The BEST HOLIDAYS YET! Curb Those Grinches (Part 1)

The BEST HOLIDAYS YET! Curb Those Grinches (Part 1) What does the holiday season mean for you: Arguing with family? Delicious traps for your willpower? Time to celebrate with friends and family?  Actually, it usually involves all three for most of us.  This is Part I in a three part series entitled, The Best Holidays Yet: Curb those Grinches.  The Part II, Herculean Willpower—or Not, will show you how to keep your willpower and waistline intact over the holidays. Part III, The Contagiousness of Celebration, explores how to literally spread the spirit and have the BEST HOLIDAYS YET.  

Why do the holidays sometimes bring out the worst in people (No, no, I don’t mean you and me—of course) and what can you do about it?

To understand why holidays bring out the umm… best in people, we must start with the snooze button. It’s 10:00PM, and you are deciding to get up an exercise at 5:00AM. You set the alarm with all good intentions then you become another person in the morning by reasoning the benefit of exercise is overrated and hit the snooze button—multiple times. Welcome to your two minds—the rider and elephant. The rider is your rational, logical and planning part of your brain. The elephant is the emotional and impulsive part of your brain. That explains everything, right? Okay so maybe a little more context is needed.

Arguments frequently happen during the holidays because this time of year brings together a perfect, emotional storm. There is this emotional surge—either happy or sad. There is a disruption of our schedule, especially lack of sleep. There is gluttony of eating and drinking, spiking our sugar (talk about those dangers next time) and alcohol. All of these factors physiologically lowers your willpower. Now, include those relatives who love to push your buttons-and BOOM!

Read the next entry to see how you can control those emotions.