Some Festive Tips To Help You Feel Your Best!

During the festive period it is all to easy to gorge yourself and slouch around in a semi 'food coma' state, we've all done it!

It’s important to not get into bad habits, or out of good ones, and look after yourself over the winter period. Not only will it help ease you back into the hectic schedule that New Years and January poses, but it will also help to keep your spirits (not those ones) up before the cold, wet (and hopefully snowy!) weather sets in.During this time your body actually begins to restrict the flow of blood that’s pumped around, you'll notice this most in your hands and feet.Maintaining an active exercise routine will help keep your joints nice and supple whilst helping regulate strong blood flow and ease any of those winter aches and pains you may experience.This is particularly true if you have had any type of joint injury as the cold weather tends to bring out painful aches in these areas.

Adhere to the following tips and you'll feel the benefit!

Get your beauty sleep!I know its tempting to stay up later when you know you have no work in the morning and this becomes especially prevalent at Christmas. Giving yourself and extra hour of sleep has been attributed to lowering your blood pressure with the added benefit of feeling more active the following day! Do you really need to watch Die Hard (or any of the many Christmas films that will be on) until 2am? You've seen it before and you can always record it. Go to bed and make the most of the next day with family. Tis the season to have a foot massage!If you have a partner who is a dab hand when it comes to the massaging of feet, poke your pins their way this Christmas. A foot massage will massively boost blood circulation and help alleviate any tightening pains from the muscles in your feet. Alternatively you can always pick up (or request) a foot roller, which does the job more than adequately, also rolling a tennis ball underfoot is a great alternative too.

Enjoy your food but don't forget what you should be eating!This is such an important one because it is all to easy to undo your hard work eating smart over the course of just a few days. Without factoring the calories associated with drinking, there is a fairly good chance you eat more than you normally would over the Christmas period, and a lot of those things won't be the healthiest items on the shelf.Make sure you get in an adequate amount of fruits and anti inflammatory foods (garlic, onions, ginger, fatty fish, etc) as well as all that cheese and chocolate. If you've not come across this phrase before this might sound strange, but try to 'eat the rainbow'. This is not an advert for Skittles but a technique whereby you try and eat as many natural food stuffs of varying colours as possible. This will ensure you have a balanced diet and benefit from the wide range of antioxidants and ant inflammatory qualities each type of food provides.Finally, get in touch with and surround yourself with good peopleFriends not only make the festive period more fun but they can provide much needed emotional support. During the darker months of the year many people suffer from S.A.D. and having your friends close is a sure fire why to help you deal with stress. A welcome boost in your body's production of Serotonin and Oxytocin, will help you beat the winter blues and ensure you make the most of your winter break.If you do happen to suffer with S.A.D. we would also wholeheartedly recommend a Vitamin D supplement and you can even go a step further by getting a specialist Sun Lamp, they really work!Hopefully these tips will help you have a great festive period, if you are still feeling unable to shift any continual aches and pains, then do get in touch with us! So, from everyone here at 'KOP'...

Have a great Christmas & a Happy New Year!