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Advice on Hangovers, Holiday Parties and Hors D'oeuvres

There are a lot of festivities and parties to attend around the holiday season, many of them during the middle of the week. What are some tips for hangover remedies so we can make it to the office in the morning?

In reality, the first cure for a hangover is to prevent it by eating some food before and after your festivities to slow the bombardment of alcohol on your brain cells. Alcohol choice is important too and I'd recommend keeping it light, as in the color of the drink. Vodka, gin and white whine have been shown to contain the least amount of the toxins thought to cause many of the typical hangover symptoms (headache, nausea and a general feeling of death), while darker alcohols such as whiskey, brandy, scotch and red wine are the worst. Lightweights should make sure to drink a glass of water between each drink as well to help ward off dehydration caused by the booze. Before going to sleep, have another snack along with ibuprofen (not acetaminophen) taken as directed on the bottle. In the morning, drink down a Vitamin Water, which has hangover-helping electrolytes, fructose and vitamins.

What hors d'oeuvres are better choices to indulge in and which ones need to be avoided in order to keep off the pounds?

 When it comes to hors d'oeuvres there aren't too many that can be considered healthy, but fortunately there are a few that aren't positively evil. The easiest thing to remember is to choose fresh, not fried. Go for fruit, vegetables and low calorie dips such as mustard, cocktail sauce or salsa to make them more palatable. Protein like chilled shrimp or deli meats like turkey, ham and roast beef are pretty good for keeping a slim figure, so go ahead and nosh on those with a little bit of cheese. The bad hors d'oeuvres? Stay away from anything fried and creamy, like spinach and ranch dip, crab cakes, oyster Rockefeller, fried mushroom caps or those divine little cream puffs.

A lot of women wear strapless dresses for holiday parties. What are some quick ways to tone the shoulder and chest area before slipping into one of these little dresses?

This is an easy fix, and these three exercises will have chests and arms looking taut. Starting with the rear shoulder area, the most effective choice would be bent over lateral raises. These are done by holding a light dumbbell in each hand in front of your body, bending over at the waist until your torso is near parallel to the floor, keeping your back flat as a board. Then, keeping your arms straight, lift the weights out to the side of your shoulders like you're measuring your wingspan. Once your arms are as high as they can go, slowly lower the weights back to the starting position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Do 12 to 15 repetitions.

The next workout is similar, except you'll be standing up straight and targeting the sides of your shoulders. Start performing your lateral raises by holding a pair of dumbbells at your side with your arms straight. Lift the weights straight out to side until they are just a little lower than the top of your shoulders (again you'll look like you're measuring your wingspan), then slowly lower the weights back down next to your legs. Do 12 to 15 repetitions.

Don't have a dumbbell (or not at the gym)? Simply put your hands on a bathroom counter about shoulder width apart and walk your feet back about three feet from its bottom. Now keeping your butt forward and your back flat, tighten your glutes and abs and lower yourself towards the counter by bending your arms until your chest is an inch from touching the counter. Next, push your hands down and yourself back up until your arms are straight and then you've completed one repetition. 

Make sure on all of the exercises to keep your shoulders relaxed and pulled down away from your ears to keep the tension off of your neck and on the muscles that will be on display in your favorite holiday dress. If nothing else, you can always resort to the skinny-arm-pose.

Dustin Richter is the head trainer and owner of Happiness Through Health Personal Training.  He has been certified by NASM, ISSA, APEX, and IFPA and provides complete nutrition and exercise programs to aid his clients in reaching their health and fitness goals. 
www.HTHPersonalTraining.com | 702.513.5159

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