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HOLIDAY
CELEBRATIONS AND STAYING HEALTHY
By Debra
D’Acquisto
 Holidays,
festive foods, and keeping a waistline
CAN be spoken in the same breath! You
CAN stay healthy and enjoy traditional
holiday food! Sample holiday treats
GUILTFREE! Keeping exercise in your
week during the holiday season CAN be
done!
If you believe
you can enjoy the season of holiday
celebrations and stay healthy, then
that is the first step in making it
a reality. Much of what you are going
to glean from this article will focus
on how to avoid the weight gain, and
how not to derail your exercise program.
I've also included some active party
games and basic food tips to help you
keep your waistline. I will give you
a few valuable suggestions to keep your
focus on health at home, at work, at
parties and while traveling. You may
be thinking that the staying healthy
focus means avoiding the flu. In an
indirect way, if the diet is healthy,
the exercise is reasonable, and you
avoid some of the stress related scenarios
that this time of year creates, then
you are taking steps to being healthy
and avoiding the flu.
A study out
of the University of South Carolina,
and recently reported in health.com,
reports that those individuals who get
30 minutes of moderate exercise most
days of the week only get one cold per
year. The more sedentary population
suffers from an average of 4 colds per
year. It's always a good idea to incorporate
plenty of brightly colored fruits and
vegetables, full of vitamins and antioxidants,
in the diet as a side dish or snack.
Fruits and vegetables are a bit more
expensive this time of year but the
payoff is less money spent on being
sick. Nuts and flaxseed can be used
in seasonal baking recipes, giving a
boost of omega 3 fatty acids to the
diet. And stress can be kept at bay
by getting a good night's sleep.
Seasonal
changes usher in challenges to keeping
us both healthy and able to maintain
a waistline by the time January rolls
around. As we go from the end of summer
into fall, and then from fall into winter,
we are faced with shorter daylight hours
and colder temperatures. For me that
means thinking twice about walking the
dogs their usual 2 miles at a brisk
pace. It's darker outside, and that
poses some second thoughts about safety,
seeing where you are walking, and colder
temps since the sun is down. About 200
Calories of activity has been met with
discouragement right there.
If you're
like me, creating a warm cozy atmosphere
inside the home is usually achieved
by baking, cooking or stewing up some
comfort food. So, eating a couple of
warm chocolate chip cookies with a mug
of coffee with heavy cream adds about
200 calories to the day, just like that.
In a matter of an hour, instead of burning
200 Calories walking the dogs, which
my body has been using to maintain energy
balance for several months, I've added
200 calories. It won't take long to
offset the calories in and calories
out scale and then feel the weight gain.
In order
to reduce some of those calories, acquire
a taste for black coffee with a splash
of low fat half and half. Reacquaint
yourself with portion size. An 80 calorie
cookie is about the size of a woman's
make-up "compact." A reasonably
sized muffin is the size of a baking
muffin tin or an open rose bloom. The
giant muffins yield way too many calories
and should be divided into quarters.
Save the remainder by freezing for another
day. Make the switch to whole grain
cookies and muffins as it takes fewer
bites to feel full. Whole grains add
fiber and vitamins to an otherwise white
flour processed baked good.
We often
think the holidays are the main culprit
for weight gain. I think the body starts
to layer on some extra calories sooner
than that. In many parts of the country,
harvest time means plenty of food availability.
Halloween brings out all the snack size
treats. They've gotten so small you
barely can remember you ate one, then
we find ourselves eating a few more
to add up to the size of a 'real' candy
bar! Then Thanksgiving Day arrives with
all the trimmings. December is a time
for families to unite over traditional
meals. Even if traditions are pushed
to the wayside and families don't get
together, the "friends" pot-luck
meals equate to food focused social
time. Ringing in the New Year with another
party and watching lots of football
games from the couch will surely slow
down your metabolism.
Why start
a diet on January 1st? Much of what
I've been reading in the media suggests
we should lose weight before the holidays.
Dial in to creating a survival plan
NOW. Don't get caught in a too-good-to-be-true
diet plan for after the holidays. Be
wary of diet and fitness practices that
won't work. The January 1st New Year's
resolution is several more weeks away
and a lot of calories can be stored.
Let's be mindful of how much we eat
NOW and how much we really need. Reacquaint
yourself with the CDC food pyramid (www.mypyramid.gov).
Most everyone
understands the importance of eating
lots fruits and vegetables, avoiding
processed foods, and eating lean proteins.
So, this time, study the food pyramid
with the focus on discretionary food
choices. Redirect your focus on the
amount of calories discretionary foods
bring to your diet. Discretionary calories
are the calories that are the extras.
Even within a "good" food
group, discretionary calories can be
consumed if the food is above and beyond
what is required for weight maintenance.
Develop "calorie awareness"
by knowing how much activity it takes
to balance the calories going into the
mouth. Plan ahead NOW, but be realistic.
Rid yourself
of the stress of adding more exercise
to your routine. Maintaining weight
may be stressful enough with all the
other things that consume the weeks
from October to January. Rearrange some
of your existing habits in order to
burn more calories. Use every opportunity
to walk. Walk between parking lots when
shopping or doing errands. Multitask
during cardio sessions by thinking of
menus, making mental lists of things
to do, figuring out the next 5 -7 days,
planning where you can fit in short
bursts of exercise sessions. Get outside
more often and walk fast. Walk with
friends or colleagues to socialize or
to talk business. Walk after dinner.
Seek every opportunity to use your legs.
Research recently published in the October
2010 edition of Medicine
and Science in Sports and Exercise,
reported that American adults take fewer
daily steps than their counterparts
in Switzerland, Australia and Japan.
Dr David R. Bassett, Jr., lead author
of the study reports, "Even modest
amounts of walking, if performed on
a daily basis, can help maintain a healthy
body weight," Dr. Bassett goes
on to say that, "The health benefits
of walking are underappreciated."
To help defray
the seemingly endless opportunities
available that break the balance of
diet and exercise, we have to be especially
diligent at home, at work, while travelling,
and while accepting those party invitations.
Home
At home, enlist family members for support.
Get the whole family involved by planning
just one active weekend a month. It's
never too cold or cloudy or wet to get
(kids) outside. Learn a survival skill,
rake leaves or shovel snow, participate
in community fun walk/run events, search
for a family events in your area to
take part in. Local sporting goods stores,
natural food stores, yoga studios and
recreation centers usually have pamphlets
on display of upcoming organized events.
Some events
are specific to the holidays and can
be a one-time event to keep us on a
healthy track. Don't rule out the opportunity
to attend free workshops on survival
skills, sporting equipment maintenance,
wildlife watching, and healthy cooking.
You may meet others who have the same
"health seeking" interests.
Turn off the television and plan to
do ten exercises. You'll get that metabolism
going, burn some calories and feel much
better.
Here's how to get the heart rate going
with two easy, ten-exercise workouts
that can be done at home with no equipment.
Go for time, 30 to 60 seconds, or 16
to 20 repetitions for each exercise.
Going
to a Party
Accept those party invitations and enjoy
the holiday gatherings; just don't go
hungry. Have a cup of soup, salad, or
piece of fruit before you go to offset
the temptation to eat something just
because you are hungry. What if the
food choices are all too "processed,"
too sweet, dangerously high calorie,
or not appealing? You can get by and
grab something healthier when you get
home. Look for the lower fat or d'oeuvres.
Go ahead and eat a small portion of
a specialty food, or something that
is not in your usual diet and make it
a special treat.
Put parameters
around how much you are going to eat
before you get there. Cut juice or wine
with mineral water. Try to space out
party beverages with zero calorie (sparkling)
water in between higher calorie or alcoholic
beverages. Exercise portion control.
Stand, don't sit. Move around. Dr. James
Levin from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota
reports that an extra 50 calories can
be spent in 30 minutes by standing rather
than sitting. If you are hosting a gathering,
plan some party games that get people
moving. Charades is a good one. Check
out www.christmasatoz.com
for variations on making Jeopardy and
winter holiday bingo an active game.
At
Work
We spend so much time at work that being
dutiful to exercise and living healthy
also applies here. Replace a coffee
break with walking. I don't keep a coffee
maker in my office just so that I have
to get up and go for a short outdoor
walk to get a cup. Don't bring food
to every meeting and don't expect that
food should be served at every meeting.
Set a timer for a stretch break.
For years,
we had an office cookie board for the
2 weeks prior to Christmas. Everyone
was to sign up for a treat to bring
on a specific day. Adding 2 weeks of
treats to anyone's diet is sure to make
an impact. However, the "guess
the secret ingredient" challenge
served as a good way to learn to use
healthier oil substitutes such as black
beans, applesauce or pureed prunes.
Keep your date with exercise during
the lunch hour and be amazed at how
good you feel afterwards. After your
lunchtime workout, you’ll want
to have a smaller healthy meal so as
to not undo the calorie deficit.
This is a
great time to get a couple of servings
of fruit or vegetables into your diet.
Don't reward yourself with more to eat
because you exercised. Eat with a healthy
co-worker. Wear comfy shoes to work.
The American College of Sports Medicine
has recently suggested that those who
wear comfortable shoes actually walk
over 400 steps more than those whose
footwear is less conducive to walking.
Traveling
The holidays usually mean going to a
family gathering or a vacation destination.
Before you leave for your destination
you will want to put some thought into
a plan for eating healthy and exercising
daily. Incorporate all of the tips and
suggestions mentioned previously in
the at home, at parties, and at work
sections. In addition to those thoughts,
consider bringing your own small exercise
equipment such as bands, a jump rope,
and workout clothes to your destination.
Consider preparing a few 5x8 index cards
with 15 minutes of workout blasts on
each.
Remind yourself
that a short moderate-to-intense workout
is effective. Scope out the surrounding
parks, paths, trails, and downtown areas
for the purpose of walking, jogging,
or cycling. Look up the local gyms,
studios, recreation centers, ice rinks,
and YMCA's for hours, programs, and
free passes. Talk to family members
in advance as to the daily dynamics
so that your exercise routine doesn't
interrupt anyone's plans. Be flexible.
Reframe your thinking regarding a change
in eating and exercise routine so that
you can appreciate a change in the norm.
Happy Holidays
and Warm Wishes to a Healthy You in
the New Year!
- Debra D'Acquisto
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