The Holiday Season is here!!!!!  This is a perfect time to relax and enjoy.  It is also a time to test your food management skills and goals.  Below is a variety of helpful suggestions for food selection and psychological well-being. 

• Don’t be unrealistic or too strict.  Setting your standards too high could result in total chaos.  Decide ahead of time which foods are your absolute favorite and enjoy them in moderation.  Skip the other foods that are not as tempting and you know you could do without. 
• Bring some food of your own if you are going to relatives or a party.  Make some healthy favorites such as hummus and crackers or fresh fruit and fill up on them and nibble on the rest of your favorites.
• Make better bad choices.  Honestly this is easy.  Find some healthier versions of the foods you love.  I would never go without my pumpkin pie on the holidays, but I always make it myself with half the sugar and on an apple oatmeal crust. 
• If you are eating at a buffet decide ahead of time to eat a large salad with nothing but vegetables and a little vinaigrette salad dressing or some vegetarian broth based soup.  Then wait 5-10 minutes and go back for one more plate only.
• Eat slowly.  It takes at least 20 minutes for your brain to tell your stomach it is full.  Most likely everybody around you will be constantly eating so eating as slow as you can will help you eat less and eat longer. 
• Have a finisher food.  Decide what food is your favorite (typically this is desert) and take a small portion of this food and tell yourself ahead of time that this will be the last food you eat.  Eat this food even slower. 
• Drink plenty of water.  Your body has a hard time telling the difference between thirst and hunger. 
• After a meal, go for a walk with your family to see holiday displays in your neighborhood. 
• Don’t stand or sit in view of the food.  Decide ahead of time what and how much you are going to eat and then depart.  After you are finished eating either go brush your teeth or start chewing gum to tell yourself that you are done eating. 
• Don’t go to any meal famished.  Remember to eat a minimum of three meals a day even on THANKSGIVINING!!!!!  Appetite increases and self-control decreases when your meals are too spaced apart.  If you go to the main meal after you have been starving yourself all day of course you will overeat.
• Focus on family, friends, and the meaning behind the holiday.  Believe it or not the holidays are not all about food.
• Be realistic. During the peak of holiday season maintaining weight loss may be more of a realistic goal than losing weight. 
• Include a leafy green salad with lunch and dinner meals and do the dipping method when using salad dressing.
• Go easy on the alcohol. 
• Aim for lower calorie beverages, such as light beer or wine, and limit yourself to 1-2 beverages.
• Exercise, Exercise, Exercise!   It is much harder to binge yourself silly on the holidays when you keep up with your exercise routine.  Exercise is a natural appetite suppressant, mood enhancer, and stress reliever.   
• Stay Positive!  If you eat more than you planned, remember tomorrow is a new day. Get back on track with a brisk walk and include a salad at your meals.
• The holiday season can be a very stressful time for some.  Two of the most important things to do for yourself is take care of yourself physically (eating right, getting enough sleep, and exercising) and emotionally.  Take time by yourself and relax and take stock of your emotional well-being.  It is ok to say no to people or tell people you have too much to do and cannot meet their expectations.   

Easy Ways to Exercise During the Holiday Season

The holiday season offers plenty of opportunities for extra eating and drinking. When busy schedules become even busier in the holiday rush, exercise is often a casualty. When energy consumed is much greater than energy expended throughout the holiday season, unwanted weight gain can occur. Here are a few simple ways to greet the New Year with energy and fitness to spare!

1. Set a specific and measurable fitness goal
   aim to walk a mile for every $10 you spend on gifts
2. Sign up for a race or event
   Turkey Trot or Jingle Bell Run/Ride are found in most cities. Make this an annual tradition with friends and family!
3. Bundle up
   Walk or bike around the neighborhood to view the display of Christmas lights instead of driving.
4. Leave your guilt at home
   Schedule a hard workout on a day when you’ll be attending a party later that night, so you won’t have to refuse treating yourself to a glass of wine or a holiday treat during the party.
5. Try a new sport
   Take a lesson for a sport you have never tried before, like snowboarding, snowshoeing, polar bear swimming, skiing, or ice hockey.
6. Stick with tradition
   Try ice skating, skiing, or sledding with your friends or family
7. Take it outside
   Instead of watching football inside, play flag football outside!
8. Be natural
   Cut down your own Christmas tree from a local tree farm! You will get plenty of activity while walking, chopping, and carrying your tree from the farm to your home.
9. Be a kid again
   Go Christmas caroling, create a snowman, or make snow angels around your neighborhood.
10. Shop until you drop
    Shop in an area where running errands will involve a lot of built-in walking in a festive atmosphere.
11. Plan an active get
    together
    When planning events with friends, suggest a walk in an area where you can look at holiday lights and displays before sitting down for a drink or coffee afterwards.
12. Plan ahead
    To fit in fitness during your holiday travels, find out if your hotel has an exercise room or pool, invest in portable exercise gear to pack in your suitcase, wear a pedometer, and pack a portable music player to motivate you through makeshift workouts.
13. Stay active on the road
    Take a brisk walk through airport terminals, perform yoga in your hotel room, body weight exercises in hotel room, aerobic exercise in room (jumping jacks, jump rope, march in place)
14. Involve your friends and families in your exercise routine
    Socialize during family walks, cycling trips, or an exercise video.
15. Diversify your routine
    It is okay if you cannot stick with your regular gym routine. Adding various resistance band exercises, bosu ball crunches, or stair climbing during your spare time can help keep off extra seasonal weight.

 Do you have any special fitness or nutrition tips that you use during the holidays to stay happy and healthy? If so, share them on our site for others to see!