A Holiday Game Plan

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But if you have a game plan, you can enjoy the season without adding extra weight! Here are a few tips to keep your weight loss and fitness goals on track:

Don’t exercise as an excuse to indulge. You might say to yourself, “Oh, I’ll have a second serving of mash potatoes.” Well, that extra 300 calories you can eat in under 15 seconds, will take you at least 40 minutes or more of moderate cardio to burn off.

Slow down. Allow your body to register the food you are putting in your mouth. For those fast gobblers, your body and brain can’t keep up with your mouth to know when it’s full. So 20 minutes is a good target amount of time to eat. Also, include a sip of water before each bite.

Cook with low-fat ingredients. There are many healthy substitutes for cooking a delicious meal. For example, try low-fat, sodium-free chicken broth, or low-fat or fat-free sour cream for the mash potatoes. Also, sugar substitutes can save you hundreds of extra calories.

Holidays can be stressful times for many and it’s one of the main factors inducing people overeat during the holidays. If there are too many relatives, kids or barking dogs all sitting around in one room, instead of reaching for a muffin or another beer, take a break, get up and walk outside for some fresh air. If you’re the one who is so kindly cooking, plan ahead and have everyone bring a dish.

Watch out for pre-dinner grazing. Sure, if you’re the cook, you can taste a little here and there. If you’re simply passing by the kitchen to “test” a few things before they are served, you could be consuming an extra 500 calories.

Lastly, wear tighter fitting clothes!

Happy holidays!

For more tips, visit my blog at www.suzietrainsmaui.com/blog, or call me at (808) 283-2121.