Beating the Post-Holiday Blues

Wow! I'm on a roll! 2 posts in 2 days. Today I am home, in bed with ample amounts of coffee & candles because it is a SNOW DAY...with absolutely no snow. We got ice and freezing rain last night, so all of the schools are closed, and my family and I have decided we are quarantined to our cozy house. This time of year is always extremely difficult for me. I love the holidays and always have an extreme sense of let-down once they are over. I have been working hard to combat that feeling this year by stepping up workouts, creating fitness goals for myself, experimenting with clean (and not so clean) recipes, and looking forward to all of the fun and exciting things that this new year will bring. These include summer concerts, beach trips, and the 4 days of off-the-grid fun and music at my beloved Floydfest. Below are a few pictures from last year's Floydfest & pre-festival volunteer work, I have been looking at photos of fun to get myself out of the post-holiday funk as well. 

Focusing on health has also been one of my coping techniques for dealing with winter blahs. If I exercise regularly, take vitamins, drink lots of water, & eat healthy foods it helps my immune system so I can avoid colds and other illnesses. Being healthy also helps my mental and emotional well-being. One thing I have been trying to focus on recently is a consistent bedtime routine that has helped tremendously with my quality of sleep. I brush my teeth, wash my face, then put on lotion (trying to combat this awful winter, lizardy skin), and do a bedtime stretching routine. Stretching helps to relax my muscles before sleep and helps me to sleep soundly through the night. Below is an example of really good bedtime stretches that I found on Pinterest.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/239324167673159335/

A good night's sleep helps me focus throughout the day to tackle workouts, schoolwork, interning, or whatever else the day throws my way!

Last night, I made this dijon-maple chicken for my family for dinner and they LOVED it. Absolutely no leftovers. I thought I would leave the recipe here for you guys if you'd like to try it. The recipe is very simple with only 4 ingredients, chicken breasts, dijon mustard, maple syrup, and red wine vinegar. The recipe calls for cooking the chicken in the oven but I did mine in the crockpot so that it would remain extra juicy, and so that I could put it in during the afternoon when I had time and it would be ready by dinner time. I also doubled the recipe since I was making it for the whole family. Very, very good!! I hope that everyone is having a wonderful year so far and I hope that these techniques help to brighten your dreary January days a little. 


http://rachelschultz.com/2012/07/11/worlds-best-chicken/