Tip to your health - DEC 2009

Avoid the holiday weight gain
Tips on how to avoid the holiday weight gain

One of the best parts of the holidays is all the festive food and fun. One of the worst parts is the unnecessary weight gain and the bad feeling that follows. The average American will gain up to 15 pounds during the holidays. How do you maintain your healthy habits when you are surrounded by mouth watering foods and tasty drinks? Well we are here to tell you that it’s ok to eat Aunt Mary’s homemade apple pie. By using good judgment and control, you can enjoy the holidays with your friends and family, and still keep your figure and pant size the holidays!! Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, here are a few good tips to remember!

1. Do not put your fitness goals on hold until the New Year. People gain up to 15 pounds between Thanksgiving and the New Year. If you think it is hard to take off the lbs you have, it is going to be even hard to take off the extra 15 or more you gained during the holidays. Your body is a lot more forgiving when you maintain a consistent fitness and nutrition program. You will be happy to find that that occasional day or two off or family meals will have negligent effect on you. Believe me, I know. People think that I don’t eat anything good, but on the contrast, I have a very fulfilled and healthy lifestyle. I sustain to maintain and you should too!

2. Don’t Arrive On An Empty Stomach! Although you may be tempted to skip meals so you can splurge on dessert, don’t! Have vegetable sticks, fresh fruit, handful of nuts or a small sandwich before you arrive. Skipping meals during the day will cause you to overeat and consume more calories than if you would have eaten something beforehand. EAT BREAKFAST that morning. Before you arrive, fill up on a large salad or veggie-packed food or soup. “Research shows that having high-fiber snacks before a meal will decrease your hunger and help you eat less later”

3. Think About People, NOT Food! Concentrate on socializing and spending time with family having fun. Think about what your celebrating, not just what you are about to put in your mouth.

4. Plan Before You Eat! Before you arrive at the table, have an idea of what you can have and what your goals are. Check out all of the food options and develop a plan which will enable you to sample foods you enjoy without abandoning the good habits you’ve formed. Remember, it is OK to have some holiday treats, just spend your calories wisely and then enjoy the foods you choose.

5. Bring A Healthy Dish! Now there is at least one healthy option and others will appreciate you bringing a healthy dish and so will the host! It will be easier to stay on track when there are healthier options to choose from. We have a delicious treat for you; go to our site to get the mouth watering, easy to make Chocolate raspberry muffins. Your family will beg for more and they won’t have to know that is a healthy treat.

6. Eat small portions and avoid over grazing – put your portion on a small plate. Cut or divide the food in small portions and eat it slowly. If you drink one to two cups of water before you eat, you find that you will get full quicker and your hunger or snack attacks will go away much faster. Do you know how much water you should have a day, we can tell you.

7. Stay clear of gravy, dressings and high-calorie condiments.

8. Leave The Table When You’re Done! If you linger around the table you will be tempted to continue eating even after you’re done.

9. Flatter the food pusher – make lots of ummmms and wow when taking smaller bites. Say something like, “Aunt Suzy, you are a phenomenal cook. Too bad I am so stuffed right now; can I take a plate home because I do not want to miss out?”

10. Wear form fitting clothes. Shapewear under clothes is a great way to flatter your body, keep you connected to your body so when you stomach starts to protrude, you will know and it adds a little pressure to your midsection so you will not be able to eat a lot…think of the unbuttoning of clothes to get more food in. We like to try everything that we are suggesting and offering people. So we tried somebody shapers. Most of the products were bulky, slipped, slid and had a mind of its own. We eventually found a line that we loved and we were so impressed with the brand that we decided to add it to our product line. We are currently working with the company to design a line for people who are trying to get in shape. It will instantly shrink sizes off of your frame and you can even wear it under your gym clothes for smoother, smaller appearance. It does not move, I did kicks, jump squats and all kinds of craziness in this bodyshaper and it stayed put. There will also be something for the guys too. So be on the lookout for our new line of Shapewear.

11. Replace an unhealthy act with a healthy one – if you find that your will power betrayed you and you downed all the food that your plate could possibly carry, no need to abandon all your good efforts so far. People fall all the time and we always manage to get up. Go for a walk during after dinner and encourage your family to join you, play a family game that involves some type of activity, invest in an extra hour at the gym or grab your honey or friends for an evening of dancing, hiking or active games the next day. We have a list of boot camps that you can attend on our site that will surely burn all those ill-gotten calories. Contact us at info@bwellfit.com for more active suggestions

12. Limit alcohol – Is not just about empty calories but control. Think about how much control you have when you have had a few drinks. Drinking definitely effect how much control you have over your choices but you soon lose count of how much you have had. Besides, those drinks calories add up. Check out the chart before that details how many calories are in our favorite drinks and what you have to do to burn it off.

Click here to view chart