Archive for the ‘holiday eating’ Category

Early New Years Resolutions Before Christmas.

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

Are you making your list of New Years Resolutions?  You probably are not doing it consciously, but how many of you are thinking, oh well I can start after the holidays.  Buy it now, pay later, Eat it now, lose it later.

While that sounds OK, it leaves you with two things.  Extra fat to lose and more debt to pay off.  If you are really serious about getting to your healthy weight, you cannot diet only when it is convenient.  There is no miracle pill or exercise that will take the extra pounds off over night, nor will it keep them off.

I generally do not encourage taking supplements to lose weight.  Truth is, there are some ingredients that do help you lose weight.  The key word here is helps.  It does not take off the extra weight, it merely helps you to take it off while you are changing your life habits.  Zinc and Chromium are two essential minerals that we do not get the minimum daily does of in our daily diet.  These are two ingredients in a lot of supplement.  Zinc and Chromium not only give your body what it needs, but also aides the body to shed the extra weight.

To lose weight and maintain weight you have to change your eating habits, your activity habits, and your thinking habits.  I am not going to list the eating changes as I have listed many of them in other posts.  Basically you have to eat less, eat smarter, and drink water.  You have to move more.  And you have to give yourself a break.  You have to change your attitude or relationship to food.

When you do get ready to make your New Years resolution, when it comes to losing weight I suggest that you make the resolution to improve your attitude about yourself, to increase your activity or exercise through the year, and to work on changing your eating habits.  Make a resolution to get a good nights rest each and every night.  But do not sabotage yourself by making a resolution to diet for three months to take off 50 pounds with the idea that after you reach your goal its over.

Weight maintenance is a way of life.  It becomes more and more important the older you get.  Just as you have to keep your mind active to maintain your mental abilities, you have to keep your body active to maintain your health, strength, movement, and weight.  As your life slows, you have to adjust your eating habits.

Habits are not made in a day, nor are they changed in a day.  We must work on them every day.  In fact, we need to consciously continue to practice our new habits more through the holiday season so that we do not practice our old habits.

I find the holidays are filled with tons to do and not enough time to do it, which leads to grabbing food at the fast food place to save time and because it is convenient.  The same habit that helped me to become overweight.  Food and goodies show up every where as co-workers bring treats to work to share.  Bedtime gets later and later, even though the alarm sounds at the same time every morning.  Exercise routines get tossed aside as I drop in my recliner exhausted from the day.

I cannot afford to wait until New Year’s to continue on my weight loss journey.  I have worked to hard to get this far.  How about you?

Listen to this post Listen to this post

Christmas Gifts, Parties, Food, Priorities

Saturday, December 13th, 2008

At my house, Christmas is the most hectic time of the year.  More visitors, lots of shopping to do, decorations to put up, plus all the regular activities.  During this  time, we need to keep the P touchstone with us at all times. P for priority.

Remember what Priority is?  Our priority is what we choose to do instead of something else. We may think we do not have a choice, but we always do. We can either do it or not.  We may think we have to do this or that; in reality we may have the responsibility to do it, but we still have the choice to do it or not.  Watch out that what you feel is your obligation does not pre-empt your priorities.

In weight loss, as in weight management, one of our priorities is to eat healthy and portion control.  With so many social gatherings going on with the traditional food and goodies, remember your priorities.  Choose what you will consume, do not just grab anything that looks good. Choose the smaller plate when you choose your food. Concentrate on socializing rather than eating.

Remember to continue your eating schedule.  You can adjust how much you eat while maintaining your 3 meals and 3 snacks.  Eat your breakfast everyday.  When you are out shopping, take some healthy snacks along.  Zip lock bags can carry a variety of snacks.

Christmas, or Hanukkah, or the season are about love, thinking of others, peace, giving.  It is about being with friends and family.  What if you are alone – no family around?  There are many people in shelters and nursing homes that would love company.  Many groups meet together to wrap gifts for the needy, serve dinner to the homeless and needy, deliver food and gifts to their homes.  Volunteers are always needed.  Doing something for someone who needs it can feed your soul.

No one to celebrate with?  Ask others who live alone to come to your house – make it a pot luck or provide for our friends, depending on your and their financial situation.

Choose to be alone?  Nothing wrong with that.  Just don’t sit in depression or despair.  And don’t eat to fill loneliness, sorrow, or an aching  heart.  Turn on the radio, put a CD or DVD on.  Exercise or dance to Christmas songs and carols.  Rejoice because you woke up on the right side of the grass.

Above all – remember that Christmas is NOT about food and binging.  Keep your priorities in place whatever you do.  And have a wonderful holiday season.  Remember  You are worth it, you deserve it, and you are going to become a healthier, happier you.

Listen to this post Listen to this post


SEO Powered by Platinum SEO from Techblissonline