Holiday Food Drive

We're having a food drive for the holidays! For every 10 cans you donate, you will receive a free adjustment.  Be grateful for what you and your family have, and please give back to your community!

Food drive runs through December 1st, 2010.  

For more information, please visit: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=117890864939975

Stress-Free Holidays

Now is the time to begin your plan to have a peaceful holiday season this year. You can't change the fact that children and parents will have spells of anxiety, fatigue, irritability, depression, conflict, worry, nagging, and overindulgence during the holiday weeks. But you can do a lot to minimize them, and you can begin today. Here are just a few ideas. . .

• Buy an inexpensive, small notebook for your holiday planning. Record notes to yourself, things to do, gift ideas, Christmas card lists, decorating ideas, recipes, grocery shopping lists, party planning lists, store phone numbers, babysitters' phone numbers. Any information that will help you get your holiday chores done should be in the book. Keep the book in your purse or briefcase. Then, you can refer to it when you have a chance (while waiting to pick up your child, in the doctor's waiting room, on your coffee break).

• Strategize holiday plans with your spouse. Discuss what makes you happy during the holidays, and really listen to what your spouse says makes him/her happy. Prioritize your families' holiday activities based on this discussion. If you both love going to holiday parties, then by all means go! If both of you dislike those parties but have always gone because you felt you had to, then don't be afraid to turn down some invitations. Instead, have a dress-up evening for your family - go to dinner at a really special restaurant, then to a play or holiday musical performance.

• Get a nice calendar to schedule holiday commitments and events you would like to attend. Involve the whole family in planning these activities based on the one-to-one decisions you and your spouse made previously.

• Shop online or from catalogs. It really is much less stressful to shop from your living room than to exhaust yourself at the mall during the Christmas season. Do your mall shopping now, before Thanksgiving, to get a relaxed view of all the new merchandise. I like to go to the mall right before rush hour on weekdays. Very few people are shopping; and, you get such a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that you are not out in the rush-hour traffic.

• Schedule some activities to nourish your spirit. Church services, musical performances, and plays leave you feeling refreshed and rested rather than frazzled and exhausted. 
•  Think about what makes the holidays special for you. Write it down in the front of your book. Ask your spouse and children the same question, and record their responses with your own. Use these as your guide for planning your season, for weeding out unnecessary activities and expenses, and focusing on what is important to your family.
• Decide who you will be buying gifts for. Write each individual name at the top of a page, and begin to record ideas and requests for presents. I also record a dollar goal for spending on each person and the cost of the items I buy.
• Whether you cook a traditional holiday meal or like to try new and creative recipes, begin planning your holiday cooking in your planning book. List meal plans, recipes, ingredient, and shopping lists. Consider buying some items in bulk or at special discounts, then build your meal plans around these items.

Happy holidays and remember to relax and enjoy yourself!

Source: http://childparenting.about.com/cs/holidays/a/holidayplan.htm

Protecting Your Body During the Holidays

The International Chiropractors Association (ICA) and the Connecticut Chiropractic Council (CCC) offer several suggestions and tips to help protect your back and general health, particularly over the upcoming holidays.

How and what we eat is always important, says Dr. Luigi DeRubba, President of the ICA. But, the upcoming holidays and their traditional practices of overeating and eating too much unhealthy food are of special concern to today's chiropractors. DeRubba says that "a bulging stomach can put pressure on your body's support systems, including your spine and spinal nerves. Every extra pound in the abdominal region could put 10 pounds more stress on the lower back. Heavy eating during the holidays may lead to weight gain, and carrying extra pounds can put added strain on the supporting structures of the spine and nervous system."

DiRubba explains that extra weight can bring about a shift in the pelvis and torso. This causes a change in spinal balance, which leads to spinal misalignments and malfunctioning in the entire body.

In terms of eating and weight gain, DiRubba suggests a few simple things: eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and less red meat, bread, pasta, chips and fats/oils. It also goes without saying that eating even healthy food should be done in moderation. In her online article, "Exercise Away Holiday Stress," dietitian Sarah Flash says that eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains actually helps protect your body against the harmful affects of stress. She recommends including broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, spinach, greens, peppers, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, pumpkin, apricots and soy when planning holiday meals. She also suggests keeping fruits and vegetables readily accessible when traveling.

Both DiRubba and Flash say that, instead of flopping on the couch or taking a nap after eating that holiday dinner, take a walk or participate in physical activities that can include the entire family. A 15-30 minute walk will ease stomach discomfort and burn some of the extra calories, as well as help relieve stress.

The holiday season, particularly those days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, also find more people visiting their chiropractors because of stresses and strains that come with the season. The ICA and the CCC suggest the following:

Be aware of how you lift things like heavy packages, an armload of firewood or that frozen turkey. It's so easy to just bend over and pick up something too heavy. Lifting with your legs instead of your back, as well as keeping heavy items close to your body as you lift, may save you a trip to the chiropractor and certainly will minimize the chances of injury.

If you're doing the cooking and standing for extended periods of time, use a foot rest, stack of books or pieces of wood to elevate one foot about six inches above the floor. This will relieve tired leg and back muscles. When you use a foot rest and alternate each foot, it also helps to improve your posture.

Traveling and being out of your routine adds stress of its own. Plenty of rest, packing light and allowing extra time will go a long ways in minimizing the stress on both body and mind. If you must carry bags, be aware of carrying too much in bags with shoulder straps that pull your body out of alignment or put a heavy load on your shoulders.

Sitting for long periods of time, whether in a plane or traveling by auto, can put unnecessary pressure on the discs in your back and on your spine. A small pillow or folded towel placed behind the small of your back will help maintain the arch in your lower back and support the rest of the body.

Holiday Shopping Survival Guide

The holidays seem to come earlier and earlier every year -- and along with them, the stresses and strains of frenzied holiday shopping. Take a stroll through your local mall, and you'll already see symbols of the approaching holiday season -- from Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations to notices of blowout sales. As your muscles tense with each passing day, the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) asks, "Are you ready for the holiday shopping challenge?"

"Our bodies have the capacity to do a little more than we normally do," says Dr. Scott Bautch, past president of the ACA's Council on Occupational Health. "But our bodies do not adapt very well to doing a lot more than we normally do. Since the added demands of this season can stress the capacity of our bodies, we need to do everything we can to help ourselves. Eat right, drink plenty of water, stretch, exercise and take a few minutes to slow down and reflect on what the season is all about."

So relax and enjoy the holidays! Dr. Bautch and the ACA encourage you to consider the following tips to help keep you and your loved ones healthy, happy and safe this season.

Treat Holiday Shopping As An Athletic Event

• Stay hydrated! Drink eight to ten 8-ounce glasses of water a day. (Coffee, tea, soft drinks and alcohol are dehydrators. Don't substitute them for water.) On shopping days, you may need to drink even more water.
• Be sure to stretch before and after a long day of shopping. When you are stressed-out, your muscles are less flexible than usual.
• Wear shoes with plenty of cushioning in the soles to absorb the impact of walking on those hard shopping mall floors.
• Make sure your clothing is as comfortable as possible. It's a good idea to wear layers, because you may be going from a cold environment (outdoors) to a warm environment (indoors).
• Leave your purse at home. Wear a light fanny pack, or if necessary, a light backpack instead. Pack only those items that are absolutely essential (driver's license, credit card, etc.).
• If you start to feel some pain, nip it in the bud. Apply an ice bag to the affected area for 20 minutes, then take it off for a couple of hours. Repeat a couple of times each day over the next day or two.

"During the holiday season, we're running at absolute maximum capacity, which can lead to stress and even depression," says Dr. Bautch. "We need to stretch and stay hydrated to increase our capacity, so we are not overwhelmed by the activities of the season."

Plan Frequent Breaks Into Your Shopping Day

• During a day of heavy shopping, most people should take a break every 45 minutes. Those with less stamina may even need to take breaks more frequently.
• If possible, obtain a locker. Lockers can help cut down dramatically on how much you have to carry around. You can take a load off by scheduling trips to your locker into your breaks.
• If your mall or shopping center doesn't offer lockers, try to plan trips to your car. Don't carry around more than is absolutely necessary at one time.
• When taking breaks, try to eat light foods. A salad and some fruit is a much better option than a burger and fries.
• Skip the coffee break! Coffee and sodas contain caffeine and sugar, which add even more stress to your body. Pass on the designer coffee at the java stand and keep drinking water.

"We actually need to eat better than normal during the holiday season," explains Dr. Bautch. "On average, people gain five to six pounds during the holidays. And heart attacks occur more often during the holidays as well. Eating a heavy meal and then running out on an exhausting shopping trip can be very dangerous."

Shopping With Children

• If at all possible, DO NOT bring children along on a holiday shopping trip. Most children simply do not have the stamina for such an event, and you and your child will only become frustrated with one another. Don't add this type of stress to an already stressful situation.
• Try to split "child duty" up with a spouse or another parent. They'll watch your kids while you shop, and vice-versa.

"Shopping with children is just a bad idea," says Dr. Bautch. "If your hands are loaded with shopping bags, you may not be able to hold your child's hand, which could increase the chances he or she might wander away from you. Take whatever steps necessary to not have to bring your child along."

Wrapping Your Gifts

• Since there is no "ideal" position for wrapping gifts, the most important thing to remember is to vary your positions. For example, try standing at a table or countertop for one package, sitting on a bed for another, sitting in a comfortable chair for another, etc.
• Do not wrap packages while sitting on the floor. Wrapping packages while sitting on a hard floor can wreak havoc on your posture, and should be avoided.
• Always stretch before and after you wrap gifts.

"When wrapping presents, it's a good idea to 'stretch the opposites,'" says Dr. Bautch. "In other words, if you are leaning forward when wrapping your gifts, stretch backward when you are done."

Chiropractic Care Can Help
If you experience pain or discomfort as a result of holiday shopping, consider a visit to your doctor of chiropractic. Your doctor of chiropractic can help alleviate your pain naturally, so you can enjoy the holiday season as it was meant to be.

http://www.acatoday.org/content_css.cfm?CID=74

12 Days of Health and Wellness

The upcoming holiday season is full of reasons for good cheer, but the added demands of the season can also stress the capacities of our bodies.

Research shows that stress and unhealthy behaviors contribute to some of our country's biggest health problems such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes. This stress can also build up inside the body and manifest as back pain, neck pain or headaches... making matters even worse.

Doctors of chiropractic are experts in spinal adjustment and other manual therapies that can relieve the aches and pains caused by holiday stress. They also provide nutrition counseling, exercise recommendations, ergonomic tips and other advice to promote good health year-round.

The American Chiropractic Association (ACA), in an effort to promote health and wellness this holiday season, offers "12 Days of Health and Wellness," a campaign designed to give consumers tips on ways to manage the holidays more healthfully. Each day focuses on a different topic such as choosing nutritious foods, getting enough sleep, and stretching after tree-trimming or gift wrapping to help ease back pain.

"The holidays are synonymous with frenzied activities, parties, shopping and stress, so it is imperative that people take steps to address these issues in healthier ways," said ACA President Rick McMichael, DC. "It's the perfect time to use ACA's tips to take control of your health and to discover chiropractic's natural approach to wellness. A doctor of chiropractic can customize a wellness program that's right for you."

Look for fact sheets, audio public service announcements and additional links to helpful information at www.acatoday.org/12days. 

Source: American Chiropractic Association