{"id":2155,"date":"2009-12-17T07:00:44","date_gmt":"2009-12-17T11:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glutenfreeislife.wordpress.com\/2009\/12\/17\/how-to-stay-fit-not-gain-dreaded-weight-over-the-holidays\/"},"modified":"2009-12-17T07:00:44","modified_gmt":"2009-12-17T11:00:44","slug":"how-to-stay-fit-not-gain-dreaded-weight-over-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/?p=2155","title":{"rendered":"How to stay fit &amp; not gain dreaded weight over the holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The holidays are a time of year that I really look forward to.&nbsp; Not only do I enjoy the foods that are the traditional holiday fare &amp; start showing up after Halloween, but I really enjoy all the family time.&nbsp; Couple all those heavier foods &amp; treats with busier days &amp; nights and you could end up with some unwanted extra weight after New Year&#8217;s day.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>So, how do you avoid gaining an extra pound or 10?&nbsp; Moderation.&nbsp; Sure, that is easy to say.&nbsp; Is it easy to do?&nbsp; Here are some tips that I have found to be extremely helpful.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Don&#8217;t deny yourself your favorite treats.&nbsp; When you go to a party, go ahead &amp; have small servings of your favorite treats.&nbsp; Stay away from things that are around all the time or aren&#8217;t your favorites &amp; use those calories for the things you really love or only come once a year &#8211; gingerbread, egg nog, fudge, etc.&nbsp; Go ahead, have one, but stop there.&nbsp; No need to go crazy &amp; stuff yourself, though.&nbsp; Chances are you will feel uncomfortable &amp; then beat yourself up for eating too much.&nbsp;\n<li>Try to eat as close to your regular diet as possible.&nbsp; Don&#8217;t skip meals or starve yourself to save up for a big splurge at a party. Most often this backfires &amp; because you are so hungry you end up eating way more &amp; then feeling like an overstuffed turkey at the holidays.&nbsp; If you eat sensible meals throughout the day, maybe just a little lighter, you will still be able to enjoy some treats at the party.&nbsp;\n<li>Don&#8217;t skip the gym.&nbsp; Stick as close as you can to your regular exercise schedule.&nbsp; Not only will this help to keep off the extra pounds from the treats &amp; drinks, but it will help with holiday stress, too.&nbsp; Sure, you may only work out 3 instead of 5 days, but 3 is better than nothing.&nbsp; If you don&#8217;t have a gym or are traveling, get out for a nice, brisk walk after a heavy meal or in lieu of a nap.&nbsp;\n<li>Between holidays &amp; functions, follow your regular diet &amp; exercise plan.&nbsp; Don&#8217;t fall off the wagon just because you may have consumed an entire pumpkin pie or pan of brownies.&nbsp; Pick yourself up, dust yourself off &amp; have a nice, healthy breakfast the next morning.&nbsp; Don&#8217;t keep telling yourself that you will start that new healthy lifestyle come January 1st &#8211; <strong>do it now.<\/strong>&nbsp; There is no time like the present (and I don&#8217;t mean the one you wrapped up for your parents or siblings).&nbsp; And, you will most likely feel better eating healthy foods rather than continuing the junk food, treats &amp; alcohol assault on your body.&nbsp;\n<li>Make sure to eat your fruits &amp; vegetables.&nbsp; It is no secret that holiday treats are lacking in the fresh fruit &amp; vegetable department.&nbsp; To help stay healthy &amp; keep off some of that unwanted weight, add fresh fruits &amp; veggies to your meals or snacks.&nbsp; Not only do they help fill you up, but they are full of fiber &amp; vitamins.&nbsp; Then you won&#8217;t feel as guilty having that sweet potato casserole that Aunt Martha slaved over.&nbsp; You know the one I am talking about &#8211; topped with candied walnuts &amp; marshmallows. \ud83d\ude09\n<li>Drink plenty of water.&nbsp; If you don&#8217;t already, make sure you are drinking water all day long.&nbsp; To help avoid feeling like you got hit by a bus in the morning, alternate your drinks with a glass of water at the next party.&nbsp; Not only will this help slow you down, as we all tend to lose track when we get chatty, but keeping yourself hydrated will help ward off that nasty hangover.&nbsp; <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Try some of these tips this year &amp; see how they work for you.&nbsp; I know that I always feel so much better when I eat healthy foods.&nbsp; Yes, I love my treats, but I enjoy those in moderation.&nbsp; You have seen my &#8220;Cookie-A-Day&#8221; posts by now, I am sure.&nbsp; I freeze most of these cookies.&nbsp; I do try them, yes, as do my kids, but I don&#8217;t go overboard.&nbsp; They will be there tomorrow.&nbsp; Also, I know that they are in the freezer, so if I am really craving a <a href=\"http:\/\/glutenfreeislife.wordpress.com\/2009\/12\/03\/cookie-a-day-day-3-dark-chocolate-snowstorms\/\" target=\"_blank\">Dark Chocolate Snowstorm<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/glutenfreeislife.wordpress.com\/2009\/12\/09\/cookie-a-day-day-6-almond-cranberry-bites\/\" target=\"_blank\">Almond Cranberry Bite<\/a>, I will grab one &amp; make that dessert.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>I wish you all a happy &amp; healthy holiday season!&nbsp; Share some of your tips below &#8211; I am always interested in hearing others tricks for keeping the craziness that is the season at bay. <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"display:inline;margin:0;padding:0;\" id=\"scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:15711b01-b1df-4edc-8b1e-2c404d39888a\" class=\"wlWriterSmartContent\">LiveJournal Tags: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.livejournal.com\/interests.bml?int=exercise\" rel=\"tag\">exercise<\/a>,<a href=\"http:\/\/www.livejournal.com\/interests.bml?int=healthy%20tips\" rel=\"tag\">healthy tips<\/a>,<a href=\"http:\/\/www.livejournal.com\/interests.bml?int=running\" rel=\"tag\">running<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/?p=2155\"><\/div>\n<script><!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_div_class=\"linkwithin_hook\";\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 135270;\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts with Thumbnails\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The holidays are a time of year that I really look forward to.&nbsp; Not only do I enjoy the foods that are the traditional holiday fare &amp; start showing up after Halloween, but I really enjoy all the family time.&nbsp; &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/?p=2155\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n<script><!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_div_class=\"linkwithin_hook\";\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 135270;\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts with Thumbnails\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1R9ov-yL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}