Novemeber 23rd

f you don’t want to know how many days it is until Christmas
look away now! 32 days to go.

Physical health is important for our everyday movements and
our well being. Christmas is a time of rushing around, our
social obligations seem to treble overnight, we spend hours
scouring the shops for the perfect gift or last minute bargains,
late nights putting bikes and other ‘technical’ gifts together, the
change in weather to the long hot days of summer and extended
time traveling to visit family all lead to a strain on our physical
health. It is important at this time to take care of ourselves.
Ensure we are properly hydrated at all times by drinking plenty
of water and other replenishing fluids.
Dehydration is dangerous and can be a serious health risk
before it is even recognised that our bodies are dehydrated.
Lack of thirst is not an indication that your body is perfectly
hydrated. Last week at Darcy’s trampolining class I watched
half a dozen children of varying ages struggle to perform tasks
they normally did with ease. Each of them struggled to
remember what it was they had to do, they had poor co
ordination, felt dizzy, nauseous and tired quickly. All classic
Signs that they were suffering from dehydration.

Lack of sleep, poor quality sleep and sleep deprivation are other strains we put on our physical health. It is important to get enough sleep. Accidents at work, on the way to or from work / school etc and accidents around the home can largely be attributed to lack of sleep causing concentration problems. We may desire to get things done quickly because we are tired and take ‘short cuts’ that can cause accidents. Tiredness also leads to being cranky with our family and friends, not fun for anyone involved. Everyone's needs are different. You know your own needs better than anyone else, make it a priority to get decent amounts of sleep. The arrival of the police at your family gathering with the news of a death would be awful.

Exercise. The ultimate swear word to us couch potatoes. Despite my ample figure I too know the importance of exercise and actually do my bit to keep my body healthy. Walking with purpose, not strolling along window shopping is great exercise. Swimming, cycling, chasing the kids down the park are all great ways to keep fit. You don’t need to be an elite athlete, just a bit of heart beat raising several times a week to keep your body functioning as it should.
Exercise releases happy hormones (so does chocolate but a purposeful walk to the shop for a chocolate bar kind of defeats the purpose) Happy hormones work wonders for our self esteem, our emotional state of mind and our spiritual state of mind as well. It also helps you to sleep well. A good thing all round.

Eating properly also has its benefits. We have inside us a deep set programming to eat heavy full meals during the winter months when we are less active and need to keep warm and eat light meals during the summer months when our bodies don’t need to work as hard to keep us warm. But with such a diverse cultural history, Christmas can be a time of traditionally winter foods from the Northern Hemisphere, picking at party fare (also known as grazing), eating, drinking and generally making merry can all lead to us overloading or bodies. Sometimes traditional eating cannot be avoided, so when you know you are going to be in full party eating mode ensure the that the days before or after it are made up of lighter eating habits. Make lighter healthier choices wherever possible. Keep easy to prepare light foods on hand and drink plenty of water to keep your digestive system moving.

Attached is one of the welfare newsletters from the Blackburn ward. It is a fantastic article, very educational and useful. We are so blessed to have within our stake so many goodly members sharing their knowledge and experience with us, so that we may grow and be more prepared.

Until next week, remember it is good to be a health conscious, choice making, hydrated, well rested Latter Day Saint.

Yours in preparedness
Georgia