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keep it in mind, a handful is enough.
>> Brett Knight: Yes, a handful is
enough. This is where I really
like it comes...cause I am a grazer.
I know that if I keep a snack on me
that,..again is kind of in my
schedule, or is safe for me. I
won't be just standing at that table
eating my Mother-in-law's cookies
all the time. Which I shouldn't be.
So keeping those snacks,..I know the
blood sugar thing is big. You
know,..you said you're a blood
sugar person. If my blood sugar
crashes, what's the thing I'm
going for?
>> Carol: Your gonna go to whatever
is close, and if that's your
Mother-in-law's snack table, that's
what it is.
[EVERYBODY LAUGHING]
>> Carol: That's important to
keep in mind. I mean is ...is
you're gonna have a nice meal
later on in the day. Let's say
at 5:00 there's gonna be a big
dinner served. You know that's
lunch time it can have, sort of
skimp out and just have like
half a sandwich at lunch and then
I'm not gonna eat anything else
closer to dinner. But that
actually can work against you.
Blood sugar can drop, and what
ends up happening is that you get
a little desperate, you know
you're shaky, your fatigued.
You're gonna grab what's close.
I mean it could be that
ch??? next to the humus and
carrots is close but it could
be something else that's maybe
not the best choice for your.
>> Brett: So you're saying I
can't save up all my calories
for something later in the day?
>> Carol: It's not a good idea.
Everything in moderation. You
can have your Mother-in-law's
cookies but just make sure that you
snack [GARBLED] for the day.
>> Brett: So, don't save a 1000
so I can ...
[LAUGHING]
>> Carol: Don't save a 1000 for
later.
>> Brett: Bummer,.. ok I won't do
that. The next thing I want to
talk about is that physical
activity. Now Carol and I both
being a little biased towards the
physical activity cause that's
what we do. But it is a really
good idea ... I always tell anyone
I'm helping with physical activity
or training, what ever it may be,
stay on the same schedule that
you're already on. Don't try to..
don't say well it's vacation
so I'm gonna take a vacation from
the physical activity as well.
That, that's one of the biggest
things...dedicate the same amount
of time. Even if you have to
split it up cause you're gonna be
at different family stuff. Make
sure you're still getting that
physical activity in.
>> Carol: It's also a big thing
that during the holidays, it
could be that's when you have a
big chunk of time off. You know
the season days kick in, or you're
tryin to use up some PTO. It's
also a good time to start physical
activity. This time of year the
gyms aren't exactly busy. It's
a good time to get in and sign up.
>> Brett: Yep.
>> Carol: Get started on the
physical activity program.
Weather's gonna be warming up
a little bit later this week. The
sidewalks need to clear. It's a
good time to go out and take that
walk. Start your exercise
routine a little bit before the
New Years resolution.
>> Brett: Or make a new tradition.
Like we have up here. Make a new
active tradition. I know some
people like to ice skate or they
like to ...you know, the Turkey
trot...Thanksgiving's a little past
but maybe you plan to run. Snow
run or something like that. I know
growing up we had a football game.
It was.. we'd go home, and it was
outside. Football game. I know
now we go curling. Yes, curling
like in the Olympics. But we
get together as a family and we
go to Detroit Curling Club and
I know I'm gonna get exercise that
day. Like we're gonna,..we try to
plan some activity around family.
Cause we like seeing family.
>> Carol: My family,..my family
are not exercisers, but we try to
just get up and do something.
Even it's around the house. Just
so we're not sitting the entire
time. Or, you know got the
recliner out and the cookies
right by us.
>> Brett: Sure.
>> Carol: We try to do at least
a little bit of something.
Something is better than nothing.
>> Brett: That's right,..you
know. Even if I'm a traveler,
and I'm always moving around. I've
gotta go to this person's house,..
this person's house. That's where
body weight exercise is...doing
pushups on the counter. Doing
something like that. Getting..
playing with the kids that are
gonna be there. Whether it be
nieces and nephews. Whether it be
you're own kids. Whether it be
grand kids. Whatever it may be.
Chasing them around or doing all
the different stuff. It's not ..
it doesn't have to be the vigorous
activity that you're always into.
It could be any activity. Making
sure you're getting steps. Things
like that. So...
>> Carol: One of the things we
did over the holi...this past
holiday is we have a refrigerator
downstairs in the basement. So
we try to put a lot of food and
things,...especially the cookies
and things downstairs. And then
I think twice before I have to
take trips up and down to get a
snack, but it's also...I'm
mindful that it's good exercise
for me. It's good to get up and
down. When I'm in the kitchen I
try to do as much prep work and
it's just as much as possible,
because it means I'm not sitting
down.
>> Brett: And...I know people
are always counter intuitive with
this, their like. OH! You want
me to exercise more? But,..how
am I gonna have more energy from
exercising? Well you...most
people will have that increased
energy. They'll have that decreased
fatigue of, "I just sat all day
cause it's my vacation and I just
wanted to watch TV", or whatever it
may be. We know that sitting
all day actually increases fatigue.
Whereas getting up and moving and
doing that activity actually can
really help...really help.
>> Carol: And we know that maybe
some people have trouble with
standing or walking. Isn't...
you know, maybe isn't the best
thing. It's...you can be active
when your sitting. You can
rotate your ankles. You can do
shoulder rolls. You can, you know,
stretch out your hands and stretch
out your upper body. It's still
movement. It still counts for
something.
>> Brett: And it still gets the
body moving. It still gets that
anatomy and that physiology going.
Of Catecholamines, all that other
stuff that's involved.
Next thing we really wanta talk
about is sleep. This is important
all year round. Sleep is this
important thing. We need sleep
in order to increase energy, mood,
memory, all that good stuff. Our
immune system doesn't work as well.
John who was on the first week, he
handled a lot of our sleep
hygiene and stuff like that but,
even now during the holidays, it's
really important. Because your
now moving around, you're doing all
these different things, you wanta be
happy and upbeat for the family and
friends you're gonna see. You
wanta make sure you get that sleep
in. So, what we wanta do is do a
little...we like to do polls.
We wanta do a little poll. How
much sleep do you currently get
on average. So, I'm gonna bring up
a poll here for you guys. It's
On average, how much sleep do you
get per night? We're gonna give
you a second to answer that...
[LONG PAUSE]
Ok, give you about 5 more seconds.
[LONG PAUSE]
Alright..looks pretty good. Looks
pretty much like every body's got
it in. We're gonna close the poll
out and I'm gonna actually share those
results with you.. It looks like
most people are doing pretty well.
6 to 7 ...7 to 8. I was actually
anticipating around the 4 to 5
hours. I know I struggle sometimes
with getting to sleep with things
I like to do or the technology
in my life. Or whatever it may be.
>> Carol: [LAUGHS]
>> Brett: Yes, I'm a video game
player. But it's...that's pretty
good. 6 to 7...7 to 8, hopefully
it helps you. Hopefully it's
something that helps. Do you
know how much you have to get
Carol?
>> Carol: I do.
>> Brett: How much do you get?
>> Carol: I actually get quite a
bit.
>> Brett: Really?
>> Carol: Yea, I'll get 8 to 9
hours tonight, or else I'm not
functional at all. I love my
sleep. I don't let too much
interfere with it.
>> Brett: So I know that if you
come in...you're not so happy with
me, it might be the sleep.
>> Carol: Well I have a
>> Carol: [LAUGHS]
>> Carol: [GARBLED] ...late in
the day.
>> Brett: Oh..
>> Carol: [GARBLED]...and I was
not asleep till 3:30 in the morning.
It was bad.
>> Brett: So we'll go ahead and
hide those results now. And we'll
tell you the ...most adults need
about 7 to 9 hours. So you're
doing pretty well.
>> Carol: Um hmm...
>> Brett: I don't consider my
[ABRUPT SILENCE]
>> Brett: I don't know what that was.
Can everyone still hear us?
Sounds like you can. Sorry, we
had a little technical difficulty
with our phone there. But most
adults need 7 to 9 hours.
I don't consider myself an adult.
>> Carol: [LAUGHS]
>> Brett: [LAUGHS] Hopefully I'm
still getting 4 to 5. But,..or
maybe I need more that 9. But
looks like most people are doing
pretty well. It's 7 to 8, 6 to 7.
That's good. You wanta keep that
up during the holidays. I know
it can be hard with kids want 'in
to get downstairs for that
Christmas morning or whatever.
There maybe a day or two where
you don't get as much sleep.
But, still try to make that a
point to keep that schedule there.
Some ideas on how to do that,
again, scheduling comes up.
You know, scheduling, planning
comes up with a lot of this.
Nutrition, sleep, exercise, all
that stuff. But having that
routine I think is one of the
biggest things that John tells us
right?
>> Carol: Yea, yea, he wants you
to set a bed time. Set a wake
time. So that could be 9:00.
That could be 10:30pm. That could
be midnight, but you try to set
a time and stick to it for both
sleeping and waking.
>> Brett: Yea, yea, you think about
it, that's a big thing. I mean,
you think about it when we were
kids, we probably had a routine.
I know I did I..you know Mom
would say, "Hey,..it's, you know,
time, we're gonna brush teeth,
we're gonna take a bath. What
ever it may be, and we read a
book, we only got one. You know.
That's a routine. We can still
do that as adults. Whether it's
us reading our self a book, or
whatever it may be. We wanta
be in that routine to make sure
that we get that good sleep. And
our sleep habits stay the same.
Exercising regularly could be a
great way to keep in that routine.
Doesn't mean we want you to
exercise right before bed.
>> Carol: No, no that's not a
good idea.
>> Brett: For most people that
doesn't work very well. It get's
them charged up. They don't wanta
fall asleep right away. Yea,
so that can be something that
can help you to keep to your
sleep routine is making sure your
exercise routine stays as well.
>> Carol: And you also wanta be
sure to avoid the heavy meals,
2 to 3 hours before bed. So,
you know if your ha vin your
holiday dinner at 7 PM, you know
you don't wanta be goin to bed at
9 PM necessarily. On that full
stomach. And you wanta be sure
that you avoid alcohol close to
bed time.
>> Brett: Yea, how come. Do you
know why? I do...
>> Carol: Go ahead and answer it.
>> Brett: [LAUGHS] The alcohol,..
the,..the lower sleep,..all that stuff
that can,...the sleep and all
that other, it can affect the
hormone called Leptin in your
body. And Leptin is one of those
things that helps us feel more full.
So when I don't have enough sleep
or I've had some alcohol or
something like that, Leptin can
be decreased. And now I'm more
hungry or anything like that. I
might eat more, things like that.
It..I might not sleep as well.
That Leptin is really important
there, so if I'm not on my
schedule, it gets thrown all off.
Part of that physiology of our
body.
>> Carol: Um...
>> Brett: Definitely an interesting
thing there. We don't seem to get
too much into it.
>> Carol: No,..
>> Brett: But, [CHUCKLES]
So, emotional health again, if I'm
not sleeping enough, this may be
affected as well. I may not be
as happy. I may not be able to
seek out little things. My
favorite thing on this slide here
is seeking out the little pleasures.
Finding those little things that
I really love about the holidays.
Whether it's my wife's attitude
toward the tree. I know she loves
setting up the tree. So we have
a day where we just do that.
You know, and it makes me feel good.
That she can do that. And seeking
out those little pleasures.
Another one is I love looking at
the,..the,..the Santa Claus
pictures gone wrong. I guess
you could call it.
>> Carol: [LAUGHS]
>> Brett: You know, the little
kids who are just so distraught,
who are sitting on Santa's lap.
Because I was one of them. My
Mom has pictures of that. Just
finding those little things. Yes
every one loves meeting with family
and friends, and all these things.
But finding those other little
things about this season that are
fun. And give you energy and cheer.
And you look forward to. Do
you have anything like that. Little
pleasures Carol?
>> Carol: I'm a big fan of holiday
decorations. I wish they could stay
up all year long. The music,
I'll start listening to holiday
music the first of November and
I won't stop till the 31st of
January.
>> Brett: [CHUCKLES] Sure.
>> Carol: Even though it's off
the radio, I'll still continue
to listen to music just because
it makes me happy.
>> Brett: That's good. So another
poll. What makes you guys happy?
What's your favorite part of the
holidays here? So we're gonna
launch this poll and you guys
let us know. Obviously the one
that might make you happy, might
not be on here. We tried to
kind of get most of em on here.
I think I have a pretty good idea
about what people are going to
pick. But you never know.
>> Carol: And it is an anonymous
poll so don't worry.
>> Brett: It is...it is. People
are answering pretty well. So
we'll give you about 5...5 more
seconds.
[LONG PAUSE]
All right, looks like most people
got a chance to answer. So we're
gonna close that out. And we'll
share it with everyone.
On the whole, like I knew, the
majority of people, spending
time with family and friends.
I like that too. I'll..won't
lie, sometimes it's a little
more stressful than it needs to
be. But that is the main thing.
>> Carol: That's going back up to
the first one. Don't sweat the
small stuff.
>> Brett: Exactly. [LAUGHS]
>> Carol: Yep, time to take that
little healthy walk, you know,
just to get out of the house and..
>> Brett: I know you said you love
doing that. Right?
>> Carol: Oh yea. Even if it's
only for a couple of minutes. I
just, you know, love it...don't
want to say it now when it's like
23 degrees out, but I love to get
a breath of fresh air, and just
enjoy the snow, enjoy where I
am and try to be grateful for
what I have.
>> Brett: Exactly. And often
I come back from that grateful
that I'm there. And that,..you
know, cause we all are gonna have
the little scuffles with family.
Or you've gotta have that hard
conversation of, "Hey you can't
have me for the whole break", or
whatever it may be. Like,..
especially those with kids or
nieces or nephews. All that stuff.
So it gets hard. The decorations.
Like you said. People picked the
decorations. About 25 percent of
people picked those. That's
pretty cool.
>> Carol: Very good.
>> Brett: My favorite, I think,
is the holiday food. [LAUGHS]
And I got about 10 percent of
people. So, it's finding those
little things. It's finding those
things that you really enjoy about
this. And then smiling about them.
Taking time to actually make sure
that you do that. If you really
like Christmas music, make sure
you listen to it. Don't let
someone tell you that you shouldn't.
Do it. That's the stuff that will
keep the energy up. The positivity
up. All that stuff. So we'll
take those polls down. Thank
you for participating in those.
want to touch on that real quick.
>> Carol: Go ahead.
>> Brett: That is something that
I've tried to get better at.
Cause I know it does help me.
I am a Yoga...I do like to do
Yoga a lot, and I've noticed that
it helps me a little more. That
if I am really worked up about
something, whether it be work or
home or whatever it may be. I
take a minute. And I stop. I
breath. I say, "Is it gonna get
any worse?" [LAUGHS] You know,
"can it get any worse?" I try
to just focus on my breathing.
And know that the problem will
still be there, but at least I've
tried to calm myself down. I
have to do that with family
sometimes. Or I will blow up at
them.[LAUGHS NERVOUSLY] But I'm
sure other people have that.
So maybe taking that...taking a
minute there to, "what helps me
the most in this situation?"
So,..again filling with cheer and
doing stuff. I think keeping
optimistic. Hey you've made it
through another year. [LAUGHS]
That's great. And what is the
new year gonna bring? One of
my favorite things is the new..
the year changes. So new things
come up. I don't know what's
gonna happen this new year, but
it could be really fun. Could be
the worst year of my life. I don't
know. But I try to be optimistic
about that changing of the year.
And things are,...you know, I have
a new thing that I can do or a
new challenge that I can tackle.
Or, whatever it may be.
>> Carol: And part of what you're
talking about leads into the second
goal which talks about positive
self talk.
>> Brett: Yea.
>> Carol: It's funny that I'm
presenting on that, because I,..I
can be a [GARBLED] downer sometimes.
But, you know, I have to remember
it's not always about me and
sometimes my reactions can
influence other people. So, if I
try to keep things in a positive
light and, you know, remember to
be positive about things, and to
not be too overly self critical.
That impacts others, and it
impacts my outlook on things.
>> Brett: Sure.
>> Carol: So I try ta,...I try ta
remember positive self talk when
I'm making decisions, and when
I'm learning from my mistakes.
>> Brett: Yep, um, the volunteer.
I think that this is a huge part.
It doesn't have to be the
volunteer on a grand scale. I
mean it,..it could be making that
idea of, "hey, it's the holiday
time, I'm gonna try and make
someone's holiday a little bit better.
Or, maybe you hold the door more
for some people. I don't know, but
whatever it is, but it's that idea
that "I'm going to spread this
good feeling that I have with
other people". And it comes back.
And it,...it's not that,..that's
not the only reason that you do it.
But it does come back and it helps
to spread that positivity and that
cheer with everyone that,...hey,
no matter holiday we're celebrating
or whatever it may be. We're all
together. We're all happy at this
time of year. So,...trying to
spread that around. I think
volunteering really helps with
that. Whether it be, you know,
adopting a family, or giving,..
giving what you can, and whatever
it may be. So,...
>> Carol: And then, don't forget
to smile. Studies show that
facile expressions have an impact
on our mood. And smiling more
elevates mood. Plus you get a
lot of people smiling around you,
it's gonna be awfully hard to
keep the frown. I know because
Brett smiles so much of the time,
so it's hard to be crabby when
he's around.
>> Brett: It's kind a,...I think
you can find out why they gave me
this webinar.
>> Carol: [LAUGHS]
>> Brett: So. But it is true,
smiling,...I mean it may not
always be easy. Like exercise.
A lot of people come in,...it's
so hard to get to the gym and
exercise and do that stuff.
Sometimes it's just as hard to
smile. If I've been having a
really bad day. But I do have
a reminder on my phone every
now and then. That,...you know,
every other day. Or sometimes
I just put it on my calendar at
a random day. And it pops up
as a reminder to tell me to
smile. Or to tell me to think
about something that is positive
in my life. And it may be on a
day that is awesome. Like, I'm
having a great day, I don't
really need this reminder. But
it has happened on a day before
when it's like, "man, I'm not
really having the best day", and
all of a sudden I get a reminder
saying, "You should smile".
And it's like weird how that just
worked out sometimes. So maybe
that's a cool thing that you do.
You know, over the next couple
weeks to put random things in
your calendar to remind you to
smile or to talk to someone that
you haven't talked to in a while.
Or say something positive about
yourself. That may help you deal
with some of the stress that comes
with these holidays. So,..
Some big take home points here.
Indulge in moderation.
>> Carol: In moderation.
>> Brett: Again, that's kind of
a,...oxymoron there. But indulge
in things that make you happy.
Make sure that you're staying
healthy and happy, but then
you're enjoying this time.
Because it is time to maybe
go a little bit out of your
normal routine, or do things that
you normally wouldn't do all the
time. You really want to indulge
in these things, and have fun with
them, and make sure that the
positivity is there. And you're
enjoying,...you remembering why
you enjoy this time.
>> Carol: You also want to try and
plan ahead as much as possible. So
that's planing ahead before you go
to a celebration. Or you have the
party at your own house.
In the way that's healthiest for
you. Making deliberate choices.
Such as choosing to maintain your
exercise schedule for that half
an hour everyday. And choosing
to not skip meals to save up for later.
>> Brett: And that's the great,...
the being mindful is great. And
that, you know, deliberate choices.
Being mindful about planning that
stuff. Making sure that I know
where I'm gonna be on certain days.
And, you know, who I'm gonna be
seeing. That helps. Being mindful.
Planning. That's really, really good.
Take time at these busy days to rest.
I know another one of my little
simple pleasures is, now that I
live in this state again. Where
all my family is. I can go home.
Like I can sleep in my own bed.
I don't have to stay at someone
else's house, or stay at a hotel.
Like I,...even though the
hustle-and-bustle of getting to
different family members, or
whatever it may be. I can know
that I'm gonna go home and I'm
gonna have some of that comforts
of my own home. And,..or, you
know, I'm gonna get to sleep in my
bed, or I'm gonna have that stuff
that still kind of grounds me
during this crazy time.
>> Carol: It's funny that you
mention that, cause we were talking
about sleep habits. When you're
sleeping at someone else's house,
>> Brett: Yes!
>> Carol: you typically go to
whatever they're,..."Oh yea well
we stay up and,...and watch
holiday movies till 1 o'clock in
the morning". I for one am not
someone who does that. I still
follow my sleep routine. It's like,
"Ah oh! It's 9:30. It's someone's
bedtime". So I'll still do my
regular habits, you know, brush
my teeth, do all that. Go and
read a couple chapters in a book.
And no matter where I'm staying.
Hotel, someone's house, my own house.
I don't deviate from that sleep habit
cause I want to happy and rested
that next day.
>> Brett: It's so funny you brought
that up, cause we all have that,...
my wife and I first got married,..
"your families weird, you all go to
bed at the same time. Like
everyone's like, ..Hey it's time
for bed!" They don't do that
in her family. So it is that
thing. If your staying somewhere
else. You have to understand that
your sleep hygiene may change.
But, if you don't want it to;
follow your same routines. Be
like, no this is what I do. This
helps keep my energy up. I won't
be a very nice person in the
morning at your house. If I
don't get my sleep.
>> Carol: We've talked a lot about
that in today's webinar.
>> Brett: Yea.
>> Carol: About planning making
deliberate choices.
>> Brett: Of course.
>> Carol: And being mindful of
our own,...you know, health. And
trying to make it as positive a
holiday as possible.
>> Brett: Yes, totally agree.
So, that rounds out our webinar
series. We hope everyone has a
great holiday. We do wanta be
able to answer any questions if
anyone has them. So if you do
have any questions about tips
of, you know, sleep habits or
exercise I could do over the
holidays, or anything like that.
Please feel free to type those in.
Do you have any questions about
what we're doing?
>> Carol: No, I'm,..I'm all good.
>> Brett: Ok.
>> Carol: Any final comments that
you'd like to make?
>> Brett: I ah,..what do like to
read before bed? Because, what if
you read something that's really
scary before bed?
>> Carol: [LAUGHS] No, no. I just
do fluff before I...
>> Brett: Like what? Like a magazine
article or something?
>> Carol: Oh, just some sort of work
of fiction, or even non-fiction
actually helps me sleep a little
bit better. As long as it's not
True Drama or something like that.
>> Brett: Ok.
>> Carol: I also do Scrabble or
Trivial Pursuit before I go to bed.
>> Brett: Really?
>> Carol: Or, math problems, yea.
>> Brett: Your brain doesn't get
on like, overload or something?
>> Carol: Nope, it's relaxing to
>> Brett: Interesting. So kind
of maybe finding that thing that
doesn't keep you thinking?
>> Carol: Right.
>> Brett: Cause I've found that
I can't go to bed if I'm thinking.
So if I like lost in scrabble to
my wife, I'd be like. "Well, what
if I played this letter instead of
this letter, or something like that.
>> Carol: [LAUGHS]
>> Brett: You know.
>> Carol: No, no. It's just me
versus the computer. I have read
in a book once that was one
of the things for sleep habits.
>> Brett: Ok.
>> Carol: Just don't read anything
that wires you to much. I'm not
the best Scrabble player so I don't
mind loosing. So, I'm..
>> Brett: I'm good.
>> Carol: It's ok.
>> Brett: I'm a little competitive.
So. But,...well I think that's all
the time we have today. So if anyone
else has any quick questions, you
can put them in. If not we're
going to then sign off and wish
everyone a happy holiday.
>> Carol: Yes. Thank you for
joining us today.
>> Brett: Thank you so much
everyone. Have a great one.
Bye bye.