Fight Holiday Pounds

The holidays have arrived with all the high-calorie food and drinks of the season. It’s really no wonder why most of us gain weight during the next five weeks.

Sweet temptations are everywhere. Holiday cookies, gingerbread houses, pumpkin pies, and more. Even healthy foods like sweet potatoes and green beans are somehow transformed into high-calorie dishes that will make you want to do nothing but fall asleep.

And don’t forget the drinks. Eggnog and alcoholic beverages are loaded with calories.

Want to fight these holiday pounds?

#1) Remember the Reason for the Season

Sure, the holidays bring indulgent foods and drinks, but friends, gatherings, and family traditions aren’t only about food. Before a party remind yourself what the holiday season is all about—friends, family, giving, and religious traditions. Then stay focused on the reason for the season rather than the plate full of hors d’oeuvres in front of you.

Also, stay focused on your fat loss goals. Remind yourself of how far you’ve come and where you’re headed. Keep your goals in the forefront of your mind. A few bites of food aren’t worth hours on the treadmill.

Remember that the holidays can be a time of emotional eating. For many people, the holidays bring stress, family conflict, or depression. If these issue start to wear down your will power then find the courage to address the root of your problems with solutions other than food or drink.

#2) Implement Strategies

If you want to keep your diet on track during this season of parties, you’ll need to pace yourself. Try the following strategies:

Don’t go to parties hungry, be sure to eat a small low-calorie snack ahead of time. Otherwise, you’ll overeat.
Wear tight-fitting clothes around your waist so there isn’t room for expansion.
Before and after a meal chew gum so you won’t be tempted to overindulge in appetizers and desserts.
During a party, don’t stand right next to the food table, but keep a safe distance.
Choose your plate wisely. Go with a small plate instead of a large dinner plate and don’t go back for seconds!

Another important strategy is figuring out how to get in a workout between parties. Leaving room in your busy holiday schedule for exercise will help you fight off the extra weight trying to attach itself to your midsection and rear.

#3) Make Wise Choices

Enjoy the goodness of the season, but in moderation. Trim calories where you can by limiting your trimmings-cheeses, gravy, sauces, creams, and nuts. Be smart about what you choose to eat. Don’t deprive yourself of all the foods you love or you’ll likely spurge and ruin all your good intentions.

The holidays offer many food choices not available the rest of the year. Because of this, you may want to overindulge before they’re gone. Instead of doing this, survey what foods are available and make your choices. Indulge in your favorites and leave the everyday dishes for another time. Only eat what you love, and don’t just eat something because it’s on the buffet.

Also, be sure to limit the amount of alcoholic beverages you drink. As you likely know, they’re filled with calories, too. Try alternating an alcoholic drink with a non-alcoholic drink.

Follow these simple tips, and you will avoid holiday weight gain this season and start the New Year off right!

Exercise is a huge part of the equation when it comes to achieving weight loss.

I am passionate about seeing my clients achieve results—without wasting time, energy and effort on mistakes.

Call or email me today and we will get you started on the exercise program that is right for you.

Look Your Best for the Holidays

With holiday parties and gatherings quickly approaching, most of us are now thinking about looking our best while dressed in our finest. Too bad that losing body fat is a slow and steady process, rather than an instantaneous fix.

However…I do have an extremely effective 2-step method for losing belly fat faster than ever, and I’d like to share it with you today so that you can utilize it to look and feel your best this holiday season.

Look Your Best for the Holidays.

This deadly, fat-incinerating method fights fat simultaneously on two separate fronts for maximum effectiveness: your sugar intake and your high intensity workouts.

First:

This step requires zero extra effort on your part! In fact all you have to do is NOT do something that you’re currently doing! You stop consuming refined sugar, in all its forms. This means no sodas, no desserts, no packaged snacks, no candy, no mocha lattes, NO SUGAR AT ALL!

When you stop to evaluate your diet, it may be shocking to find out how much refined sugar has crept in. Nothing will contribute to fat gains as swiftly as consuming sugar, so it makes sense that cutting sugar out is the top must-do for shedding those unwanted pounds.

It’s not necessary, or beneficial, to starve yourself during this time of rapid fat loss – you should fill in your diet with lean meats, vegetables, nuts and seeds as you cut out the refined sugar. Keep your metabolism high by fueling up on high protein, high fiber, low carb, and zero sugar foods whenever hunger strikes.

Second:

Here’s the step that requires some effort, but trust me when I say it’s worth it. You crank up the intensity of your workouts to a whole new level.

Most people take exercise on with the slow and steady mentality – moving, pushing and pulling as little as possible while still “getting the job done”. I’ve got some news for you…if you still have belly fat to lose; the job is not getting done.

If you can comfortably hold a conversation, hardly break a sweat, or feel the same when it’s over as you did when it began, then you’re simply not pushing yourself hard enough while you exercise.

Increasing the intensity of your workouts requires focused intent. You must into the session with the goal of pushing your body (in the ways that it can be pushed) to the limit. Remember, it’s a contained time frame that will be over shortly; so bear down and deal with the muscle discomfort. With practice you will learn to embrace the muscle burn.

The safest and most effective way to crank up the intensity and effectiveness of your exercise time is to work with a qualified fitness professional, or (if you’re over 50) a functional aging specialist, such as myself. I would love to hear from you!

Functional AgingSpecialists