With the summer travel season upon us, National Wanna Get Away Day celebrates our freedom to get away on June 18th.
Planning memorable trips and get-aways brings out the adventurer in all of us! These get-aways take us to family we long to see and historic places. We seek the sun, sand, big cities and the countryside, too. It is a national pastime with deep roots – one that connects all of us to the people and places most important in our lives. National Wanna Get Away Day is the perfect day for celebrating, dreaming, and planning all the adventures you will take this year and every year after!
As a resident of Florida we love our beautiful beaches, nightlife and picturesque towns. Some of the best hidden treasures in Florida are found outside of the big touristy places like Orlando, Miami, and St Augustine. Places like Destin, Pensacola, Sea Side, and even Gulf Shores, Alabama offer great views, premium culture and a relaxing stay that truly feel like an Oasis to get away from it all. I grew up just across from Panama City Beach that still offers a small town vibe.
In 2021, Southwest Airlines® founded National Wanna Get Away to commemorate the airline’s 50th Anniversary. At Southwest, they have spent half a century making everything seem a little bit closer and giving people the freedom to get away, wherever and whenever. In 1996, Southwest coined the phrase “Wanna Get Away®” to highlight the Company’s expansion. The phrase also creates humorous moments relevant to its Customers within its marketing. As “Wanna Get Away” has become an iconic and recognized expression for the brand, Southwest took it a step further to celebrate its 50th Anniversary by announcing this new annual day.
On June 18th, celebrate the freedom to travel with National Wanna Get Away Day! With so many places to go and people to see, the day gives you the opportunity to spark your travel adventures.
National Fasting February reminds us that our metabolic health underlies many of the diseases that we associate with aging, from diabetes to cancer to Alzheimer’s disease. Regularly switching from burning sugars to burning stored fats can reduce our risk of metabolic disorders such as diabetes and other conditions of aging.
February is a month for transforming new health resolutions into healthy habits and lifestyles. Since 1964, February has been American Heart Month to help raise awareness of preventable risk factors of cardiovascular disease including obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Diet heavily influences many of these risk factors. But there is a growing consensus among healthcare professionals that a healthy diet depends not just on what we eat but also when we eat.
National Fasting February celebrates the benefits of intermittent fasting on metabolic health. Practicing intermittent fasting is as simple as changing the timing of your meals. It gives your body at least a 10-12 hour break from metabolizing sugar every night.
Intermittent fasting does not require any change in the content of your diet, but rather merely a shift in the timing of your food and sweetened beverage intake. Regularly refraining from consuming any calories for just 10-12 or more hours can increase levels of brain-fueling ketones. It also:
Science-backed ways to practice fasting for metabolic health include:
Time-restricted eating: 10-16 hours of overnight fasting every day or several days per week
Alternate day fasting: Eating fewer than 500 calories every other day
The 5:2 diet: Two consecutive or non-consecutive days per week of eating fewer than 500 calories
NATIONAL FASTING FEBRUARY HISTORY
Intermittent fasting was developed as an alternative to calorie restriction interventions for studies of human aging and chronic disease prevention. Calorie restriction has long been considered by researchers to be a gold standard in prolonging lifespan in many animal species. But calorie restriction, which in humans typically involves eating fewer than 1,200 calories per day, is incredibly difficult for humans to practice. Researchers including Dr. Valter Longo, Dr. Mark Mattson, and Dr. Satchidananda Panda, and others are now finding that intermittent fasting may be just as effective or even more effective than calorie restriction in terms of delaying and preventing diseases of aging.
Fasting for 12-16 hours and exercising while fasted are safe practices for most individuals, except for pregnant women and individuals diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. However, you should consult your primary care physician to make sure that you don’t have a health condition for which fasting is contraindicated.
Prolonged fasting or going more than 24-36 hours without calories is the subject of early clinical trials. However, it isn’t necessary to glean the metabolic health benefits of fasting. You should drink plenty of water while fasting. You may need to supplement your water with a blend of electrolytes if you are practicing prolonged fasting. Zero-calorie beverages (unsweetened tea and coffee) will also not break your fast. You can consume artificially sweetened beverages while fasting in a pinch, but your gut microbes can break down some artificial sweeteners, and these sweeteners tend to increase your sweet cravings.
Intermittent fasting will not turn an unhealthy diet into a healthy one. You should try to eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables when you aren’t fasting. It’s also best practice to break a fast with a relatively low glycemic index (low carbohydrate) meal to avoid spiking your blood sugar.
Visit lifeapps.io/fasting-february/ to learn more about how to participate in National Fasting February and to read about the health benefits of intermittent fasting.
Choose a fasting schedule that works best for you. Practice it all month long. Intermittent fasting is not a fad diet, but rather a lifestyle for metabolic health. If you’ve never fasted before, start with time-restricted eating. This involves fasting for at least 10-12 hours every night, ideally starting in the early evenings. Don’t worry if you can’t make it to 12 hours at first – work up slowly. Throughout the month, you may work your way up to a 16-hour or an occasional 24-hour fast.
Download the LIFE Fasting Tracker app to track your fasts. Create a fasting Circle, invite family members or join a public LIFE Circle to fast in a supportive social environment.
Share your experiences with intermittent fasting and post photos of how you break your fasts on social media with the hashtag #NationalFastingFebruary.
If you are an experienced faster or looking to achieve weight loss, you may try practicing alternate day fasting or a 5:2 weekly fasting schedule this month.
About Life Fasting Tracker
The LIFE Fasting Tracker app was created by LifeOmic, a precision health software company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. LifeOmic works with healthcare providers and academic institutions, including the Indiana School of Medicine, to power precision medicine and personalized treatments for cancer and other diseases using ultra-secure cloud technologies. LifeOmic’s LIFE apps provide the missing link to patient engagement in precision healthcare.
The LIFE Fasting Tracker app, free to download for both iOS and Android, is the easiest and most social way to fast. Launched in late 2018, the app makes it easy and fun to harness lifestyle changes to improve metabolic health. With the app, you can track your progress on any fasting schedule, see when you start burning fats for fuel, and intuitively log how you are feeling. You can share your fasts and give and receive encouragement within custom Circles of people you care about, from friends to coworkers to healthcare providers. Join hundreds of thousands of users in their journey to better health.
World Health Esteem Month in January is a month to appreciate ourselves for who we are now and the small choices we can make to enhance our lives without making any resolution.
What is “Health Esteem”? Health Esteem is a new category of fitness and diet that integrates positive self-esteem, embracing who you are now, along with changes you would like to make. Health Esteem is grounded in accepting and embracing the person you are today and championing who you wish to become. World Health Esteem Month challenges the traditional notion that January is a month of depriving ourselves via empty promises and resolutions based on social “ideals.”
Historically the tradition of making New Year’s Resolutions dates back to about 4,000 years. Unfortunately, falling short of those resolutions is a tradition nearly as old, which can be a discouraging way to start the year.
Self-improvement is great, but self-improvement that starts at the expense of our self-esteem is destructive. This is why so many people start, but aren’t set up for real success with their New Year’s resolutions.
A New, Sustainable Tradition for Wellbeing
The alternative to this pattern of endless resolutions, annual self-judgment and comparisons driven by the Imperfection Economy is Health Esteem. This healthier tradition integrates healthy choices with a positive mindset for overall wellbeing. One in which we replace the New Year’s ritual of guilty goal-setting, deprivation, and eventual failure with a month spent appreciating ourselves for who we are. Now is the time to celebrate the tiny choices we can make each day to enhance our lives and even achieve better outcomes than when we thought we had to bully ourselves into New Year’s Resolutions.
Health Esteem Is a Skill You Can Learn
Practicing Health Esteem leads to better choices. Instead of working out because you’re unsatisfied with yourself, you exercise because you value yourself. This mindset allows you to do it in a way which is rewarding as much in the moment as it is over the long term. Similarly, instead of making food choices to punish yourself into weight loss you will start to make choices in support of taking care of yourself, ultimately making you feel better to build on your Health Esteem.
You Can’t Fail at Health Esteem
Every day of January is an opportunity to succeed. It can be as simple as checking in on 10 Tiny Moments that can have a dramatic impact on your Health Esteem.
Spend the first month of 2023 celebrating who you are and, for once, feel great about yourself from day one!
FOUNDER
Headquartered in Southern California, Beachbody is a leading digital fitness and nutrition subscription company with over two decades of creating innovative content and powerful brands.
The Beachbody Company is the parent company of the Beachbody On Demand streaming platform (BOD) including its live digital streaming subscription BODi, and the Beachbody Bike powered by MYX fitness, the Company’s connected indoor bike. For more information, please visit The Beachbody Company website.
10 Tiny Ways to Improve Your Health Esteem
Wake Up On The 1st Alarm.
Do the Hardest Thing First.
Make Time To Eat Breakfast.
Replace Dirty Energy With Clean Energy.
Plan Lunch The Day Before.
Swap Afternoon Treats For Superfood Desserts.
Give Energy.
Do A Post-Work Reflection.
Slow Dinner Down.
No-Screens 30 Minutes Before Bed.
BONUS: Take a Tiny Moment At Any Time of Day to appreciate yourself and be grateful.
JOIN IN THE CELEBRATION
A few other easy ways you can observe World Health Esteem Month are:
Use the hashtag #WorldHealthEsteemMonth on social media to show how you are focusing on improving your Health Esteem as opposed to outdated “resolutions.”
Journal daily about your small changes and successes along the way.
Sign up for a free 14-day trial of BODi, a leading on demand streaming platform from the Beachbody Company, at www.BeachbodyOnDemand.com.
Make a Pledge to Improve Your Health Esteem this January
The first step to starting a long-term Health Esteem Routine is appreciating who you are, what you have now and finding gratitude for what got you here. And that is 100% free. If you don’t think you have anything to be grateful for or optimistic about, keep looking. This is important because you don’t just receive gratitude and optimism – that’s not how it works.
You can’t wait for things to be great and then decide “Okay, I’ll be grateful for that.” You need to bring perspective to it in order to see it. The first step to starting a long-term Health Esteem Routine is appreciating who you are, what you have now and finding gratitude for what got you here. And that pledge is 100% free to make now.
The first step to starting a long-term Health Esteem Routine is appreciating who you are, what you have now and finding gratitude for what got you here. And that is 100% free. If you don’t think you have anything to be grateful for or optimistic about, keep looking. This is important. Because you don’t just receive gratitude and optimism – that’s not how it works. You can’t wait for things to be great and then decide “Okay, I’ll be grateful for that.” You need to bring perspective to it in order to see it. The first step to starting a long-term Health Esteem Routine is appreciating who you are, what you have now and finding gratitude for what got you here. And that pledge is 100% free to make now.
May our warm wishes find you no matter the celebration this time of year. I hope you’ll join us again next year and be sure to subscribe to Jen’s Perspective Magazine. Find us on social media.
December bursts onto the calendar like a firework finale—cold, sparkling, and impossible to ignore. As the twelfth and final month of the Gregorian year, it wraps up 31 days of contrasts: shortest daylight hours in the Northern Hemisphere, longest in the Southern, and a global whirlwind of holidays, reflections, and fresh starts. Whether you’re bundling up against snowstorms or firing up the barbecue for summer solstice, December demands attention. Let’s dive into its overview, standout highlights, rich history, and the symbolic gems and blooms that define birthdays in this electrifying month.
December Overview
December derives its name from the Latin decem, meaning “ten”—a quirky holdover from the ancient Roman calendar, where it was the tenth month before January and February were added around 153 BCE. Today, it’s the gateway to winter in the north (starting with the winter solstice around December 21–22) and summer down south. Astronomically, it features the Geminids meteor shower peaking mid-month, lighting up skies with up to 120 shooting stars per hour. Culturally, it’s a festival frenzy: Christmas on the 25th for Christians, Hanukkah (variable but often overlapping), Kwanzaa from December 26 to January 1, and New Year’s Eve capping it all. Expect eggnog, resolutions, and a collective sigh of “where did the year go?”
Key Highlights
December’s calendar is packed with events that blend solemnity, joy, and spectacle:
Winter Solstice (December 21–22): The shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere, marking the official start of winter. Ancient cultures celebrated it as a rebirth of the sun—think Stonehenge gatherings or modern Yule festivals.
Christmas (December 25): The big one for over 2 billion people, commemorating Jesus’s birth with trees, gifts, and feasts. Secular twists include Santa Claus (inspired by Saint Nicholas) and global traditions like Germany’s Christkindlmarkt or Mexico’s posadas.
Hanukkah: The Jewish Festival of Lights, lasting eight days and often falling in December. It honors the rededication of the Second Temple with menorah lighting, dreidel games, and latkes.
Kwanzaa (December 26–January 1): A celebration of African heritage created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, focusing on seven principles like unity and creativity, with candles, crops, and kinara.
New Year’s Eve (December 31): Fireworks, countdowns, and Auld Lang Syne worldwide. Fun fact: Times Square’s ball drop in NYC started in 1907 and now draws millions.
Other Notables: Bodhi Day (December 8) for Buddhists, marking Buddha’s enlightenment; Human Rights Day (December 10); and the Urs festival in some Muslim traditions.
From charity drives to office parties, December is dynamic indeed— a month that forces us to pause, celebrate, and propel into the next year.
December’s roots run deep. In the original Roman calendar (circa 753 BCE), it was the tenth month in a 10-month year. Julius Caesar’s Julian reform in 45 BCE solidified its 31 days, and Pope Gregory XIII’s 1582 tweak aligned it with the solar year we know today.
Historically, it’s seen triumphs and tragedies:
1620: The Mayflower Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock, laying groundwork for American Thanksgiving ties.
1914: The Christmas Truce during WWI, where soldiers fraternized in no-man’s-land.
1955: Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat on December 1, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
1969: The ALT key is patented on December 23 (yes, that computer essential).
Darker notes: The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26 killed over 230,000.
December has hosted scientific breakthroughs too—like the first successful heart transplant in 1967 (December 3)—and cultural milestones, from Beethoven’s death in 1827 to the premiere of Avatar in 2009.
Birthday Symbolism: Birthstones and Flowers
Born in December? You’re in elite company with triple birthstones and dual flowers, symbolizing prosperity, love, and resilience.
Birthstones
December boasts three official gems, a rarity:
Turquoise: The ancient star, prized by Persians, Aztecs, and Native Americans for protection and healing. Its blue-green hues evoke clear skies and good fortune.
Zircon: Sparkling and versatile, available in blue, yellow, or clear. It symbolizes wisdom and honor, with a fiery brilliance rivaling diamonds.
Tanzanite: A modern addition (discovered in 1967 in Tanzania), this rare blue-violet stone represents transformation and prosperity. It’s 1,000 times rarer than diamonds.
Wear them for luck—turquoise wards off evil, zircon boosts confidence, and tanzanite sparks intuition.
Birth Flowers
Two blooms share the spotlight:
Narcissus (Paperwhite): Pure white petals symbolize hope, rebirth, and new beginnings—perfect for year-end babies. In mythology, it’s tied to the vain Narcissus, but positively, it means “you are the only one.”
Holly: Evergreen with red berries, embodying truth, defense against evil, and domestic happiness. Ancient Druids saw it as sacred; Christians link it to Christmas crowns of thorns.
December birthdays get a symbolic toolkit for thriving amid change: stones for strength, flowers for renewal.
Famous December Birthdays: Stars Who Lit Up the World
December isn’t just the month of twinkling lights and holiday cheer—it’s also a powerhouse for birthdays, churning out icons who’ve shaped music, film, sports, and history. From pop sensations to trailblazing leaders, these December babies bring that end-of-year energy: bold, reflective, and ready to make an impact. Whether you’re a fellow Sagittarian firecracker (born before December 22) or a steadfast Capricorn (after), the month delivers a diverse lineup of talent.
Woody Allen
Bette Midler
Walt Disney
Judi Dench
Demi Moore
Frank Sinatra
Taylor Swift
Dick Van Dyke
Steven Spielberg
Brad Pitt
Ted Cruz
Annie Lennox
Justin Trudeau
Tiger Woods
LeBron James
Anthony Hopkins
John Denver
Why December Babies Rock
Astrologically, these Sagittarians and Capricorns embody adventure and ambition—think explorers like Ludwig van Beethoven (December 16, 1770), whose symphonies still thunder, or Stan Lee (December 28, 1922), the Marvel maestro behind your superhero obsessions. No wonder December feels like a grand finale: it’s packed with creators who turn winter’s chill into cultural heat.
Wrapping Up the Year with Sparkle
Dynamic December isn’t just a month—it’s a mood. It challenges us to reflect on the past while igniting hope for tomorrow, all under twinkling lights and frosty breaths. Whether you’re toasting with champagne or stargazing at meteors, embrace the energy. Happy December—may your days be merry, bright, and boldly forward! 🎄✨
