Even though we had one extra month this winter, Pesach is on the doorstep yet again.\u00a0 It seems to have become a very stressful experience to prepare for what is supposed to be a holiday of great simcha.\u00a0 How stressed do people get?\u00a0 Starting two weeks before Purim several of my clients began asking about what we are going to do about keeping our weight in check over Pesach.\u00a0 I presume if people are already inquiring about that, they are already stressed about their cleaning and kashering preparations as well.\u00a0 And then there are the guest lists and sleeping accommodations and figuring out Chol HaMoed plans.\u00a0 And everything becomes exacerbated because of the stress that we allow to permeate our lives.\u00a0 If there is one word that it would be good to internalize, it is \u201cPLAN!\u201d<\/p>\n
Yes, there are stressful situations in our lives.\u00a0 There are situations that we don\u2019t create and are not under our control and best not to try to control them.\u00a0 But much of the stress we feel is related to solvable problems; we just can\u2019t see a solution.\u00a0 Often, we exacerbate different situations by not seeing the circumstance for the way it really is.\u00a0 We tend to magnify small problems into big ones.\u00a0 With good planning in all areas, small issues will stay small.\u00a0 And remember that exercise and activity can help your stress melt away.<\/p>\n
Cleaning and Erev Pesach<\/strong><\/p>\n First and foremost, consult with your rabbi on what Pesach cleaning and kashering entails and there is no need, at a time when we are under enough pressure, to create more work.\u00a0 There is enough to do in our preparations that taking on tasks above and beyond what we need to do can cause problems.\u00a0 Spring cleaning chores can be done another time if need be.\u00a0 Make a schedule and involve your spouse and your children in the plans.\u00a0 Make sure everyone knows what the goals are and keep them specific and time related.\u00a0 If you do this, you can also put a day off in your schedule for your whole family to go do something fun and get away.\u00a0 This can even be used as a reward and incentive for accomplishing everything by a certain time.\u00a0 But we also need to make sure we have small breaks inserted into out days.<\/p>\n We should first take a look at the weeks leading up to Pesach, which in many ways can be more challenging than Pesach itself.\u00a0 One of the great difficulties of Erev Pesach, usually starting about two weeks prior to the holiday, is that we are in the Nisht a Hin<\/em> and Nisht a Her<\/em> zone.\u00a0 We have worked hard to run our supply of Chometz down to practically zero, but we aren\u2019t necessarily kashered for Pesach yet.\u00a0 So preparing well-rounded and nutritious meals can be a challenge. Many of us begin eating out or using take-out food daily and that certainly has its problems in terms of fat, overall calorie consumption and the nutritional makeup of the meals we are eating. In addition, with the many tasks to be done in terms of cleaning, kashering, shopping and baking matzo, time becomes an issue, so exercise can easily fall by the wayside.<\/p>\n This is a time where we truly need to be creative.\u00a0 If you can, set up a small corner in your house where you are still eating Chametz and even though you can\u2019t cook, make the best of the situation.\u00a0 Use whole grain crackers and bread for sandwiches.\u00a0 Keep plenty of fruit and vegetables in the house (no Chametz problem there).\u00a0 Drink plenty of water. Decide ahead of time exactly when the pizza, falafel, and burgers are happening and keep it to an absolute minimum.<\/p>\n As far as exercising and activity goes\u2014you may not be able to keep to your regular routine but the most important thing to remember is that it isn\u2019t all or nothing.\u00a0 Whatever opportunity presents itself, take advantage of it.\u00a0 A 10 minute walk here and 15 minutes there all add up.\u00a0 It only takes about 90 seconds to do some pushups and 2 minutes to get through an ab routine.\u00a0 That isn\u2019t a lot of time\u2014don\u2019t be fooled by the perception that you have no time at all.<\/p>\n Pesach<\/strong><\/p>\n There are essentially three areas where we all tend to get into trouble: one – the amounts of food we consume sitting at our tables for our festive meals; two – the types of foods we eat; and three – the general lack of activity and exercise during Pesach.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s first look at the portion control issue. It seems that during the holiday where we celebrate going from enslavement to freedom, we manage to enslave ourselves to many unnecessary calories, none of which do much to improve our health. There is a mitzvah to eat certain foods during Yom Tov, such as matzah. There is no mitzvah, however, to consume mass quantities of anything. In order to keep a handle on the over-eating problem, try this. Take a reasonable portion on your plate, and if you are truly still hungry after you eat what\u2019s on your plate, take seconds of a cooked or raw vegetable or fruit. Remember that drinking water may also make you feel full. So, drink up before you start your meal. And for all you matzah lovers out there\u2026 Remember that although we are commanded to eat matzah on Pesach, we are not commanded to eat mass quantities of it for the entire length of the chag!<\/p>\n As for the kinds of food we eat\u2026 Everyone can make some subtle but significant adjustments in this area as well. Even though meat and chicken dishes are more popular at this time of year, you can trim the fat from your meat and order lean cuts to begin with. Remove the skin from chicken and turkey, preferably before cooking, and keep in mind that the white meat is much leaner than the dark meat. Also, keep the emphasis on vegetables and try to use whole grain matzah. For dessert, go for fresh fruit salads, melons and sorbets instead of cake and cookies, which are loaded with sugar and fat. Also, keep in mind that most pareve ice creams contain chemicals and trans fat based whips.<\/p>\n Item number three\u2026 lack of activity! Don\u2019t sit around after meals. Nice long, brisk walks, particularly after your meals, are a great idea. There is nothing worse than throwing yourself into metabolic rigor mortis by falling asleep immediately after a meal. When you are finished with the walk, stretch a little and then you can take your nap.<\/p>\n Most of you will end up putting on a little weight over Pesach, just start back into healthy habits Isru Chag (this year, Sunday) morning. Weight that goes on quickly can come off quickly if you stay vigilant with your eating and exercise.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a time of year to be joyful and happy, and to celebrate together with our families. We need not create more stress in our lives than we already have. Instead of saying \u201cAfter Pesach\u201d, resolve to get started with good and healthful habits right now. Watching serving sizes, eating healthful choices, and staying as active as possible over the Pesach holiday are all ways to \u201cadd hours to your day, days to your year and years to your life.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Even though we had one extra month this winter, Pesach is on the doorstep yet again.\u00a0 It seems to have become a very stressful experience to prepare for what is supposed to be a holiday of great simcha.\u00a0 How stressed do people get?\u00a0 Starting two weeks before Purim several of my clients began asking about<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":61814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"yoast_head":"\n