Healthy Holiday Choices

By Michael Kowalski, A.P., Dr. Ac.
@ Acupuncture & Holistic Health Center
Jacksonville, FL

At the Acupuncture & Holistic Health Center in Jacksonville, we support you in making good choices when it comes to your health. As we enter this holiday season, some of us make less healthy choices than usual. How can you enjoy all the celebrations of this holiday season, while also making better, healthier choices?

Choose to optimize your body’s function with acupuncture

Receiving acupuncture treatment on a regular basis helps maintain your body in optimum health. At the Acupuncture & Holistic Health Center, we specialize in Worsley 5 Element acupuncture, which also balances your emotions and improves your mental attitude. After your initial course of weekly acupuncture treatment, continuing with maintenance treatments once every month or two keeps up the benefits you have achieved. Getting yourself balanced with acupuncture can really take some of the stress out of this busy holiday season. Invest in your continued health by scheduling a holiday checkup with your acupuncturist!

Choose healthier foods at your holiday table

Whether you are hosting and planning the holiday menu yourself or you are a guest at someone else’s holiday table, choose foods not just for taste, but also for health. Choosing a healthier food option will not only make your waistline happier, it will also cause less stress on all your bodily functions. Keep in mind the bigger picture when choosing what you put on your plate. Ask yourself, “How will this choice make me feel tomorrow?”

Having said that, I subscribe to the 90-10 rule when it comes to your diet: Make your food choices healthy 90% of the time, and allow yourself an indulgence 10% of the time. Unless you have a medical condition that prevents you from going off your diet even a little bit, or you just have no willpower to get back on track once you veer slightly off, this simple rule can work well to maintain your motivation for eating healthy by preventing feelings of deprivation or austerity. As my acupuncture mentor, the late Professor J.R. Worsley, used to say, “A little bit of what you fancy does you good.” As long as you make those decisions with discretion and moderation, allow yourself a little more leeway at your holiday table. If you gain a pound or two from your holiday meal, all is not lost. The day after you “treat” yourself responsibly, you can get back to your healthier eating ways in earnest.

From all of us at the Acupuncture & Holistic Health Center, we wish you all a very Happy Holiday season!