Sunday, December 30, 2007

10 Tips to Lose Weight During the Holidays

There are steps you can take that will allow you to enjoy the holiday and still keep your waist line in check. The 10 tips listed below are designed to steer you away from the "Who cares, it's the holidays" mentality and the "I'll just go on a diet after the New Year" mantra.

  1. Eat breakfast: Do not attempt to fast going into this meal, or you will overeat for sure.
  2. Lighten up on your calorie intake a couple of days before and after. Your weekly average intake is more important than one day's intake, and you can balance it out if you are careful.
  3. Use a small plate: This keeps your portions in check. Sure, you can still pile high but that tends to get stares from other guests.
  4. Go ahead and get a dab of everything that you want to try; this will keep you from feeling deprived later.
  5. Do, however, choose between the bread and dessert. One or the other, your choice.
  6. Eat slowly and take a drink of something calorie-free in between bites. This will allow you time to tap into your body's fullness factor before you have overdone it.
  7. No seconds! This is a one-stop shop, not all you can eat!
  8. Resist the urge to plop on the couch afterwards. Move around, help do dishes, or take a walk. This will aid the digestion process and burn a few extra calories.
  9. If you are the host, divvy up the leftovers among the guests. You do not want to repeat this oh-so-good (but calorie-laden) fest any time soon. (Next stop: holiday parties.)
  10. Drink plenty of water, follow these tips, and avoid the scale for a couple of days afterwards and you will once again be thankful.
Aside from losing weight, try shopping for cheap auto insurance this holiday season!

Preventing Holiday Weight Gain

The holidays are here, which means we are enjoying the favorite seasonal dishes and desserts that we have been looking forward to all year. Feasting on delightful delicacies is a mainstay of any celebration, and it seems the bigger the celebration, the greater the feast. With Christmas and New Year's celebration, many of us end up at party after party, celebrating the holiday season and packing on the pounds. Many reports claim that the average person gains 5-10 pounds during the holiday season. It is much more difficult to lose weight than to gain, so if you put on even a pound or two on during the holidays, it is likely you will not lose it.



Making a plan now can help you enjoy the season without expanding your waistline. Follow these tips to keep yourself from becoming another holiday weight gain statistic.

  • Eat Regular Meals and Snacks: Skipping meals before or after a party will not do you any favors. It slows down your metabolism, and if you arrive at a party famished, you will likely make poor choices on what and how much to eat.
  • Get Out of the Kitchen: Once you have filled your plate, move to another room and engage in conversation or another activity that will take your mind off of food.
  • Make Healthy Contributions to Holiday Potlucks: Take a more traditional holiday dish and modify it to reduce calories, fat, and/or sugar.
  • Step Up the Exercise: The holidays are a busy time, but challenge yourself to find an extra 30 minutes in your day for physical activity.
  • Focus on Quality, Not Quantity: Peruse the buffet table and choose 3-5 dishes that are the most appealing. Take smaller portions of them since they are likely rich and more calorie-laden than the foods you are used to. Enjoy your favorites and skip the rest.
  • Don't Go Back for Seconds: Whether you're at a buffet table or an appetizer table, fill your plate once and do not go back.
  • Get to the Back of the Buffet Line: If you wait until most others have taken their food, you will be the one still eating while others are sitting with clean plates or going back for seconds.
  • Make Healthy or Non-Food Gifts: You will end up licking the bowls and tasting the finished product. If food gifts are a must, then try making something healthy like granola, whole wheat bread, home-canned fruits or vegetables, or jam.
  • Plan Ahead: Bring your own healthy snacks to work so you don't find yourself diving into a plate of fudge when your afternoon hunger kicks in.
  • Remember That Drinks Do Count: While these drinks add significantly to your calorie intake, they may not curb your appetite for food. If you want to enjoy a little more food, save the calories from the drinks and choose water instead.
  • Celebrate Sensibly: The holidays are a time to enjoy the company of good friends, and yes, good food. So go ahead and enjoy those treats that you only get this time of year, but do it sensibly.
Keeping the above tips in mind will help you enjoy all the holidays have to offer--without the guilt.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Weight Loss Strategy 4: Focus on Being Healthy

Another key on losing weight is to stay focused on being healthy, not on becoming thin. Many people become more successful at long term weight loss when their motivation changes from wanting to be thinner to wanting to be healthier.

Change your mindset to think about selecting foods that will help your body's health rather than worrying about foods that will affect your body's weight. The Food Pyramid offers a basic outline of the types and amounts of food you should eat each day to give your body the nutrients it needs for optimal health.


Eating the right foods and the right amounts of foods can help you live a longer, healthier life. Research has proven that many illnesses—such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure—can be prevented or controlled by eating right. Getting the nutrients you need, such as calcium and iron, and keeping your weight under control can help. Try to balance the calories you get from food with the calories you use through physical activity. It is never too late to start eating right.

Eat a variety of healthy foods, especially:

  • Vegetables. Choose dark-green leafy and deep-yellow vegetables.
  • Fruits. Choose citrus fruits or juices, melons, and berries.
  • Dry beans (such as red beans, navy beans, and soybeans), lentils, chickpeas, and peanuts.
  • Whole grains, such as wheat, rice, oats, corn, and barley.
  • Whole grain breads and cereals.

Nutrition is key. Anything "fast-food" is probably too fast to contain anything good for your body, anyway. Also avoid other cholesterol-rich foods. Take the time to prepare your meals and include plenty of vitamin rich vegetables in every meal. Not doing this robs your body of essential elements that keep you healthy and sickness-free. You need to eat a lot more fruit and vegetables.

When choosing soft drinks or sweets, go with diet or sugar-free options. Sucralose and aspartame, the two most common artificial sweeteners are FDA-approved and completely safe and, unlike natural sugars, have almost zero calories so you won't build up any fat.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Weight Loss Strategy 3: Food Diary

Keeping a food diary can be a huge asset in successful weight loss. Devote some time each day to record what you have eaten and how much, your hunger level prior to eating, and any feelings or emotions present at the time. A food diary can provide a large amount of self-awareness. It can identify emotions and behaviors that trigger overeating, foster greater awareness of portion sizes, and help you discover your personal food triggers.



Study any patterns that emerge from your food diary and identify where you may be able to make more healthful changes. A food diary provides an added benefit of keeping you focused on and committed to your goals. Start keeping a food diary today by printing our food diary.

The information you record in your food diary will help you and your doctor design an eating program to meet your special needs. Generally, food diaries are meant to be used for a whole week, but studies have shown that keeping track of what you eat for even 1 day can help you make changes in your diet.


How much: In this space indicate the amount of the particular food item you ate. Estimate the size (2" x 1" x 1"), the volume (1/2 cup), the weight (2 ounces) and/or the number of items (12) of that type of food.

What kind: In this column, write down the type of food you ate. Be as specific as you can. Include sauces and gravies. Don't forget to write down "extras," such as soda, salad dressing, mayonnaise, butter, sour cream, sugar and ketchup.

Time: Write the time of day you ate the food.

Where: Write what room or part of the house you were in when you ate. If you ate in a restaurant, fast-food chain or your car, write that location down.

Alone or with whom: If you ate by yourself, write "alone." If you were with friends or family members, list them.

Activity: In this column, list any activities you were doing while you were eating (for example, working, watching TV or ironing).

Mood: How were you feeling while you were eating (for example, sad, happy or depressed)?

Some basic rules to remember:

  • Write everything down: Keep your form with you all day, and write down everything you eat or drink. A piece of candy, a handful of pretzels, a can of soda pop or a small donut may not seem like much at the time, but over a week these calories add up!
  • Do it now: Don't depend on your memory at the end of the day. Record your eating as you go.
  • Be specific: Make sure you include "extras," such as gravy on your meat or cheese on your vegetables. Do not generalize. For example, record french fries as french fries, not as potatoes.
  • Estimate amounts: If you had a piece of cake, estimate the size (2" x 1" x 2") or the weight (3 ounces). If you had a vegetable, record how much you ate (1/4 cup). When eating meat, remember that a 3-ounce cooked portion is about the size of a deck of cards.
If you have any questions, call your family doctor.

Weight Loss Strategy 2: Weight Training

Significant weight loss benefits are attached to weight training in and of exercise. The basic equation is this: the more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you will burn. This is why world class weight lifters must eat thousands of calories a day to maintain their weight. Muscle is active tissue, fat is not. Thus, muscle "burns" a significant number of calories each day for its own maintenance.



In her book Strong Women Stay Slim, Miriam Nelson, a Tufts University researcher, showed that a group of women who followed a weight loss diet and did weight training exercises lost 44% more fat than those who only followed the diet. While aerobic activity can help burn calories, muscle's where it's at when it comes to giving your metabolism a significant daily boost even at rest.

A lot of cardio work, particularly of the endurance-based variety (e.g. distance running), will inhibit your maximal strength gains and ability to put on muscle mass. In other words, if your goal is to max out on the squat or bench press, or to get super huge, keep the long distance running to a minimum.

When done in the same workout, put strength training first. The body uses fuels in a particular order of preference. If you put a lot of cardio in before you do strength training, you’ll run out of gas.

If you’re just looking for general fitness, one no-brainer way to organize things is just to alternate weight training and cardio days. This gives you daily activity but mixes things up so you’re fresh.

Weight Loss Strategy 1: Exercise

It's nothing new, but EXERCISE is probably the most important predictor of whether you will succeed at long term weight loss and weight loss maintenance. In order for exercise to be helpful in weight loss, you should strive for a minimum of five 30 minute sessions per week.


The good news is that recent research has shown that three 10 minute sessions in a day are as good as one 30 minute session. This helps many in combating the old "no time for exercise" excuse. Once you give exercise a chance, you will begin to enjoy its positive benefits on your psyche as well; you will literally become "hooked."

Talk to your doctor about how much exercise is right for you. A good goal for many people is to work up to exercising 4 to 6 times a week for 30 to 60 minutes at a time. Remember, though, that exercise has so many benefits that any amount is better than none.

Here are some tips that will help you start and stick with an exercise program:

  • Choose something you like to do. Make sure it suits you physically, too. For instance, swimming is easier on arthritic joints.
  • Get a partner. Exercising with someone else can make it more fun.
  • Vary your routine. You may be less likely to get bored or injured if you change your routine. Walk one day. Bicycle the next. Consider activities like dancing and racquet sports, and even chores like chopping wood.
  • Choose a comfortable time of day. Don't work out too soon after eating or when it's too hot or cold outside. Wait until later in the day if you're too stiff in the morning.
  • Don't get discouraged. It can take weeks or months before you notice some of the changes from exercise.
  • Forget "no pain, no gain." While a little soreness is normal after you first start exercising, pain isn't. Stop if you hurt.
  • Make exercise fun. Read, listen to music or watch TV while riding a stationary bicycle, for example. Find fun things to do, like taking a walk through the zoo. Go dancing. Learn how to play tennis.