The Common Sense Guide To Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain
How many times have you stood in front of the mirror a week or two before Thanksgiving and said NOT THIS YEAR? How many times have you vowed to fit into your favorite jeans ALL winter long but struggle to zip them by January 1? It feels inevitable, but I promise it is possible to avoid holiday weight gain.
Holiday weight gain may feel inevitable with shorter and cooler days alongside a holiday season that starts earlier and earlier. You may feel the only option is to say bah humbug and decline every party invitation that comes your way, spending your time tied to the treadmill instead.
I have some good news. Did you know the 10 pounds the average American is alleged to gain between Thanksgiving and New Years Day appears to be a myth? The New York Times says in surveys people self-report an average of five pounds gained, but research studies show the average is only around one pound.
Yet the myth persists and is spread even in fitness circles, mostly in marketing materials. But the truth is you CAN still lose weight during the cold winter months by being as consistent as possible with your normal healthy habits and focusing on two key areas: staying active and staying connected to your hunger. The results of the study concluded that these two controllable factors influenced who gained 5 or more pounds and who didn’t. People that kept moving and kept their hunger levels in check succeeded in staying true to their weight loss goals. If you’re ready to bust the myth and avoid holiday weight gain, here’s how.
6 Remarkable Fitness Favorites For Your Holiday Wish List
Holiday shopping has changed since you were a kid. You remember looking through catalogs and dog-earing the pages with your dream gifts from Santa. Was it a chemistry set? Or maybe a Powder Puff Big Wheel? I can say for sure what it wasn’t. You probably weren’t looking at InstantPots or kettlebells. You probably also don’t look at catalogs anymore. Fitness favorites for your holiday wish list are mostly online.
I too relish the simplicity of online shopping. But this year I have several fitness favorites for your holiday wish list that Santa will have to pick up in real life.
How To Rock A Quick Healthy Breakfast For One
The nest is empty, leaving the house a little too quiet. It’s nice not to have to fight for the bathroom in the morning or wait in line to use the Keurig. But you miss the reason to sit down and have breakfast. When you’re finally able to do your own thing, it’s easy to skip breakfast, to just grab a coffee and go. Why bother cooking breakfast for one?
Nourishing your body with breakfast should never feel like a bother! It also doesn’t have to be a big production. You can cook a simple and delicious breakfast for one while you wait for your coffee to brew.
Perhaps you’ve seen those little cups in the grocery store that promise a quick and healthy breakfast with just the crack of an egg? The truth is you can do the same thing at home without the extra packaging or cost. A microwave egg breakfast bowl is the perfect solution for cooking breakfast for one!
The Foolproof Way To Create The Perfect Vegan Thanksgiving
You want everyone to feel welcome at your table. It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple brunch for a new neighbor or dinner with your best friends from college, you don’t want anyone feeling like the meal wasn’t made just for them. And a feast dedicated to giving thanks should be the epitome of this feeling of home and harmony. The challenge is how do you that with at least one guest who doesn’t eat meat and one or two others swearing off dairy. Your next culinary challenge is learning how to create the perfect vegan Thanksgiving.
Will CBD Oil Really Improve Your Life?
You get up from the shampoo bowl rubbing that chronic crick in your neck. Your hairdresser says she has just the thing to fix it. She starts rubbing an earthy smelling cream on to your neck. You can’t say the crick is gone but the massage felt good. You ask her what she used. She says it’s a hemp oil salve. “Hemp?”, you say, “is that legal?” She laughs and says yes. She also points out that hemp and CBD oil are everywhere. She tells you that CBD oil may be the answer to everything ailing you. You love how your hair looks but you’re not quite ready to trust your hairdresser with your aches and pains too. But she has piqued your curiosity about the potential benefits of CBD oil.
How To Ditch Toxic Energy And Reconnect With Yourself
Let’s welcome another new voice to the blog! Robin and I have known each other since junior high school. She continues to amaze me with her joy and ability to reinvent herself. She is the perfect soul to encourage you to get outside more in order to reconnect with yourself. – Pamela
I believe most of us remember having the realization from a very young age that there is something very different about the out of doors compared to the in. We feel it—the mystery and magic which fuels the imagination. We feel the breeze on our skin but can’t see it. Anything can happen and there are forces at work which we cannot readily identify.
The Unhealthy Truth About Our Obsession With Thinness
I am so grateful to Suzanne for sharing her wisdom and experience with us again on the blog. This powerful post about society’s obsession with thinness is a must read for ALL women. If you don’t feel this way, I guarantee you know a woman who does. – Pamela
I’ve trained hundreds of women in my personal training career, and pretty much every single one has had the same opinion of herself:
I’m too big.
The shame is palpable. Some women tell me they won’t wear shorts or sleeveless tops because they’re ashamed of their size. Others say they don’t care what others think, but won’t hesitate to put themselves down by saying “I’m fat.”
What Learning To Knit Can Teach You About Your Fitness Journey
Just to be clear, I am not a knitter. But Nikki’s analogy is perfect for learning to love your body and finding your middle ground. – Pamela
I’m a knitter.
I know—this isn’t a knitting blog, and maybe none of you reading this have ever puzzled over a pattern or felt a fabulous blend of alpaca and silk running through your fingers. But maybe you can relate if, like me, you’ve been annoyed by store-bought clothes that are too loose in the bust but too snug in the waist, and too boxy in the shoulders but too short in the sleeves.
And maybe, like me, you’ve also been annoyed by the ready-made versions of fitness that are on offer at every made-for-tv diet program and big-box gym. They’re too crowded in the classes, too hulky in the weight room, too limited in their scheduling, too punishing in their calorie-counting.
I’ve been knitting for almost eight years, and it only took me… well, almost eight years to figure out that in knitting, and in life, one size does not fit all.
How to Turn “Good for Your Age” into Great for Any Age
I’ve got a another amazing guest post for you this week! You are going to love Jennifer’s outlook on the “good for your age” comments! – Pamela
Hi, this is Jennifer of thefitfork.com. Somewhere around 40 years old (I’m now 51), I started to get the “good for your age” comments. “Oh, you’re really fast for your age, I didn’t expect you to be so strong for your age, you look good for your age.” “Oh, thank you for that . . . I think,” I would snark back, feeling fairly confident a backhanded compliment had just been thrown my way. Or, that the person had absolutely no social skills.
Hi, this is Jennifer of thefitfork.com. Somewhere around 40 years old (I’m now 51), I started to get the “good for your age” comments. “Oh, you’re really fast for your age, I didn’t expect you to be so strong for your age, you look pretty good for your age.” “Oh, thank you for that . . . I think,” I would snark back, feeling fairly confident a backhanded compliment had just been thrown my way. Or, that the person had absolutely no social skills.
The “you (fill in the blank) for your age” alleged compliment me crazy because it implies that a person doesn’t look, perform, behave or do whatever as well as she did in the past. True, I don’t run as freakishly fast as I did in my 20s and I do have gray hair and laugh lines that weren’t there before. But, I am beautiful, speedy, strong, talented, and smart NOT in spite of my age, but because of my age. There has been a lot of practice, pruning and learning that has gone down over five decades – it all contributes to my awesomeness. I feel the same way about 98-percent of the older women I know. They are all awesome and great for any age. Exclamation point, end of story.
Let Me Show You The Secrets Of A Midlife Yogi
“Yoga takes you into the present moment; the only place where life exists.”
Millions of people have discovered the transformative healing power of yoga, and honestly, how can you not be receptive to something that is called “a practice.” I mean, from the get-go, it sounds like you may try and try, yet possibly never fully nail downward-facing dog!
Welcome guest author, Beth Campbell, to the blog! I hope you enjoy her story about her transformative journey with the healing power of yoga. – Pamela
