Celebrations: The Gift of Health

Celebrations: The Gift of Health

We celebrate many traditions over the holidays, but how about celebrating personal accomplishments such as mastering challenges and attending to your own health, weight and fitness goals?  The following tips can help you succeed in minding your health this holiday season.  Celebrate your "self-care" efforts.   Aren't you worth it?

See Your Success

Visualize how you intend to handle potentially precarious eating situations.  Write, review, and post your plans days before arriving at holiday gatherings to make it easier to implement your ideas.

Burn Calories

Walk, hike, bike, garden, or exercise in other ways the day before, the day of, and the day after parties and holiday meals.  Strive to exercise at least 30 minutes, 5 days/week.

Buffer Hunger

Arrive at gatherings without being over hungry.  Snack one hour before the event.  Try moderate portions of veggie soup, veggies, low fat cheese, cottage cheese, hummus, nut butter, or nuts.

Alcohol Effects

To avoid overconsumption, keep from drinking alcohol on an empty stomach. Snack at least 15 minutes before drinking alcohol.

It's Just Another Meal

Consider holiday gatherings as "meals" rather than as "feasts".  Serve yourself modest portions.  Eat mainly protein and veggies with a hint of starch.  Select only samplings of your favorite indulgences to avoid deprivation but allow for progress.  If you sense that samplings will trigger overeating, stay away from them entirely.

Feeding Physical Hunger

Before eating, try to distinguish physical from emotional hunger.  Serve yourself only the amount of food that will satisfy your physical hunger.  When you're comfortably full, stop eating.

Suspend Seconds

Wait 10 to 20 minutes before going back for small portions of "seconds".  It takes your brain this long to register fullness.

Mindful Eating

Be conscious, not passive. Eat slower, chew well, focus on the taste and texture of the food. Aim for comfortable fullness and satisfaction instead of becoming overfull.

Patience Wins

Be patient with your efforts.  Small positive changes are better than none.

Sampling Counts

While in the kitchen or at gatherings, be mindful about "sampling" food.  Small bites can add up to a full meal of calories in no time.

Frosting= 60 cal. per Tbsp
Chocolate Chips= 100 cal. per 2 Tbsp
Candy= 100 cal. per piece
Cookie Dough= 120 cal. per bite
Cookie= 150 cal. per medium size

Olives= 50 cal. per 7 whole Olives
1 Cracker with cheese= 55 cal.
5 chips with dip= 130 cal.
Peanuts= 100 cal. per 20 pieces
6 hours d'oeuvres = 500 cal (average)

Each Item Below is Approximately 100 Calories

Meats, Eggs, Cheese

Shrimp Cocktail............16 pieces
Sushi............3-4 small pieces
Cheese Cubes............1"x1" piece
Turkey............2 oz.
Deviled Egg............2 halves
Quiche, cheese & bacon............2"x2" piece
Lean roast beef............1 1/2 oz


Sweets

Truffle or See's Candy............1 piece
Cookie............1 small
Pecan Pie............1.5"x1.5" piece
Pumpkin Pie............2"x2" piece

Veggies, Dips, Nuts, Chips, Crackers, Bread

Veggies (raw)............4 cups
Guacamole or Hummus............4 Tbsp.
Ranch Dressing............1 Tbsp.
Almonds............15
Peanuts............20
Chips............9
Triscuits............11
Dinner roll............1 small

Beverages

Apple Cider............6 fl. oz
Hot Cocoa............4 fl. oz
Wine............3 1/2 fl. oz
Gin/Vodka.Run............1 1/2 fl. oz
Beer............8 fl. oz
Eggnog............3 fl. oz
Mixers: Tonic Water, Coke, Fruit Juice............10 fl. oz, 8 fl oz, 6 fl. oz
 

Putting New Habits in Motion

Putting New Habits into Motion

January is a time to reset the unhealthy habits acquired during the holiday season and is a time to forgive yourself for any setbacks experienced during these treat-filled times.   In these times of change, remember the famous saying of Alexander Pope, “to err is human; to forgive, divine.”

1. Establish an exercise routine
   Aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.  Daily movement will help shed any of the holiday weight gain, and will ensure you are developing healthy habits to keep up for the entire year.
    
2. Clean up your diet
   If you are easily tempted by holiday treats, clear them out of your house.  Throw out any food that will not provide healthy nourishment.
    
3. Be forgiving of yourself
   Having one unhealthy meal in a day is no reason to give up on your health for the day.  Instead, vow to eat more veggies than normal the next day and make sure to drink plenty of water. 
    
4. Stay hydrated
   Often we mistake our thirst for hunger.  Buy a colorful reusable water bottle to remind yourself to drink more water.  Drink a glass as soon as you wake up, one before every meal and one before you go to sleep at night.  See how much more energy you have when you are hydrated and notice how you skin glows when you drink more water. 

The whole year is ahead of you.  This leaves ample time to make small changes to equate to a long-term lifestyle change.  Rome was not built in a day; neither will all unhealthy habits diminish overnight.  This year, write down one goal per month you wish to work on and build on these goals every month.  By the end of the year you will have 12 new healthy habits that will seem second nature.

We encourage you to be open-minded to change and to be patient with your hard work.  We promise it will be worth your while.