I’m going to warm up here a little bit. It’s pretty cold outside. I don’t know if “warm up” is the appropriate term to use. But I can try to get some blood circulating. It’s something that requires patience. Any warm-up requires patience. I am a singer in a band, and if I don’t warm up my voice, I’ll either damage my voice or I won’t be able to sing very well. But singing is a very physical thing. Your instrument is actually part of your body.

It’s 38 degrees. I have seen snow flurries recently. Nothing is sticking to the ground. It’s December 27th, 2023, which means we are toward the end of a pretty heavy holiday season. Thanksgiving is huge in terms of people traveling, getting together, and consuming mass quantities of food. Then there’s Christmas, which is as busy or busier. Say you have a divorced brother and sister; then you have many different family groups to get together. Fortunately or unfortunately, when I was a kid, it was almost always just my brother and my parents. But I think most people have more than that to deal with.

And so I want to talk about holiday stress. The holidays can be stressful for some people. There are a lot of different reasons for that. There could be old issues that keep popping up because you have disagreements. Emotions between family members can be rather intense, and when you have a bunch of them together, you can start feeling all those emotions again. And maybe that leads to other arguments and disagreements. So you have to see these people, and maybe it’s stressful to see them. I think that’s part of it.

There’s also a sort of “hecticity” of the holidays. You can get stressed by all of the demands put on your time. It can be expensive too, traveling, or if you buy a lot of gifts at Christmas time. This can lead to health problems. Of course, I’ve said stress is a killer. Other health problems: eating too much or doing too much of the wrong things can cause health problems.

There are some good, healthy foods associated with the holidays. Turkey is a good source of low-fat protein. Ham, not so much, but it does have protein. You can try to get the leanest piece you can. And if you get the candied ham or the Honey-Baked Ham, you’ll have to deal with that. There are usually some vegetables, maybe sweet potatoes, that are not bad for you at all. I used to have that as part of my pre-prepared meals. You have to watch out for carbs as well, especially in rolls and stuffing or dressing, depending on where you’re from. And then, of course, there is dessert. Cranberries are okay, but cranberry sauce can be heavily sweetened. Desserts are probably my favorite part, whether it’s pumpkin or pecan, you name it. I love pie.

But now that I think of it, egg nog is my favorite holiday food. And I’m in serious withdrawal right now because, for some reason, all of the egg nog in Northwest Arkansas has run out. I know you can make it, but I’ve never tried that. I can’t find it anywhere. But that’s probably for the best, given that it’s full of sugar, fat, and whatever else is in egg nog.

So, what can you do to relieve stress? It’s hard because there are all these traditions, and everyone wants a piece of you. But what I have tried to do in the past–and it’s not always popular– is to keep it simple. Pick out certain things you’re going to do throughout the holidays. Obviously, be with your family, especially your immediate family. But you don’t have to go to everything in store and see those family members a bunch of times. Maybe pick one event or two.

Keep it simple at Christmas gifts time. Don’t buy gifts for everybody you know. Don’t get multiple gifts. If you give someone a gift, make it a really good single gift. Don’t worry about getting a bunch of gifts for the same person. It’s hard to do, in a way. I’ve found that giving gifts is more enjoyable than getting them. I don’t know if that’s really a thing that applies to many people. Part of it is that whether or not the person giving you the gift believes this, there is an unspoken obligation to give them something in return.
I try to make it known that I really don’t like getting gifts. But I understand people really like giving them, and I will allow for that to some extent. If you were thinking about giving me a gift, don’t worry about it!

Another thing you can do is to connect with the good relationships in your life, the good people. Not that other people are bad, but someone you only see once a year is probably not someone you can confide in and talk about your stress during the holidays. So connect with those people. If you don’t have that kind of person in your life–and some people don’t, some people don’t have really close friends or family–It is a necessity in life. I really do. I don’t think you can get through life without that. So please, if you are in that situation, I understand it’s really hard, and trying to get out of it might be hard. Try to establish some relationships. It is very important. Make that a New Year’s resolution, or, as I like to say, let’s resolve today to do the right thing.

Try to take care of yourself physically. I don’t think there is any reason that you need to overeat. I understand overeating because I eat compulsively. But I don’t think that just because someone brings enough food for twice the number of people there, you need to eat twice as much.

So, let’s move on to a new topic here. I’m out here today in 30s weather, getting my walk in. And I hope this is going to be the beginning of a habit. My plan is to make it a habit. This is Wednesday; I need to walk again on Friday. The first time is always hard. So there you go. Keep trying. Don’t give up. Even if you’ve been down this road, always try to do better and keep trying to do it. Never give up. Trudge the road to health.

I’ve already told you about the health problems I have, at least generally, not specifically. But it has become imperative that I lose weight. Doctors have actually told me that’s what I need to do. And that’s a pretty serious thing because doctors do not like to tell people that. And they should. They should tell people that. They’ve got your weight there. It doesn’t need to be about how you look. Just say, ‘You’re 275 pounds, 5’10”, and too heavy. You need to lose weight.’ Just say it, doctors! Say it in the room!

Now, I have gotten some additional incentives lately. And I must tell you I am close to my top weight of all time at this point. This morning, tying my shoes had me breathing hard. That’s a terrible, disgusting thing to admit, but it’s true. So, a person close to me said that she would start bugging me about my weight, my health, doing the right things, eating right, exercising, and so forth.

And more recently, she said, ‘I want you to get down to 200 pounds by the end of 2024.’ If you’ll recall, back in 2018, I actually did that. I got down to 197 after starting out at 279 in January. Possible. If only I’d kept that weight off, I would not be in the situation I’m in now.

As I said, this person is very close to me, so I am going to take that to heart. Also, because I know it’s the right thing to do. I have to not do it the way I did it in the beginning before and starve myself. Health professionals do not like to hear that you consume less than 1000 calories daily. But that seems to be what it takes for me to lose weight at this activity level. Of course, I am planning to increase my activity so that I will have some more spare calories that I can use to eat good food like fruit and nuts.

She also told me that today, tomorrow, or Friday would be a good day to rejoin the gym. I am going to go back to the gym so I can do some serious resistance work. It’s important and very important the older you get, too. We need strong muscles as we get older. Fifty-eight is right around the corner for me. I’m fifty-seven this year. ‘I am entering middle age,’ I told someone recently. I’m entering middle age because if I’m going to live up to the hundreds, I am less than halfway through my life. But since I’m running out of breath tying my shoes, I think it’s more appropriate to try to walk and lose a few pounds, maybe ten or twenty. Then, I can go back to the gym when I can get more out of it. It may be a struggle, but as long as I’m walking on a regular basis, it won’t be too bad.

And I’m warmed up and sweating now; the cold isn’t bothering me. And I’m having to stop more often. It’s just an indication that my cardiovascular and muscular health have not improved due to continued overeating and inactivity. So I don’t recommend those things to you! That’s not working for me, so it probably won’t work for you.