5 Tips for Staying on Track During the Holidays
Don’t the let the holidays be a time for despair and putting those long term OR newly healthy habits you’ve so fearlessly acquired go to the wayside! The Holidays don’t have to be a time to fall off the wagon and put things off until January! You can still enjoy the holidays for what they are, indulge AND keep the pounds at bay!
Here are a few simple steps that I’ve taught myself and coached my clients to enable them to take control of their weight during the holidays!
1.) Change you perspective!
Now I get it the Holiday’s may have always been a time for you to really enjoy, put on the elastic waist leggings and really kick back and take advantage of mom’s cooking! Not to despair, you can still enjoy the FOOD without adding to your waistline! First, you need a little shift in your way of thinking. I know this sounds cliche but it works!
Instead, tell yourself this is a time to catch up with family, prepare and enjoy the wonderful food, and KEY point SPEND TIME with people you care about! So, instead of only focusing on the food look at the other wonderful aspects of the holidays that enable you to enjoy yourself. Some things like taking time off, time alone that you wouldn’t normally have, time with your family, or maybe its a wonderful vacation! Everyone has something different they can be thankful for and what is that for you? Find a new way to look at the holidays and take the emphasis off of the food and make it one of the bonuses of the holidays!
2.) Stay Active!
I can’t say this enough. Its super easy to get caught up in the food comas and lavish in a full day of The Hallmark Channel movies, but moving is essential to managing your progress and keeping the weight off throughout the holidays! Make your emphasis steps, or doing a 15 minute workout everyday, or gong for a walk with the family after dinner, or taking time in the morning to take the dog for an extra long walk. Whatever it is, the point is to MOVE every, single, day!
By not moving the enzymes that move the bad fat from your arteries to your muscles, where it can get burned off, slow down. By being sedentary, the muscles in your lower body are turned off and after just TWO hours, good cholesterol drops 20 percent.! What?!?
Just getting up for five minutes is going to get things going again! Furthermore, by sitting your body accommodates by storing fat, and it becomes very efficient at storing calories. An average person can have a significant drop of more than 80% in metabolism for sitting for even an hour! So, no matter what you do, MOVE!
3.) Don’t punish yourself if you overdo it. It’s OK.
The negative self talk will only make matters worse and most likely lead to more punishment and more of a No care attitude to indulge more making it harder to recover. Instead, if you have a large meal and overdo it at one meal, take it easy at the next. Try cutting down on the food you put on your plate, adding more greens, not having dessert, or fasting for a meal in between meals to give your body time to digest and process the large meal it just had.
4.) Hot Lemon Water is a great way to start each morning!
Not only will this hydrate you each morning and allow you to read your own body’s signals of when its actually hungry, but it will provide your body with plenty of vitamins and minerals. Its also a great energy booster before that cup of Joe! Here are just a few benefits!
It will provide the body with electrolytes in the form of potassium, calcium, and magnesium
The acid in the lemon will interact with various enzymes in the body to simulate the secretion of gastric juices which will aide in digestion
Helps the liver to detoxify and release toxins
Regulate bowel movement
Being a powerful antioxidant, lemon can protect your body from various free radicals that strengthen the immune system.
It cleanses the blood and arteries
Helps revitalize the skin with vitamin c
Helps alleviate heartburn
5.) Fasting - try different intervals of fasting if you are just starting out.
I know Intermittent fasting is all the new rage but its an age old technique for healing the body of ailments.
Ideally, daily you want to allow 12 hours between your dinner and breakfast. So if you eat dinner at 8 pm for example, you want to allow yourself till at least 8 am to eat breakfast. This will allow for proper digestion of your previous meal. If you are feeling good after 12 hours and want to go longer, maybe try taking an hour at a time and having water in between.
The benefits of this are incremental. there are have been various studies that show your body initiates important cellular repair processes and changes hormone levels to make stored body fat more accessible. Why is this important?
The body induces important cellular repair processes, such as removing waste material from cells
Blood levels of insulin drop significantly, which facilitates fat burning
Overall you consume fewer calories by consuming fewer meals
Additionally, intermittent fasting enhances hormone function to facilitate weight loss
I hope you find this helpful! Share with a friend or family member if you think they would find it helpful!
Also, as we go through the holidays I’ll be blogging, creating videos and keeping up-to-date info and words of inspiration to keep you motivated to stay happy, fit and healthy through the holidays!