Week 2: 10-2-10 Challenge

Easy Ways to Have a Healthy Holiday Season

The first step toward a healthful holiday season is simple and effective: Don't use the season as an excuse to splurge.

The second is: Always be on the lookout for ways to fit healthy behaviors into your life.

So your hoping to shed a few pounds. No matter how motivated you are, this can be a difficult time of year. But that doesn't mean the holidays have to be an unhealthy time. In fact, it's important to keep your health and fitness goals in mind. If you ignore them they may be much harder to address—mentally and physically—in the new year. The 10 pounds you wanted to lose by New Years may seem like a hill, but if you overdo it now, the 18 pounds you'll be facing on Jan. 1, 2010 will feel like a mountain. You can have a healthy holiday, even in the hectic weeks ahead, by making small adjustments that will make it easier for you to stay on your fitness track and tackle your weight-loss goals.

Challenge yourself to use these behavior modifications
1) Always eat a healthy snack before you go to a holiday party.
2) Bring healthy foods to potlucks.
3) At appetizer tables, choose two or three of your favorites and put them on a small plate or, better yet, a napkin. Then, walk away. Don't hover! When you're done with your food, throw away the napkin and grab a bottle of water.
4) At a buffet, cover most of your plate with vegetables and fruits. Then if there is room try a small portion of the high-calorie main dishes.
5) Watch out for times when you feel guilty for overeating. Just because you slipped up at lunch isn't license to overindulge all day. Remember: One meal is one meal. One day is one day.
6) On the nights you decide to have a drink, limit yourself to one or two. And don't indulge every night. Also, choose wisely—a gin and tonic has 155 calories for 7.5 fl oz, while the same size frozen strawberry daiquiri has a whopping 450 calories. Or choose wine spritzers, which are half wine and half seltzer. If you are drinking, alternate alcoholic beverages with nonalcoholic, calorie-free drinks like flavored seltzer.
7) No matter how busy you get, make time for a healthy breakfast. Eating a morning meal will help control cravings later on.
8) Purge the "junk" food from your fridge and pantry. Then replace them with healthy alternatives like 94% fat free or air popped popcorn. With all the extra homemade goodies hanging around this time of year you don't need them. Remember a calorie in must equal a calorie out!
9) Streamline your grocery shopping to include a bagged salad and healthy ingredients to top it for quick, easy meals. This way, you won't be limited to last-minute fast foods during those nights when you're dashing around.
10) Online shopping is a great time saver, but it means you lose out on the mall walking that usually goes with shopping. Make it up by figuring out exactly how much time you saved (say, 15 minutes per gift), then increase your cardio by that much for the week. Or add that time strength training. Building muscle will help your body continue to burn calories even at rest.


We'll see you in class!




Excerpts and ideas from article by:Melissa Sperl

Week 1: 10-2-10 Challenge

THE TRICK TO TREATS

Forget the haunted house; the spookiest Halloween specter is the candy. Talk about scary: Halloween is a hard time to stay on a weight loss and exercise plan. What can you do when those 5-pound bags of candy go on sale at the grocery store, or when your kids have laid out their loot on the living room floor? Here are some easy ways to tackle the scariest Halloween candy scenarios.

1) Resist the sales: A big Halloween challenge is not falling for the coupon in the paper. A 5-pound bag of Snickers on sale is still a 5-pound bag of Snickers.

2) Buy late: The closer to Halloween you buy the candy, the better off you are. In fact, never- ever open the bag before the first trick-or-treater comes. That way you'll have less total temptation time to cope with those pesky little temptations.

3) Buy candy you don't like: If it's coconut that doesn't interest you, buy mounds and almond joy bars. Sometimes you feel like a nut....and....sometimes you don't.

4) Make up a game plan: If you decide to go for the mini Reese's that the kids will love you for start giving out more as the night wears on, so there's less left over. If there are still remainders, get them out of the house. Give the candy away to a food charity.

5) Go out on a full stomach: If you have to walk your kids around to trick-or-treat, make lunch your big meal of the day, so you're not walking around hungry with bags full of candy. Carry a thermos of something hot to sip on, or chew gum throughout the night. It’ll help kill your urge to put candy in your mouth.

6) Come up with a candy strategy: When the candy's at home, work with your kids to decide what to do with it. Have them pick their favorite pieces: If they're young, encourage them to leave the rest out for "The Great Pumpkin." And if they're too big to believe, encourage them to save the rest for lunches and parties.

7) Freeze it: Put any left-over favorite candy in the freezer. If you get weak and find yourself digging into the kids stash, they will be rock solid and it will take time to get through even one.

8) Ditch the sense of occasion: Remind yourself that you can buy yourself candy any time of the year. There's no need to load up on fun-size bars on October 31 when you can enjoy them whenever your heart desires. Your an adult after all!

9) Keep things in perspective: Eating a little bit of candy on Halloween doesn't make a person overweight — it's constant overeating that can pile on the pounds. So don't assume you can't enjoy even a single treat, especially since deprivation is a dieting tactic that often backfires.

10) Try some slimming treats: Halloween means candy wherever you look, and it can be hard denying yourself outright. For those who like to have a candy bowl nearby, we've searched the shelves for candy that was a better choice but still gave a bang for the buck. Miniatures are a great deal in terms of portion control, while chewy candies turn out to be a big mouthful bargain and hard candies and lollipops score high for long-lasting satisfaction.

Don't trick yourself into believing that these SMALL treats won't add up to BIG calories if they are not consumed in a responsible manor.

Excerpts from article by: Melissa Sperl and Leslie Fink, RD