Surviving the Holiday Bulge/Binge

They say that the average American gains anywhere from 7-15 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years. Wow! That’s a lot of weight in a short amount of time! I thought I would give you some tips that I have found that might help keep you from eating more than your body needs during this holiday season.

- Only eat what you really like best at each gathering that you attend. Why bother with the rest?
- If someone gives you more food than you want or you get too full, you’re allowed to throw it away. Whether you eat it or throw it away it will still go to waste.
- Be polite, but remember to say “No thanks, I couldn’t eat another bite.” Put that one in your repertoire and practice it before you go anywhere :)
- Don’t buy candy and sweets for the kids. It’s not good for them and it will help keep you from snacking on it when they’re not around. Keep fruits and nuts (including raw almonds) on display and think of alternative treats that can be as much of a tradition as sugar. You can even cut up Isalean bars into bite-sized pieces to put in your candy bowls.
- Drink ½ an IsaLean Shake before leaving for a holiday party so you’re not as hungry when you get there and can truly say “I couldn’t eat another bite!”

Fuel or Food?

I recently came across a book that I didn’t actually read. I just skimmed over the content and sample pages online. Here are some things I found in the book that helped me:

The reason people are overweight is that “you eat more than your body requires for fuel.” We all know that, but do we view the food that we eat as fuel or are we attaching more emotion to our eating than that? We should really view the food we eat as fuel for our bodies. I have found myself walking around the house lately, saying to myself “fuel, think fuel”. It sounds silly, but I think this concept can help us make healthier food choices.

The author goes into many of the emotional reasons that we eat and helps people work through those. She also talks about how much food our body requires. She says to ask it and honor it’s signals. I think many times we have so much junk that we eat or have eaten that we can’t tell whether we are full or not. I know after I did my 9 day body cleanse I could really tell when I was full and felt more in tune with what my body needed.

The book is called “If I’m so Smart, Why Can’t I Lose Weight?” There is a link to the book right under my picture. Let me know if you get it and read it. I’d love to hear any comments you might have.

Total Health and Wellness

If you’re looking for a system that you can use to achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle for the cost of a Starbucks Coffee per day, check this out. It’s all you need to lose weight and feel great. http://greatfit.isagenix.com/us/en/nutrition_maintprog.dhtml . Remember, again, that these are the retail prices. Contact me for how to get the wholesale price.

Better Than A Candy Bar

At our house we LOVE the Isagenix Isalean bars. We fight over them, beg for them and generally desire as much for ourselves as we can. I took them to ball games this summer and had those instead of frequenting the concession stand. I desired it more than anything the concession stand had to offer anyways. Some of my children enjoy them for breakfast but all of us enjoy them as a snack anytime, especially in the car. They can also be used as a meal replacement when you’re too busy to eat a sit-down meal. They have the perfect balance of protein, carbs and fat so I don’t even have to think about what to eat. Here’s a link to some more info about the bars. The price listed is retail. I would definitely recommend using mine or your own membership to get these bars at a discount. http://greatfit.isagenix.com/us/en/cleanse_isalean_bars.dhtml

The 80-20 Rule

Remember the 80-20 rule
- It’s what we do 80% of the time that will lay the foundation for our overall health. There’s room for the occasional treat or nutritional compromise some of the time when we make wise choices the majority of the time.

Fill Your Plate Club

We’ve all heard about the "clean plate club" during the time we were growing up when our parents were trying to get us to eat our dinner. I propose that we have a "Fill Your Plate Club." Here’s how it works. At lunch and dinner you fill 1/2 your plate with fruits and vegetables (potatoes don’t count), then fill in the rest of the plate with a protein and a multi-grain carbohydrate. I think if we all started our meals this way and stuck with it, we wouldn’t have too much trouble losing and maintaining weight. If you can use as many organic fruits and vegetables as possible, then that is even better. Try it out and let me know what you think!

Did you know?

Here's some interesting information I just read:

Did You Know?

*90% of money spent on food in the US is for highly processed food.

*Sugar in soft drinks is the #1 source of calories in the US.

Wow!