EPRD Healthy Living newsletter for December 2016

Winter and the holidays are a deadly combination for fitness and health aficionados. It's hard to maintain a workout routine while doing all that holiday shopping, wrapping, invitation signing, Christmas partying, cookie baking and eggnog drinking. It's even harder to maintain your weight when presented with tasty treats from every front. And who doesn't want to indulge a little? This newsletter offers a few suggestions for navigating the season.

New Year's Resolutions

Of course, there's always 2017, when EPRD unveils Weigh and Win, a program that actually pays you to lose weight and get healthier!

Fulfill your fitness and weight loss resolutions with this new weight-loss program that actually pays you to lose weight. The Weigh and Win kiosk is in the lobby at Buchanan Park Rec Center -- check it out! Or join us on Tue., Jan. 3, from 9 AM -12 PM, when a health counselor will be on hand to help you sign up and launch your exciting journey to health! (Must have at least 25% BMI to be paid, but anyone can participate.) 

Healthy Eating 

Dealing With Special Diets at Holiday Time

Is your teen trying to eat gluten free? Your son dairy free? Sister a vegan? Grandpa needs no nuts? Special diets can be a source of tension during the holidays. Here are ways to navigate that, from NY Times Well.

Healthy Mind

Exercise Can Jog the Memory

People who exercise regularly do better on memory tests and are less anxious than their more sedentary peers. But a gene that controls production of a certain protein may determine who benefits the most from exercise.

Healthy Giving 

Give Back This Holiday Season

Avoid overspending by volunteering or donating to charity during the holidays. Instead of conspicuous consumption, here are six charitable activities that can bring abundance to your family this year, from packing canned good for needy families to sending holiday cards to veterans.

Healthy Body

Increase Brain Power with Running

Looking to improve your brain? Experts are finding that running reigns supreme in growing and maximizing our brain's power. It prevails over all types of exercise. Here's how. 

Healthy Parenting 

Christmas Eve Traditions

Every family has its own traditions that make Christmas Eve special and memorable, from reindeer gifts left on Christmas Eve, to attending midnight ass, to munching on a Mexican holiday feast between gift opening. What are your traditions?

Healthy Aging

12 Tips To Enhance Your Elders' Holidays

Elders can have an especially hard time with the holiday season. While aging and maturity can bring the wisdom of years, most have experienced loss that weighs heavy at holiday time. Here's how to help, from Aging Care.

Healthy Planet

Earthing Reconnects You with the Planet

Humans evolved in environments that included us walking barefoot on the earth and sleeping on the ground. Yet we wear shoes all the time and have disconnected from the earth. "Earthing" is making contact with the natural ground. Here are 7 health benefits of re-connecting with Mother Earth.