Top 10 Ways To Stay Active And Control Weight Gain During The Holiday Season

Helpful Solutions to Common Holiday Weight Gain Behavior Problems

Over the next few weeks there are going to be a ton of holiday events and parties that can easily be attended. Christmas, New Years, Super Bowl, The Oscars, Valentines Day, and then right on into St. Patricks Day as we head into summer. While attending these events think about the constant availability of high sugar, alcohol, and high fat foods everywhere you go over the next few months. Unlike a well-balanced meal, comfort foods throw off caloric norms and can disrupt metabolic hormones. Not paying particular attention to composition of the foods consumed during this Holiday season can promote increased lipid production and even contribute to greater food intake. Make a conscious effort to minimize and balance your eating habits so that you don’t consume large quantities of sugar and processed carbohydrates. Oftentimes the fat in food is perceived as the bad guy when in reality the foods high in sugar create high hypoglycemic loads and promote fat production and storage in response to higher levels of circulating insulin. Also plan on balancing protein and add healthy fats like raw nuts and berries to your diet whenever possible. Most of us suffer from a daily fruit and vegetable consumption gap. Putting the right foods into our bodies is a struggle. Fast food and all-you-can-eat buffets lurk on every corner. Fat, salt, and sugar have been added to almost every package on the shelf at the grocery store. Grabbing a bag of chips or a can of soda at the convenience store is easier than peeling an orange or tossing a salad. Juice Plus+ can help you fill that hole in your diet through whole food based nutrition.

#3 Calories In Vs. Calories Out

If you want to watch your weight and food intake over the holidays make sure to try and gauge how many calories you are consuming in one day. In simplest terms, healthy eating is about getting back to basics, by following the latest USDA guidelines, like those from USDA’s My Plate. Doctors and healthcare professionals know more than ever about how health and wellness are influenced by nutrients from fruits, vegetables, and berries. But healthy eating takes time, planning, and can cost a lot of money. With today’s busy lifestyles, from busy moms to traveling executives to active seniors, it’s easy to miss out on the nutrients we need from fruits and vegetables. That’s why adding Juice Plus+ to your diet is an important step for you and every member of your family. It’s a simple, affordable way to fuel your body with good nutrition. Make it a policy to consume five or more servings of fresh fruits and vegetables along with lean proteins such as egg whites for breakfast. This will help reduce total calories and limit the consumption of unhealthier foods you will be tempted with during evening events. You’ll feel fuller and therefore will be less likely to over consume at the social gathering.

#4 Work Out In The Morning

The latest research has shown that exercise will speed up your metabolism and can improve your health while strengthening your immune system. Keep a workout log book, plan to run a 1ok, or any endurance event in order to keep yourself motivated and moving during the holidays. Individuals who workout will feel happier and will be able to relieve more stress through the holiday season. Many people experience a feeling of sluggishness during the holiday season, and activity status is often replaced with stress, sedentary behaviors and high caloric intake. There is no doubt participation frequency and total training volume decrease over the Holidays. The Roworx Indoor Rowing program offers a group exercise that’s low-impact, high efficiency, and great for building strength and endurance. Roworx also utilizes the Concept2 Rowing Machine and light dumbbell weights. Our clients span all experience levels, ages and abilities. Anyone can row – you control your own pace and resistance. The ability to control your own resistance allows you to maintain rhythm with the group, while selecting your own difficulty level. The Roworx fitness center in Long Beach, Ca is open extended hours during the holiday season so make sure to stop by and mention this blog in order to receive your first FREE class!

#5 Make The Time And Track Your Fitness Goals With A Workout Journal

A fitness and nutrition journal will give you a great base/foundation for the goals you want to strive for on your fitness quest. Writing down what exercises you’re going to do for the day or week will give you a solid game plan to follow. You can always adjust your workout journal when you see fit, but just having something written down will help you greatly. Some examples of what to write down in your fitness and nutrition journals make sure to include various exercises you’re going to do for the day, Sets of the workouts you are doing, Number of repetitions you will be doing for that particular workout, A Nutrition and Meal plan, the amount of water you drink per day, Cardio (Frequency, Type, Time, Intensity), and you can also include Time/Hours of sleep and Stress (financial, relationship, work, etc.)

#6 Portion Control

Small portions of everything that’s available add up to big numbers. All too often when presented with buffet style options over the holidays, we serve ourselves to the point that food actually piles up or we need a second plate. Although you may only be taking one scoop of stuffing, or one roll, or one helping of meatballs, etc. the fact that so many choices are available and you would like to try each one, almost ensures overeating. The first step is not filling your entire plate. Or better yet, use the smallest plate available. Doing so will limit how much you eat after the first pass at all the tempting options that are available. You can always return for another helping, if necessary. Most people take too much initially, attain a feeling of fullness, but continue to finish the food so as not to waste it.

#7 Avoid Or Control The Amount Of Desert And Sweets That You Consume

Be sure to look at other options first before diving into all those holiday deserts this season. Fruit can be a great substitute for the cookies, chocolates, or any other ’empty calorie’ desert. Desserts all look so good and self-control is difficult for most people. The same problem with portion control exists as noted in #4 and most often too many calories have already been consumed in the appetizers and the main course. A restaurant shot glass serving style is a great way to present dessert options.  It automatically accounts for portion control because the glasses are generally small. It also avoids the leftovers phenomenon, where people continue to eat until the whole dish is gone.

#8 Sleep

There is a big difference between the amount of sleep you can get by on and the amount you need to function optimally. Just because you’re able to operate on seven hours of sleep doesn’t mean you wouldn’t feel a lot better and get more done if you spent an extra hour or two in bed. The best way to figure out if you’re meeting your sleep needs is to evaluate how you feel as you go about your day. If you’re logging enough hours, you’ll feel energetic and alert all day long, from the moment you wake up until your regular bedtime. The quality of your sleep directly affects the quality of your waking life, including your mental sharpness, productivity, emotional balance, creativity, physical vitality, and even your weight. No other activity delivers so many benefits with so little effort

#9 Train In A Group Setting

Who has the time to workout, train, and be disciplined on fitness on their own? Studies show that we are motivated to work harder, show up more often, and push further past our perceived limits when training in a group. The results of one study suggest that endorphin release is significantly greater in group training than in individual training; this seems to be the case even when the individual’s power output, or physical exertion, is the same. Not only is it more fun to exercise with others, but it is safer and more efficient to exercise under the supervision of a good coach. With the help of our amazing instructors you are sure to have a great time in any of our four class programs that we have to offer.

#10 Take Juice Plus+

Juice Plus is whole food based nutrition, including juice powder concentrates from 25 different fruits, vegetables and grains. Everyone wants to eat right and maintain a healthier lifestyle –  whether you’re a busy mom hustling to feed on-the-go children, a business traveler trying to stay fit, or an active boomer keeping up with grand-kids. All of us try to eat better for good health, but a healthy diet is often a challenge. We simply don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables. And that hurts our health and wellness. Juice Plus+ helps bridge the gap between what you should eat and what you do eat every day. Not a multivitamin, medicine, treatment or cure for any disease, Juice Plus+ is all-natural and made from quality ingredients carefully monitored from farm to capsule so you can enjoy improved nutrition and wellness. Try Juice Plus+ today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfMaK9wsX5E