Just as we are slowing down from all the activity and excitement of the holiday season and entering the winter months when people often experience a situational mood depression and are tempted to hibernate, the New York Times is talking about research on the minimum amount of physical activity necessary to prevent psychological distress.

More than 19,000 Scottish citizens were included in this study, utilizing Scottish Health Surveys and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). The researchers took into account participants’ differences in age, gender, social economic status, marital status, BMI, long-term illness, and smoking when compiling the results. It is not surprising that they found that daily physical activity was correlated with a lower risk of psychological distress. Activities noted as physical exercise included athletics, walking, gardening, and housework. Although even daily vacuuming and dusting can improve your mental health (and your physical environment), researchers did report less risk of psychological distress for those participating in athletics.

If you have any shame about your weight or fear of not completing your weight loss goals, you may be tempted to not share your journey with those around you. Too often, we try to do everything on our own and not accept the help of those that love us. Maybe it is not because you are embarrassed or afraid to disappoint, perhaps you just do not want to bother someone with your problems. Just like I have to remind myself that I am not Wonder Woman, it is OK to accept and even ask for help.

Recently, I chastised my mother and aunts for taking on too much and trying to prepare the entire Christmas meal by themselves. With a family of 50, that is quite an undertaking, but also unnecessary. I suggested that they each delegate to their children (and grandchildren); however, because they are used to caring for all of us, they were not entirely comfortable asking for help.

It seems obvious to many that finding a great trainer, mentor, or coach can put you on the right path to meet your fitness goals, but you may not have considered that being a mentor for someone else can also contribute to your personal success.

You do not have to be an expert to learn from your own experiences and share those lessons with others. Sometimes the best mentors are the ones who are more able to remember the difficulties of the journey. It is not important for you to have all the answers to help someone else; even Jillian Michaels has felt stuck when helping others.

Research published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders has shown that therapy may be more beneficial in preventing young girls from becoming overweight than traditional health education classes for teenagers. The study followed 38 girls who had an above average weight, some of whom also reported episodes of loss of control eating or binge eating.

Both above average weight and episodes of loss of control eating are considered characteristics that make someone high-risk for developing obesity. The girls were randomly distributed into two groups, either attending Interpersonal Psychotherapy sessions or standard health education classes. All of the research participants completed the courses to which they had been assigned and received follow-up visits for a year. The girls who participated in Interpersonal Psychotherapy were more likely to stabilize or even decrease their BMI than the girls who participated in the health education courses that are traditionally offered to teenagers.

The other day, I was surprised to see a Twitter friend advising total avoidance of favorite holiday treats during parties and celebrations. If nothing else, it just does not feel like the right approach or the one most likely to result in long-term success. Perhaps, I am being too sentimental and not logical enough on the subject; I’ll let you be the judge.

The comfort of Christmas traditions come from the memories that surround them, not just the ones being created but also memories from years past. Memories can be stored in any of our senses, including taste. Have you ever heard a song from your childhood and experienced a rush of memories from that period in your life? There is one song that will always remind me of the summer before my freshman year of high school. Does a certain smell remind you of a specific person? My grandmother had a lilac bush large enough for us to play inside of it; the scent of lilac always brings her to mind.