How To Avoid The Holiday Weight Gain

Ok, so we already know that the average person gains 10 -15 additional pounds over the holidays beginning with halloween in October.  Ugggh!   I can't afford that weight gain.  Can you?

Let's face it, we all have eaten our kids candy after they've gone to bed following a night of trick or treating right?  What about the massive carb loading at Thanksgiving, or making way more cookies than Santa could ever eat in one night, only to leave us eating the remainder of them?  Sound familiar?

Well this holiday season I decided to create a plan starting at halloween to scare off those ugly pounds.  I mean after all, what comes after the holidays season?  You guessed it, swimsuit season (at least it does here in Texas). Yikes!

Halloween Candy Game Plan:

• Buy candy I don't like to ensure I will give it away rather than munch on it all night.
• Unlike some of you, I don't have a child living at home anymore, so eating their candy after bedtime won't be a temptation.  If you do have a child at home, put their candy up in their closet so you have to enter their room and chance waking them to steal a piece.  Haha, who wants to wake the kids for a midnight sugar craving?

Thanksgiving Game Plan:

• Look up healthy alternative recipes for typical Thanksgiving dishes and email them to my family and friends so that everyone can make healthier dishes this year.  
• Drink a lot!  No I don't mean alcohol, but water or green tea help to balance the body and keep me feeling full so that I don't overeat during our giant Thanksgiving meal.
• Take Ultimate Thermafit, which is a supplement from It Works! Global that not only boosts my metabolism daily to help burn more calories, but also has a mild appetite suppressant so that my brain will get the message when I am full.  It's safe, natural and effective.  

Christmas Game Plan:

• Hopefully, those recipes I sent out to friends and family will still be in their recipe boxes, but just in case I am going email them all reminders and tips for healthy cooking during the holidays.
• I will also be cooking myself at this holiday, so I can make sure that the recipes are as healthy as can be without sacrificing taste.
• I want to taste it all, so I am going to make sure to get small portions so that I avoid overindulging.
• No cookies for Santa this year.  Instead of making cookies with my nieces and nephews this year, I will be helping them to make Reindeer Feed, and if you have ever done this, you know that glitter and birdseed are not very appetizing.  
• I will be practicing my refusal skills throughout the holiday season, and because when I say I'm trying to stay slim their response is usually something like, "you're already thin, you need to eat," I will be using more health related responses.  Who is gonna argue with someone concerned about their health?
• Focus on the Reason for the Season.  Instead of making it about the food, I am going to try to focus on the reason we celebrate and the family and friends that I get to share it with.  This is truly more important than the food anyway.

Additional Plans:

• I have committed to an increased activity program during the holidays as well.  Instead of my normal exercise program, I am adding an additional 15 minutes of activity to my plan.  This way over a weeks time, I will be getting an extra hour and 15 minutes of exercise.  This will equate to one extra workout each week.
• I will be making sure to fill my day with healthy snacks in between meals so that I am not binging at meal times.  Ultimate Pro-Fit mixed with a healthy fruit to make a superfood smoothy or an It's Essential snack bar will be filling me with healthy calories and help me to keep from overeating when it's time for a meal.  Plus it will keep my body in fat burning mode by eating often throughout the day.
• I recruited an accountability partner too.  My husband and I both have worked very hard this year to get our weight and health under control, so we have committed to keep each other on track with our eating, exercise and supplementation, because we know that it takes control in all three areas to keep making progress.

Feel free to share your holiday game plan in the comment section below.  Until then, keep working on that health, happy life you deserve!

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One Week To A Slimmer You!

No need to starve yourself or run until you collapse.  The fat cells are not going to shrink super quickly anyway.  If you didn't put the weight on in one week you will likely not lose it in a week either, however, you can reduce your stress which causes inflammation and you can also reduce your fluid retention with just a few small changes in lifestyle.

It's important to realize that we all struggle with day to day stress that causes excess fat cell inflammation and I have learned a few ways to reduce that in order to minimize those effects.  I have struggled for years with problem areas like belly fat that, even though I exercise and eat right, I could never seem to get toned and tightened.  Frustrating to say the least, but I have discovered that a few minor changes can really supercharge your efforts.

Don't Stress About It...

One of the biggest enemies we have in the weight loss realm is the stress hormone cortisol.  The more we stress over things like weight loss, work and overall life issues, the more cortisol our body produces.  This actually causes weight gain, especially around our belly.  If you find you stress over the small stuff, then take a time out for meditation or a massage to help reduce that stress.  Take regular time outs throughout your day to do some deep breathing that will help calm your mind and body and keep that pesky cortisol under control.  

Remember How Our Bodies Respond To Food...

As humans, we were created to be gatherers and hunters.  That means when we don't supply our body with food regularly, our brain tells our body we are starving and that it should store everything it can.  It  goes into survival mode and therefore shuts down our metabolism (our bodies ability to burn fat).  This means that if you only eat one or two large meals a day, skip breakfast or take in too few calories then you're actually sabotaging your bodies ability to burn fat and causing extra weight gain and fat storage.  

Eat 5 to 6 smalls meals throughout the day so that your body knows that you have the ability to "gather" the necessary food to survive.  That way your brain never gets to a point where it feels the need to send the signal to shut down your fat burning cycle.  Even though it may seem like you are eating all the time, you will actually be increasing your body's ability to burn fat.

Drink Water And Lots Of It...

By increasing your water intake on a daily basis, your body is able to flush out toxins and impurities in the blood much better, and it will also help to keep the digestive track clear.  By consuming 6-8 glasses of water daily, you will improve the oxygen flow in your blood and get the necessary nutrients to the skin and organs so that your body can stay balanced and function at it's peak.

Reduce Your Sodium...

Yes, this means lay off the salt when you are cooking.  If you eat pre-packaged foods like TV dinners, frozen weight loss dinners, or canned soups and veggies then you are getting large amounts of sodium which can make you feel bloated.  If you really can't live without the flavor of the salt, then try a dry rub of garlic and pepper instead.  The garlic helps with immune health and the pepper increases your metabolism slightly so you can get the best of both worlds: flavor and fat burn!

Don't Forget Your Tea...

Green tea actually helps to boost the body's metabolism.  Additionally, green tea's antioxidants, called catechins, scavenge for free radicals that can damage DNA and contribute to cancer, blood clots, and atherosclerosis.  It only makes sense to utilize the benefits of green tea for both the health and weight loss.

Eat Your Veggies...

Be sure to eat fruits and vegetables high in Vitamin C.  A recent study at Arizona State University found a correlation between the amount of Vitamin C in the blood and the body's ability to burn fat.  Blood that was higher in Vitamin C tends to have a better ability to utilize fat molecules.  Bell peppers are the food that has the highest concentration of Vitamin C, so by adding those to your salad or sandwich you will do well for increasing your Vitamin C levels.  

Up Your Fiber...

While high fiber foods tend to cause gas in the short term, they are great for flushing out the digestive tract of fat particles that want to hang around.  High fiber diets also help to normalize the bowels so it tends to offer some relief for irritable bowel syndrome as well.  Additionally, high fiber foods tend to require more chewing time so it gives the body the time to register when you are no longer hungry, so you are less likely to overeat.  Because fiber tends to be released absorbed slower into the blood stream, it helps to keep blood sugar levels balanced and will help to avoid the sudden sluggishness you can get after a high fat, high carbohydrate meal.  

So while you aren't going to see a significant weight loss in one week, you can make some very simple changes to get rid of the bloating and inflammation that you have, and also significantly make changes to your body's ability to burn fat.  These changes can make a huge impact on your weight loss efforts over time, and you will see a significant difference in your energy levels and overall health.  

Until next time, keep reaching for that healthy, happy life you deserve!

Recommended Products:

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Whether your goal is weight loss, athletic performance, or a simple way to eat healthy, Ultimate ProFIT SuperfoodNutrition Mix offers a superior blend of proteins, mood-elevating “superfoods,” and fiber that is proven to produceultimate results*. Use it in shakes or smoothies, bake with it, or even mix it with your food!

Ultimate ProFIT is powered by:

• Sustain-It™, a smarter protein blend for maximum bioavailability in every gram
• FITzyme™, a cutting-edge blend of enzymes, helps maximize your body’s ability to absorb Sustain-It™.
• FITboost™, an antioxidant blend of mood-elevating “superfoods” for immune system health.*
• Non-hormonal and non-GMO whey and soy proteins
• Natural, whole-food ingredients with only 100 calories per serving!

The new It's Essential weight loss energy bar pairs delicious flavor with powerful ancient grains to supercharge your weight loss results! Its dark chocolate raspberry taste is truly a flavor to crave, and the addition of a new, cutting-edge ingredient, SolaGrain, packs It's Essential with dietary fiber to promote digestive health.