~ Happy Healthy Holidays Enjoyed Together ~
Hi folks,
First want to thank those who follow the blog.
You ARE appreciated :-)
This past weekend some friends and I enjoyed the mild weather to hike, do some Tai Chi, and one activity always enjoy is cooking out.
Did the hiking and Tai Chi early morning, then we all hiked over to another section of the park for the cook out.
Feel it is as important to move, exercise, the mind as well as the body. Especially in ways that bring happiness, energy you could say.
After relaxing with the meal, we got around to talking about how to enjoy the holiday cheer without the common holiday weight gain.
Here’s what we all agreed on by the time the meal was done and the chatting too…..
Replace temptations. Piling up holiday “goodies” (think pumpkin pie, cookies, and fudge) in plain sight can prompt you to eat twice as much, twice as fast. Instead, keep alternate goodies, such as walnuts, pistachios, cinnamon-spice tea, juicy oranges, and ruby-red pomegranates, within easy reach.
Don’t skip exercise. Just make it short and sweet. Sticking with your routine during the busy holidays can be tougher than finding a radio station not playing Jingle Bells. Go for three 10-minute walks each day for a total of 30 minutes, and you’re good. Even moving to some music in the stereo (something I’ll do on those really cold days!).
Choose libations wisely. Beer and red wine both raise your appetite-triggering hormones — a sure-fire prompt for a return trip to the holiday buffet table. Choose a chardonnay or Riesling instead. These white wines didn’t have the same hunger-boosting effect in one study.
Use buffet-table strategies. You’re less likely to inhale hearty helpings from every dish if you check out the entire spread first. We call it “eye your pie before you try.” Stake out a seat where you can’t see the feast, and choose only one or two specialties (your uncle’s meatballs or your Aunt’s healthy spinach salad with vinegar dressing for example) instead of three or four. You eat more calories when you have more choices.
Practice moderation, not deprivation. Splurge a little at parties, but eat sensibly the rest of the week. Get the skim-milk latte at your coffee shop, not the fancy holiday-spice coffee drink. Tote fruit and nuts or veggies and hummus to work for snacks, so it’s easy to bypass the latest cookie mountain in the break room.
My friends and I also agreed instead of getting surgery to fix weight gain do the following and you’ll be happier AND healthier too !
Limit (or eliminate) mainstream media as much as possible. Since 95% of all mainstream media is based on negative news (often false or only partly true) or just plain garbage…removing the useless clutter being crammed into your brain will undoubtedly improve your life.
Avoid plastic as much a possible. Plastic contains BPA, which is a chemical in plastic that mimics estrogen hormones and can really cause harmful effects in your body. These are also known as xenoestrogens and there are studies now indicating that even plastic containers that claim to be BPA free aren’t as safe as once thought. So when in doubt avoid plastic!
When you eat a meal, start off by eating protein first. Instead of starting off and filling yourself up with carbs…which is commonly the case with most meals, eat your meat, fish, fowl first! Filling yourself up with protein will satisfy you quicker and longer than any other foods. In fact protein is one food where eating it actually increases your calorie burn (thermogenesis) because it take energy to digest it.
Avoid drinking water when you eat. Drinking to wash your food down seems harmless enough, but it can actually hinder your digestion. If you need water to help you get the food down you’re either taking too big of a bit, eating too fast and/or not chewing your food enough. Take smaller bites, chew plenty, slow down and enjoy your food! This way you’ll not only digest your food better, but you’ll also get more nutrients out of each food you eat.
Sugar makes you fat…not fat. Stay away from anything that says “fat free”! Fat is not the problem. Eating fat won’t make you fat. If you’re eating a diet composed of whole foods with ample amount of proteins, lower carbs (no refined carbs, no grains, no starches) and good fat, you can eat quite a bit of fat and lose weight!
Walk as much as possible each day. One of the easiest ways to move so mentioning it again Whether it’s walking your dog, walking to work, walking to lunch or taking the stairs. Walking is great for your health and believe it or not it’s a great way to help you recover from sore muscles if you’re working out and it can also help you burn extra calories through out the day helping you progressively lose weight while keeping your muscles and joints healthy.
Get 8 hours of sleep a night. I know you may think that’s too much, but studies have shown that 8 hours is the optimum amount of shut eye you need to be able to function at your highest capacity both mentally and physically during the day. Another important fact to keep in mind is that getting enough sleep will promote proper recovery and keep your cortisol hormone at bay. Cortisol is your stress hormone that’s responsible for keeping fat on your body! Getting enough sleep can literally help you burn more fat.
Keep your carb intake to under 100 grams a day. Of course do this gradually and remember to use moderation on a “Reward Day”. Unless you’re training for some endurance event or you’re a professional athlete, keeping your carb intake to 100 grams or so a day will help transition your body’s energy source from sugar to fat. This shift in your metabolic process is key to helping you burn more fat and stay lean and be healthy for the long term.
Getting fit, losing weight and achieving your ideal body is a lifestyle and a CHOICE I’ve seen way too many people go all out with an exercise program and diet that’s not sustainable and lose weight, just to gain it all back and more. Your goal should be to look and feel good for life. Have a realistic goal and attitude and you’ll experience more satisfaction from living a healthy and fit lifestyle. This is why I recommend sticking to a program that you can stick to for a long time without worrying about burning out. Don’t get caught up with quick fix remedies because they all fail in the long term.
Quality over quantity. The French are famous for this by savoring a little for the quality rather than pigging out on the quantity. Doing more of a bad thing is the ultimate time waster. It’s infinitely more effective to do something good for a shorter period of time. This philosophy can be applied to everything in life, and it’s no different for fitness. In fitness, quality is based on the type of exercises and how you perform these exercises. Are your performing the exercises with correct form? Are you performing the exercises with enough effort (intensity)? And is the exercise challenging enough for you? The answer should be yes to all the questions. If not, you aren’t getting the most out of each workout as you can. Time is valuable, only do things that give you the best results!
These are just some easy tips to keep in mind to help you stay on your fitness and weight loss track. Hope this helps, especially during the holiday season when things become hectic and staying on course becomes more challenging.
With moves like these, you’ll wake up on New Year’s Day wearing the same size, or even one size smaller perhaps. ;-)
Here’s to enjoying a Boundrylessly Happy Healthy Holiday season folks !
Ho HO ! ... Enjoy that Holiday meal !
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