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The annual holiday food fight is about to begin. You know,
the one where conflicted women nationwide (even worldwide)
face down rich-food eating traditions.
This year, to help women understand what doesn't work
when it comes to happy holidays, the healthy-weight experts
at Green Mountain at Fox Run have come up with some sure-fire
tips to take the guesswork out of gaining those holiday pounds.
We counter them with sensible advice for emerging from the
holidays feeling great.
For Guaranteed Holiday Weight Gain
…Before the Holidays
Diet! Diet! Diet! Let's face it, you
expect to overeat during the holidays so why not get a jump
on weight
loss now? If you're feeling truly ambitious, try
dieting during the holidays, too; the deprivation will be
highly effective at driving you to overeat.
Our real advice: Learn to eat
what you want now in a way that leaves you feeling great.
Then the holidays won't pose any special challenge,
and you can enjoy them fully.
Work out extra hard and long every day.
You can make up for those times during the holidays when you
won't want or have the time to do anything.
Our real advice: When we overdo
on exercise, we're more likely to burn out, or worse
yet, injure ourselves, and guarantee we don't want
to do anything. Slow and steady wins the race.
Start weighing yourself daily. You'll
be able to follow your weight up and down the scale, and cut
back even more when you've gained an ounce. Then you'll
heighten your feelings of deprivation even more, further guaranteeing
holiday
overindulgence.
Our real advice: Toss out the
scale now and for always. It generally doesn't give
the instant gratification we seek, and often negatively
impacts our motivation to take care of ourselves.
For Guaranteed Holiday Weight Gain
…During the Holidays
Take on as much work as you can. If you
don't do it, who will? The holidays just aren't
the holidays without all the fuss!
Our real advice: Choose wisely
in what you commit to. You may end up with fewer or simpler
celebrations but you'll enjoy the holidays much more.
Surround yourself with family and friends who make
you feel guilty about eating. It's easier to
say ‘no' when your spouse, mother, sister, daughter,
friend looks disapprovingly at you as you reach for that wonderful
holiday sprinkled cookie.
Our real advice: Educate
family and friends about the real impact of their attempts
to control what you eat. If they won't listen, minimize
your time around them when you're eating. It may mean missing
a party or meal, but you might feel much better as a result.
Forget about stress management right now.
You're too busy!! Just focus on getting what you need to get
done. And be sure to really have too much to do before big
parties. If you can pick a fight with your spouse on the way
to a party, all the better to guarantee extra emotional
overeating.
Our real advice: Take care of
yourself physically and mentally to help keep a balanced
view on what's important during busy times. Maybe
the easiest thing to do: Get some exercise! Physical activity
refreshes, relaxes, revitalizes and will add energy and
enthusiasm to your life. Make it a regular part of your
day during the holidays and after.
For Guaranteed Holiday Weight Gain
…Before & During Parties
Make sure every social event revolves around food.
If you throw the party yourself, make too much food, especially
desserts! Set up goodies early so you can pick
at them all day long while you skip meals. You do eat fewer
calories that way, right?
Our real advice: Traditional
foods are a big part of festivities, but holidays don't
have to be all about food. Plan fun activities such as pumpkin
bowling (knock down gourd ‘pins' with small
pumpkins), a pine cone toss (count how many pine cones you
can land inside a hula hoop) or just fun and refreshing
walks through the woods, around the neighborhood talking
to friends you pass.
Set a ‘hands-off' rule for all the rich
foods you'll encounter. If you just say ‘no,'
you'll be able to nip any weight gain in the bud!
Our real advice: When we forbid
foods or label them ‘bad,' we set ourselves
up for overeating them. Again, learn to eat foods you love
– even those rich in calories, fat, sugar –
in a manner that makes you feel well. That way, you'll
enjoy them and, if you're following a healthy lifestyle,
you'll enjoy a healthy weight, too.
Go ahead and buy all those goodies on sale in jumbo
packages. They're for your guests; they won't
create any problem for you having them around.
Our real advice: Good intentions
aside, mere exposure to foods often sets us up for wanting
to at least taste it, especially if we've got the idea we
shouldn't. Help yourself by buying only as much as you really
need, and even then, it might help to keep goodies tucked
out of sight in the pantry until party time.
Bank calories whenever possible. Skip breakfast
and lunch to make sure you'll overeat at the party.
Our real advice: Feeding
yourself well all the time leaves you better nourished
and able to choose wisely whether at parties or the food
court at the mall.
If you need help changing your approach to the holidays, join us at Green Mountain for Holiday HelpingsTM. We've often got special rates at this time, too.
For 37 years, Green
Mountain at Fox Run has developed and refined a life-changing
program exclusively for women seeking permanent strategies
from a healthy weight
loss program. Based on a combination of proven science
and what works in the real world, our innovative non-diet
lifestyle program offers an integrated curriculum of practical,
liveable techniques that helps women take charge of their
eating, their bodies and their health. Our
approach is not focused on just losing weight but on how to
keep it off for a lifetime. Our participants' long-term
weight loss results are among the highest of any program,
as documented in peer-reviewed scientific literature. Learn
more about our fitness
and healthy weight loss spa
©2008 Green Mountain at Fox Run, Ludlow,
Vermont. This information is the property of Green Mountain
at Fox Run. Permission to use single copies for personal,
noncommercial use is authorized. For all other purposes, please
see details. |
