Holiday Parties

This is a big week for holiday gatherings. Office parties, neighborhood get togethers, family gatherings, school parties, the list goes on and on. How we approach these social events will have a big impact on what number is on the scale on January 2, 2011. Remember, our goal is to Hold our Weight steady over the holiday season.

First and foremost - DO NOT GO TO THE PARTY HUNGRY!! Although it may seem like a smart idea to eat very little all day and save the calories for the party. No, No and No. All this will do is lessen your self restraint at the party. You will be so hungry it will be hard to make healthy choices. A better strategy is to stick to your daily eating routine. Eat breakfast, a light lunch and another snack prior to the party. Place the emphasis on lean protein, fruits and veggies. Salad with tuna or chicken is a great choice for lunch as the protein will stick with you. Many of my clients who balked at the "snack before the party idea" have been pleasantly surprised this season with the results of this simple tactic. A cheese stick and apple or a handful of almonds are quick and easy and will stabilize your blood sugar, thus reducing cravings at the party.

Scan the buffet table or menu before deciding what you want to eat. Don't just fill up your plate as you go, decide what you really want and only put that on your plate. Shrimp is a common holiday food that is a great lean protein choice. Veggies with hummus for dip is another great appetizer choice in place of chips with fatty onion or cheese dip. Try putting your food on a salad plate rather than a dinner plate. Less food fits!!

Take a breather after you eat! Once you have finished what you have on your plate, wait a while before you go back for seconds. It takes about 20 minutes for our brains to register that we are full. Another advantage to waiting is there is more chance the food will be gone!!

Only put what you really want on your plate. Cheese and crackers, chips and pretzels are all foods you can have anytime. Why waste your calories on these? Allowing yourself only the foods you really want will cut back on wasted calories.

Stop after 1 or 2 bites. Decide wether the food is really worth it or if perhaps you only needed a taste and don't really need to finish the whole thing. We do not have to be members of the CLEAN PLATE CLUB.

Dilute your Drinks. No, I do not mean you have to go half and half with beer and water. What I mean is that always start the party with a bottle of water and then have the beverage that you want. If you want a second glass of wine, that is fine but you have to have a water or seltzer first. By alternating non caloric beverages with those with calories, you half your calories consumed AND water fills up your stomach and you may eat less.

Become aware of how many calories you are consuming and make wise decisions. A glass of eggnog can eat up 450 calories of your budget and hit you with a whopping 22 grams of fat. Remember, I am not saying you cannot have eggnog, just be aware of how many calories it contains. A tasty alternative to egg nog that still gives you the holiday feel is hot spiced cider - 80 calories and no fat. Holiday punch can have 220-250 calories while a glass of champagne contains 120 calories. Lastly, be aware of what you are mixing into your mixed drinks. Mixing with diet soda and tonic water or even better seltzer can dramatically reduce the sugar and calories in a drink.

Remember why you are at the party - to socialize with family and friends. Having a plan of attack in regard to your food and drink choices will lessen the guilt and also increase the chances of a positive outcome in our attempt to HOLD IT FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

A client gave me a great idea for decreasing the fat in a holiday dip - substitute fat free plain greek yogurt for sour cream when making your onion dip. It has the same thick consistency as sour cream but much more protein and less fat. Just add the onion soup packet to the yogurt, stir and add additional spices if you wish.

I hope some of these tips will be helpful over the next few weeks. Remember, the holidays can often be stressful and exhausting, BUT planning ahead, having healthy foods in the fridge to grab at a moments notice and maintaining an exercise routine are all ways to counteract this stress.

I would like to extend my best wishes for a peaceful holiday season and healthy 2011 to you and your family.

Noreen

Reformer!!

One of the suggestions I mentioned at the start of the holiday season was to add a class to our regular exercise regime. WELL! I decided to sign up for a reformer class. I am a long distance runner and have been battling a nagging hamstring for more months than I would like to admit. I decided it was time to increase my flexibility and work on toning, 2 things that the reformer are suppose to be great for. Today was day 1 - all I can say is WOW! If you have not tried it, you should. I know Susan can walk give you a brief overview of the process and I really was amazed at how stretched out I felt after the class. I will keep you all posted on how it is going. GIVE IT A TRY!!

Whatever you decide, by adding 1 or 2 more sessions of exercise, it will really help you HOLD IT FOR THE HOLIDAYS!!

Keep up the good work - Noreen MSRD

Blogger Jim heads into the holidays!

For those of you new to the blog, Blogger Jim is following the LEAN lifestyle with much success. He has wonderfully agreed to blog about his progress. Here is his latest entry. Way to go Jim!!!


December 1 - 2010.


Nine months ago I weighed 241 pounds and pacing easily toward 250. Today I'm at 230 steady. I eat so much better than I have in years and the change has come about virtually effortlessly.

Life changes so far: My eating habits are FAR better than ever (in fact, all of my weight loss is due to this), I'm eating less, more often through the day. And I'm getting pretty good at eating breakfast daily and starting to drink water as well.

Our goal is to lose three or four more pounds and get to 227 lbs before Christmas.

How we'll do it: At least 20 mins of cardio per day, Religiously eat breakfast and drink at least three bottles of water per day.

Why Protein??

Often people will ask me why I put such an emphasis on protein when I talk about a healthy diet. Why can't we just worry about calories and leave it at that?? Although all nutrients are important protein has an interesting impact on our bodies. They keep us full and help to stabilize our blood sugar which in turn often helps to decrease cravings for sugars and refined carbohydrates.

What is protein? Proteins are made up of long chains of amino acids that serve as the building material for all of our bodies cells and tissues. They are important in the hormonal regulation of metabolism and help with antibodies that are important when fighting infection.

Where is protein in food? The two food groups that are the best source of protein are the meat and meat alternative group and the dairy group. Lean meats, fish, lowfat and non fat dairy, nuts, seeds, legumes (beans such as chick peas and garbanzo beans) peanut and other nut butters and some breads and cereals. Vegetables also provide small levels of protein.

A neat aspect of protein is that our bodies have to work harder (thus burn more calories) to break down protein so when we replace empty calories with protein calories we burn more calories.

I suggest trying to incorporate a protein into each meal or snack you have during the day. This can be as simple as spreading peanut butter on your apple or having a cheese stick with some whole grain crackers. This will help to regulate your blood sugar and keep you full until the next time you need to eat. I have clients who have lost a considerable amount of weight by making this one simple change in their diet. A nice side effect is that they did this with little or no hunger.

If you have additional questions regarding protein or need reccomendations on how much you need to consume daily, please feel free to contact me. I have included a delicious recipe for taco soup that someone gave me. It is high in both protein and fiber and best of all tastes DELICIOUS!

Taco Soup10 ounce canned yellow corn
28 ounce fat free chicken broth
15 ounce can black beans
8 ounce cannellini beans
29 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 cup water
15 1/2 ounce can of fat free refried beans
1/2 onion chopped
Saute onion in pan
combine refried beans, tomatoes and onion and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients (do not drain beans or corn)
Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. SImmer for 45 minutes

Enjoy! Noreen

Time to Focus!

I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing holiday. I am not a Black Friday shopper so no stress there. Now that the holiday is over it is time to focus and set some goals for the next couple of weeks, as they will be filled with fun, social gatherings and quite a few challenges. It is how you approach the challenges that will dictate how you feel both mentally and physically. Take honest stock on how your eating and exercise went over the weekend. What were you successful with and what backfired and needs to be adapted? Here are some tips to get back on track.

1. Get rid of anything in the house that will prove tempting this week. I will call this a trigger food. Now that the holiday is over, pie, sweets, stuffing etc... is just an extra. We have all had a taste, need to get back to our regular way of eating.

2. Go grocery shopping and stock the house with staples that you will need for the week. Make sure to get fruits, veggies and lots of lean proteins for both meals and snacks. Examples are lf cottage cheese, lean meats, low fat cheese, hundred calorie packs of almonds or walnuts and greek yogurts. Having plenty of protein to combine with your whole grain and complex carbohydrates will help keep the blood sugar stable and reduce cravings.

3 For the next couple of days try very hard to reduce your sugar intake as best you can, especially if you overdid it this weekend. The longer we go with reducing sugar, the easier it is to cut it out.

4. Choose a behavior that you would like to work on this week. Do not select something that is unrealistic to achieve. Start small and we will work from there each week. For example, increase you water intake or food logging for the week are 2 things that are manageable but not overwhelming. The purpose of this activity is to start changing behaviors for a lifetime. CHanges that we can live with and make a part of our everyday life.

5. Lastly, add 1 additional session of exercise to your regular routine. This extra 30-60 minutes of exercise will help boost your metabolism and help to burn off any extra calories that may have been consumed.

If anyone would like to discuss metabolism and its impact on weight loss please feel free to contact me and we can talk about it and see if you would like your measured.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!

Enjoy, Noreen

Happy Thanksgiving!

I would like to wish you all a wonderful and restful holiday tomorrow. That being said, I am also going to arm you with some weapons to help you get thru the day successfully.

1. EAT BREAKFAST!!! This is very important. You want to keep your blood sugar on an even keel to avoid cravings, mood swings and hunger. Make sure you get some lean protein in to help fill you up. Stir a little peanut butter into your oatmeal or microwave some extra egg whites into your scrambled eggs. Avoid sugar at all cost at this meal as to not trigger sweet cravings later in the day.

2. PLAN YOUR SNACKS - Make sure, especially if your meal is later in the afternoon, to plan to have healthy snacks on hand. A handful of almonds mixed into some yogurt or String cheese and a piece of fruit are easy and quick and much better choices than chips, dips and high fat cheeses. By eating a protein and a carbohydrate every couple of hours you will not sit down at the table starving. Our willpower is weakest when we are hungry and our blood sugar is low.

3. DRINK WATER - Make sure you drink enough water. One of the signs of dehydration is hunger. Often when we are busy we forget to drink water. Stand in front of the sink a couple times during the day and just chug down a glass of water. It WILL make a difference.

4. WATCH THE BLTS - What is a BLT?? Bites, Licks and Tastes that we consumed while cooking. I saw a statistic the other day that said one could consume up to 750 calories while preparing Thanksgiving dinner. All made up of small tastes of things while cooking. BEWARE!

5. PLAN AND ENJOY YOUR TREATS - If you want to have dessert, have it. Put it on a plate, pour a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy it with everyone else. Don't wait until your company leaves and finally break down to have that piece of pie. Remember, this is a live it, not a diet. We are in for life changes not the quick fix.

6. FOLLOW THE 80/20 Rule - IF we follow our food and exercise plan 80% of the time, that gives us a 20% wiggle room buffer for when real life steps in.

ENJOY - Noreen

HOLD IT FOR THE HOLIDAYS!!

There is no denying it, the holidays are here! I was reminded of this yesterday when I attempted to make a quick trip to Salem to get my son some new sneakers. Traffic, long lines at the store and not finding what I was looking for quickly let me know - they are here! Holidays can be stressful and busy but they also provide us with a much needed break from our normal routine, quality family time and comforting traditions. We need to strike a balance between the 2. The same holds true for our diet and exercise routines over the holiday. We will be faces with many temptations and opportunities to skip a workout. We need to figure out how to find a balance that will get us thru the holidays both rested and healthy. On average people gain approximately 12-14 pounds from Thanksgiving to New Years. Our goal at WIndham Pilates it to avoid this gain. It may be unrealistic and overwhelming to try to lose a significant amount of weight during this time but trying to maintain our weight is very realistic. Over the next 6 weeks I will be posting a blog each monday with healthy eating tips, behavioral tactics on how to approach a big party or family dinner and motivational inspiration. I will post some healthy holiday recipes and if anyone would like to give me a favorite family recipe, I will try to lighten it up without changing the taste. Many times we can cut back on sugar or oil without changing the taste or texture of the food. FIrst things first, weigh yourself today and post it somewhere you can see it. This is the weight you want to be on January 1, 2011. Second, get a small spiral notebook and start writing down what you eat every day. This can be very informative and will help to identify mindless eating and patterns that may need to be changed. The clients I work with that are committed to food journaling, either on the computer or on paper are much more successful. Third, jot your workout days on your calendar just like you would a meeting at work or a doctors appointment. Exercise is going to play a key role in maintaining your weight over the holidays. I would love to give you a hand in this endeavor, please feel free to contact me by phone or e-mail and we can work together to get thru the holidays healthily. Keep checking my blog as Blogger Jim will be posting soon. He is within 10 pounds of his weight goal and doing great! Take a few minutes to get yourself organized and you will be pleasantly surprised when you step on the scale in January.