UpBeat Living: Going Gaga Over Gifting?

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Effective living, Gifting, holiday stress, holiday stress tips, Kebba, stress, Stress Management, UpBeat Living

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

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Got stress over gifting?  In our continuing series on beating holiday stress, you were no doubt expecting us to talk about your budget, when talking about gifting.  Yes, that’s important.  And many have found a budgetary haven in home-making or home-baking an array of holiday gifts.  But your time is valuable, too, and that hand-done basket of cookies may have an actual cost higher than ordering cookies to be delivered.  My family found a cookie product with our last name, “Cookie Buttons”, and we get them delivered to every household of relatives, in various flavors, with free shipping.  One big order and we’re done!  Except for the cards and calls, but that’s another column.

So let’s back up and ask a question no other writer has ever asked about holiday gifting:  what standard are you setting with what you’re spending, either in time or money?  Most people are on a budget, and they don’t have either the time or talent to spend a day and a half at holiday time, baking holiday goodies.  And while you may think your generous gifts will be received with the same joy as that with which you selected or made them, here’s news for you: many people will feel bad when they open your gift!  Why?  First, because they’ve been too stressed to even get around to gift decisions yet this year, and they don’t have one for you, so now they feel GUILTY.  Second, because your cookies are so gorgeous and always delicious, and you arranged them so beautifully on the seasonal platter, and their baking will never be up to that standard, so now they feel INFERIOR.  Yes, most people’s self-esteem is very low!

A great bet is to quit gifting altogether, other than reasonable gifts for children of the family and seasonal food gifts for others.  With relatives, ask them if they would like to exchange gifts this year.  You may be surprised how fast they say, with relief, “[O]h, that would be great to skip it this year!”  For the office, a plate of cookies or a fruit tray, set out in the breakroom, is perfect.  For your book club or other circle of friends, agree on a maximum value for gifts.  Do not go overboard, or you may set an uncomfortable standard.  How will your out-of-work friend match that $70 pitcher you got her from the high end kitchen store?  For the kids, set a budget and stick to it, or you will be setting a standard you’ll have to answer for in future.

The gifts most loved ones would really like from you are calls, your time, your companionship, and the sound of your laughter.  Round up some friends for a concert, a special church service, or to meet at a restaurant or for drinks.  Consider an impromptu New Year’s brunch, at your place or at a restaurant.  Show them you care.  Show them you want to be connected. Share your love and laughter.

This season, may you have the least possible holiday stress!  Happiest holidays from UpBeat Living!  And this year, may there be Peace on Earth.

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● Kebba Buckley Button is the author of the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition).   Keep this book with you constantly, to quickly recharge your Peace Within, with quotes, photos, and poems that take you directly there!  Kebba is a corporate stress management trainer, and she also has a holistic healing practice.

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• Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition)( http://perfectboundmarketing.gostorego.com/authors/kebba-buckley-button.html)
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Protected: Holiday Stress Got You Down? How to Beat It!

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at choice, choices, Effective living, holiday stress, holiday stress tips, Kebba, peace within, stress, Stress Management, UpBeat Living, vitality

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UpBeat Living: Foods for Better Moods

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Eating, foods and moods, Health, holiday stress tips, Kebba, Stress Management

©2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

 

Eating to beat the blues is a popular strategy.  Cartoonist Cathy Guisewite made us laugh sympathetically about binge eating, with the namesake character in her award-winning cartoon strip, Cathy.  For over 30 years, the character, Cathy, could eat an entire cake in one sitting, when her boyfriend was behaving in a puzzling way.  After eating a cake, Cathy would be portrayed sprawled out on a couch, clearly feeling sick and frazzled.  Did eating like that bring her joy and resolution?  No.  Eating an entire cake as a response to stress was not a successful strategy.

 

However, there are successful ways to use foods to have the best moods.  Bear in mind that the body has about 70 trillion cells.  And your body has only what you put in your mouth—food and drink—from which to make new cells.  So does it make sense that your cells would function well on a diet of, for example, cake and diet soda?  A well-rounded diet of lean protein, dark green leafy vegetables, other non-starch vegetables, fresh fruits, and whole grains, will give you a baseline of great nutrition.  Switch to this simple list for a few days, to begin feeling strong and clear-minded.   Vegetarians can use organic beans, including garbanzos, instead of lean meats, in salads and stir-fry dishes.  Of course, coordinate with your doctor before going on a very different dietary regime.

 

If you eat out a lot, order the whole grains, egg dishes, other lean proteins, and dark green salads every day.  Kale salad is a current fad food that is widely available in restaurants and offers great nutrition.  Grilled chicken- or tuna- Caesar salad is another very nutritious, popular dish that is available at most restaurants.  These dishes will leave you feeling clear-minded and balanced.  And you will be, um, regular, which will also clear your emotions and mind.  Bean dishes contain a phenomenal amount of fiber, so if you like those, they can assist in cleansing your intestines and even help you lose weight.  In Chinese medicine, sadness or depression may be related to the energy of the large intestine.  See if your mood improves when you are eating a high-fiber, low-sugar diet.

 

Speaking of sugar, the more nutrition you can get for your calories, the better you will feel.  So why eat foods rich in refined sugars?  When you crave something sweet, reach for grapes, berries, a banana, or a peach.  There are many vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidant compounds in fresh fruits.  Fruit without added sugar is now widely available in your grocer’s frozen food section.  And in the canned-food section, it is easy to find fruit in its own juice.  Health food stores even have fruit-sweetened waffles and other baked goods, plus powdered fruit sweeteners.  Switch to fruit and fruit-sweetened foods, and you will be eating at a lower glycemic index.  That index is a measure of how fast a food is metabolized, compared to glucose.  Many people feel better, have a flatter abdomen, and lose weight easily on a low glycemic index diet.

 

For low-calorie snacks, veggie sticks—carrots, celery, jicama, green beans, cucumbers—are very filling and massage your intestines from the inside out.  So, in addition to being satisfying, these leave you more relaxed.  For quick energy snacks, consider going nuts.  Yes, nuts!  Brazil nuts, almonds, cashews, and hazelnuts are great for both giving you energy and supporting your health.  Brazil nuts are very high in protein and also contain selenium, a mineral linked to mood improvement.  Almonds are high in potassium, which is key for metabolic balance, mood and blood pressure regulation.  Almonds, cashews, and hazelnuts are all rich in magnesium, a vital mineral in converting blood sugar to muscle energy, via the Krebs Cycle process.  Low magnesium is also a cause for constipation; so nuts can help by contributing both magnesium and fiber.  When the intestines are well, you will be in a better mood.

 

With the Thanksgiving-Hanukkah-Christmas-New Year’s holiday feasting season fast upon us, consider the traditional holiday depression so many experience.  Are the holiday blues really just emotions and associations?  Or can you eat and drink differently and miss the blues altogether?  Why not experiment?  After all, it’s your life.

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a corporate stress management trainer and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You, and the 2012 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core.

● Your comments are welcome!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column!

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Happy (Lite) Holidays

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choices, holiday stress, holiday stress tips, stress, Stress Management

Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM                                                                 ©Kebba Buckley Button 2010.  World Rights Reserved.

As you read this, in the U.S., the Holiday ball is rolling fast.  Warehouse stores have almost sold out of Christmas décor, themed candy, and gift baskets.  Images of Santa are plastered everywhere, and shopping districts are awash in red and green.  Holiday music is playing frantically in stores and mall parking lots, other than on Sunday mornings.  Decorated trees have sprouted everywhere, including that white one hanging upside down in the famous gallery store.  Poinsettias rim every grocery display, and sugar is in the air, on the menu, and in most commercials.  TV is showing endless specials and old movies on the cultural themes of the season.  People are anxiously surfing the Web and surging through stores in search of the right gifts.  If you love these sights and sounds, by all means, hustle with the bustle and have a great time.  Stand in line for that spiral-cut smoked ham, and send your friends handmade holiday greeting cards and cookies.  The rest of us admire you!

However, if you are overwhelmed by all the commercial holiday stuff, here’s a radical suggestion:  do it “lite”!  Stop, right now, and exhale!  Why not create your own Happy (Lite) Holidays?  Are you an atheist, a Christian turned off by Santa, an adherent of another faith turned off by Santa, or simply a no-commercial-hubbub person?  Then try these simple tips:

1.  Keep it light. Send some gifts and cards with minimum effort, and get it done just as fast and early as possible.  Or just send a holiday email and make a few calls.  Let them know you care.

2.  Stay out of the way of the rolling Holiday ball. Celebrate with your spouse and loved ones,  at home, with what you know you enjoy.  Stock up on food, music, and movies that have nothing to do with Santa, or everything to do with your Holy Days.  Plan to take care of an unfinished creative project, or do that online research you never have time for.  Christians, sift the church calendars for Santa-free Christmas concerts and pageants.  Go sing in a “Messiah” sing-along.  You know how to celebrate the reason for the season.

3.  Eat half the sugar and drink twice the water. Sounds too simple, but this will help keep your mind calm, your metabolism strong, your skin smooth, and your waistline slim.  You will get along better with everyone and enjoy every day more.

You can choose to be happy and in deep satisfaction, anywhere, anytime.  Choose these now.  And whatever your background, may your days be merry and bright.

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Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management trainer.  Reach her at kebba@kebba.com.