms, eggs

Vitamin C
Berries, Blackcurrents, Kiwi fruit, Oranges, Peppers, Dark greens, Spinach, Broccoli, Tomato, 

Magnesium
Dark Greens, Spinach, Pumpkin Seeds, Almonds, Nuts, Black beans, Bananas, Avocados, Salmon, Unsweetened Probiotic Yogurt, Cacao

Here are some meal ideas of how you could combinding the foods above to get great stress less nutrition.

Breakfast
- Oats with frozen or fresh berries, yogurt
- Omelttes or eggs with spinach, tomatoes, peppers, or mushrooms
- Mushroom and spinach on wholemeal toast
- Green Smoothie - Dark green veges, banana and berries, yogurt, nuts, cacao

Lunch
- Salmon with green salad topped with pumpkin seeds
- Wraps with dark green salad, egg, tomatoes
- Bean salad with peppers tomatoes
- Lentil salad, mushrooms, spinach 
- Minestorne soup, with wholemeal bread
- Eggs on wholemeal toast  

Dinner
-Saag aloo curry - spinach, tomato based curry  Add chicken, lamb or veges
-Vegetable lasagna with wholemeal lasagna sheets
-Salmon & Salad with brocolli
-Stir fry vegetable with brocoli, soya beans, cashew nuts add chicken, lamb, beef 
-Black bean tacos with tomatoes, peppers and avocado.

Snacks
-Nuts and fruit
-Avocado on wholemeal crackers
-Unsweetend yogurt with fruit
-Banana slices with  almond or peanut butter
-Green Smoothie 

Consider setting some goals or strategies around eating and drinking while socialising in order to keep yourself in check

For example:

limiting yourself to 2 glasses of wine for the evening
Deciding which events you will drink at and which you won't.  
Drinking spritzers or water between alcoholic drinks
Drinking non-alcoholic mocktails
Arrange to take a plate of food or nibbles  that you know with be a healthy option and you enjoy
Eat healthy before you go out so you aren't hungry and prevent overindulging.
Think of portion size of meals if eating out - consider ordering two entrees or,  main and desert or 
entree and main.
or
Plan to indulge and enjoy every bite and sip without feeling guilty as part of your balanced approach to eating.  


Alcohol can often interfere with sleep  which is essential when you are stressed.  Alcohol can often help you go off to sleep but may interfere with REM sleep which is the restorative sleep period.   You may find you wake up latter in the night or don't feel refreshed in the morning.  If you are already struggling with sleep consider whether it is worth making it worse by over indulging.  Consider what you need to do the next day and whether you can afford to feel less refreshed.  

Say No - Easy right!

If you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed, don't overbook or overcomitt yourself,
Its ok to say no to others. 
Focus on your priorities  and put your health first to be at your best.

Exercise the right way for you!

Exercise is a great stress releaser.  However when you are under stress long hard workout can add extra  stress to your body and deplete you further.  Whereas short simple exercise routine can destress and restore energy.   Consider what is best for you.

Down time

And finally plan some down time where you plan nothing, time just for you to read, relax, have a bath whatever you need to keep yourself in check.  

Stay in the moment and enjoy the crazy season!

"The shortest way to do many things is to do one thing at a time."
Sir Richard Cecil

There may be many jobs you need to complete before you finish up for the year and can take a break.   You may be multitasking to try and achieve everything on your list.  However, research shows that multitasking is actually over rated and effectively means that you may be doing more than one thing inefficiently.

When you are multitasking you are actually switching between two or more tasks and you are never completely present for the task at hand.  This tend to mean you will miss things as  your brain becomes overloaded.  It can become harder to see the obvious things right in front of you.

Here are some of the common problems you may experience when you multitask.

• You may get memory loss and forget things as your brain switches between the activities
• You may upset people you are with if you aren't focusing on them and present in the moment, e.g. answering phone or email, texting while with people
• You may be putting yourself or others in danger if you are driving while texting, eating or talking on the phone
• You are more likely to make mistakes and miss important things
• Its harder for you to retain information
• You are more likely to feel stressed and overwhelmed
• Depending on the task you are doing it may take you 10-15 minutes per task to refocus as you switch between each.  It can wastes  a lot of your time.

So here are some tips you might find helpful to get you organised and focussed and ready for Christmas day.

Taking the time to write down all the tasks or projects that are in your head, that you think need to be completed, can help you  decide what is really important for you, and your family and what has to take priority this Christmas.  

Once you have everything down on paper, decide what are the priorities, and what needs to be done today?  Starting your day with a clear intent or knowing what you want to achieve can be helpful in prioritising what is important and making sure it happens.  

Pick no more than two priority items each days that must get done.  Then think about your day and plan it into blocks of time, slotting in your priority, (must get done tasks) into the best time slots for you and your family situation to ensure they get done.    

If you start to feel overwhelmed by a task, breaking it down into smaller steps may be helpful.
For example, if you have to organise Christmas dinner,  break it down into the steps involved and focus on one task at a time. 
Step 1 set budget
Step 2 plan menu
Step 3 decide who will do what, 
Step 4  ring or email family and ask them to bring something
Step 5 make a shopping list
Step 6 go shopping etc...

With the remaining items on your list think about any jobs that could be delegated or family can help you with, either today or over the course of the week.  Make sure you give clear instructions when you pass on the task so they know exactly what your expectation are and when it needs to be done by and why its important to you.  And, remember to check that they understand clearly what you are asking them to do.

Try to organise and prioritise tasks that are similar on your to do list into groups e.g.: Grocery shopping for Christmas,  picking up food gifts for friends, send Christmas parcels (things that can be done in a similar time period ) 

If you need no distractions for certain tasks, make sure that you allocate times in your day when there are the least distractions.  Turn off your phone, Facebook and don't check or answer any emails, remain focused on the task at hand.   You will be surprise at how much quicker you get through everything.

Setting a timer to remind yourself to take breaks will help you be more productive.  Taking regular breaks and nourishing yourself with food, water, or movement is the best way to help you stay on track.  Its important to break up periods of activity or concentration to prevent your body and mind from becoming exhausted.

Remember not to over plan your days and let go of anything that is just not that important. Set boundaries around your time and  say no to others if necessary to ensure you do get things achieved that are important to you.







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