During the holiday season we may have the precious opportunity to visit friends and loved ones in the spirit of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus or whatever applies to us.

We will regale others in stories that are of import in our lives, and as the fish tales grow larger we are left to make sure that our own tails do not. The holiday season is that of high calories, high stress and a hurried nature. We have parties to attend, presents to buy and cookies to bake, gluten-free or otherwise. I will suggest strategies to minimize weight gain, stress and the avoidable holiday hangover resulting from too much Bailey's and coffee.

Sleep is a keystone of physical, mental and emotional health and a regular schedule is important to maintain. Transient residents of your home such as Aunt Flo may provide disruption of daily routine, but will be that much more difficult to tolerate if you are irritable due to fatigue. Another important stress management tool is to create personal time alone, whether that is reading a book or taking a bath.

Allowing some healthy personal space will benefit all parties involved. Be cautious of taking on too much responsibility, be that baking cookies, hosting parties, or even attending too many. It is very easy to take on more than we can handle and the cumulative stress may unnecessarily ruin a potentially wonderful time. After all didn't the year slowly creep by as you eagerly awaited the arrival of your mother-in-law? Let us not waste one single magical moment of that far-too-short eight days with mom.

We may find ourselves throwing a wrench into our metabolism by skipping meals, eating fast food to save time and simply overeating due to others' expectations or to remain occupied. Dietarily it is important (all year round) to eat at regular intervals to keep our metabolic blast furnace burning hot.

When we eat large quantities at sporadic intervals our low insulin levels now dramatically spike and in doing so an inordinate amount of the consumed calories are converted to fat. Insulin is a storage hormone and eating small portions at regular intervals will minimize those spikes that engorge both our fat cells and our pants.

Along with solid food comes the issue of alcohol consumption. While potentially tasty and tempting, alcohol is simply empty calories. Calories that may reduce your resistance to overeating and leave you feeling crummy the next day. Consume judiciously.

Finally, prioritize and only go to those parties that will provide joy and not just fulfill a supposed requirement. When making appearances at numerous gatherings, I find it helpful to first thank my host for inviting me and then courteously inform that person I will be at numerous "feedings." This is very effective at setting some expectation that it may not be appropriate to present a plate of food fit to feed a squad of hungry Marines.

Try saving stress and time by shopping online, although if you just got this idea it may be a good idea to upgrade to expedited shipping. Most of all have fun and let those important people that you are fortunate to see know how you feel about them. In a good way of course.

Happy Festivus.

Dr. Nick Smith is a chiropractor at Active Life Chiropractic Center in Helena and is Montana's only certified Biomechanics of Posture practitioner. Reach him at

www.activelifemt.com

or 443-3965.