Posts Tagged by Relaxation

If you don’t struggle with holiday weight gain, you’re in the minority—and possibly secretly hated by many. That’s a problem I’m not qualified to address. For the rest of us, it’s a safe guess to say that the past month has been a daily struggle of choosing which of the many delicacies presented to us should be indulged in, and which we should pass up.
Unfortunately, this week is possibly the hardest of all: many of those Christmas goodies are still sitting around taunting us; we still have New Year’s festivities to look forward to; and our grand resolutions of healthy eating won’t begin for another week. Why not live it up? We’ve got an entire week before our self-enforced deprivation begins!
Well, for one thing, the more weight we pile on, the harder it will be to take it off. And face it, we’ve got enough of a challenge as it is. Following are some tips to keep you from tipping the scale even more this week.

1. Remember that aging food doesn’t lose calories the way it loses nutrients and flavor. It would be nice if that stale old sweet roll or dried out brownie sitting on the counter was lacking in calories as much as it is in taste, but it doesn’t work that way. Ask yourself before picking up that once-delicious goody if it’s still worth the full impact of calories. Chances are it will be easier to walk away.

2. Select special days for splurging. We’ve been conditioned to believe that feeling deprived will ruin our holidays. And to a large measure that could be true. But you don’t have to splurge non-stop in order to feel Christmas cheer. Select a few days—in this case possibly just New Year’s Eve—as your holiday. Treat the rest of the days like any other, with the exception of maybe one goodie per day.

3. Cut back on regular foods in order to indulge on the luscious ones. In a perfect world, we’d just eat a diet of healthy foods. But living in the real world, we know that’s not going to happen, especially during the holidays. So if you know you’re going to eat a piece of cheese cake with dinner, trade it for half a sandwich at lunch, or half your entrée at dinner. Sure, nutrition-wise we’re better off with a full healthy sandwich and no cheesecake, but in the end your body doesn’t care where the calories come from. So cut back overall if you know you’re doing to indulge in low-nutrient high-fat foods.

4. Watch the grazing. Do you find it hard to resist that plate of fudge, the box or chocolate or candy dish? Join the club. It’s those extra little bites that can send a regular diet over the edge. Pick a snack that you consider a treat, but will keep your mouth filled with some healthy: pistachio nuts, cashews, a vegetable platter with a cheese ball or dip are healthy diversions from the goodies surrounding us.

5. Finally, don’t plan a big-grand once-in-a-lifetime diet for the New Year.The suspense will only make it easier to come up with excuses to indulge this week. And it has been proven time and again that the most successful diets are common sense changes of healthy eating combined with exercise that you can stick with for the long-term—even next year’s holiday season.

Enjoy the season without weight gain or dieting.

There’s nothing like an advent calendar—joyfully updated by young children—to add stress to the parents of those little tots. The calendar at my house has the number 3 on it. Yikes. As in just 3 days to Christmas! And there are sooo many things that haven’t been done: card in the mail? Nope. Gifts for the neighbors? Uh uh. Gift for the boss? Nada.

So what’s a person to do when the holiday is almost here and you’re not prepared?
First and very foremost—relax. Christmas will come whether you have every bit of mistletoe in its place or not, and the only thing that will truly ruin it is if the Grinch moves into your house.

I know this because he was there this morning. In the form of me. And it was not pretty. I was making that list, checking it twice, and it was much too long. There was just too much to do in three days time and I was not going to make it. So when my little one approached me with two cheap snow globes in his hand and a broad grin on his face, I told him to throw them away. “I’m done decorating and those are just cheap and ugly.”

Ho, Ho, Ho.

Yep, that little smile disappeared in an instant. “My teacher gave me this one,” he said, deflated. And that’s when it hit me. I am not Santa. Or even Santa’s helper. I am Grinch, green and true. And that’s also when I started to put together this list.

Which leads to tip number two: Prioritize. There are some things that just have to get done, but lots of it will pass without the world collapsing. Figure out which is which. The boss probably should get a gift if you want a job next year, but it can be as simple as a note of gratitude. If cards haven’t been mailed, send an email with a promise to do better next year; or make it a New Year’s greeting. Send out a text to the neighbors and tell them much you appreciate them. They’ll remember that even more than a plate of cookies. It’s amazing how many things can get crossed off your list, or at least made simpler, when you prioritize and use a little creativity.

Tip number three: Take a look at the budget. It probably won’t be pretty, and that ‘ol Grinch may flare up for a minute or two, but the last few days before Christmas are when budgets are truly blown. If you’ve been good with your credit cards, don’t mess up now. If you have dug into your credit, keep the hole as shallow as possible. It may be hard to pass up those big last-minute deals, but your bank account will thank you next month.
Tip number four: Do some service. Whether it’s making a donation, visiting someone lonely, or even spending an extra few minutes with your children; doing something good for someone else is the best way to remember the purpose of the season and bring a smile to your face.

Tip number five is akin to tip number one, but it can’t be said enough: RELAX! Follow these directions carefully: Build a fire (or flip on the gas switch next to the fireplace); light a scented candle or put some mulling spices into a pot of apple cider; make yourself a warm drink; sit down; put your feet up; inhale as deeply as you can; and then exhale, long and slow, and send any Grinch thoughts away with that breath.