Heather Picken's Weekly Podcast:
Click here to listen...
(length 5:42 minutes)
Subscribe to Feed Below:
How Women Can Avoid The Holiday Weight Gain
Most women gain 7-12 lbs between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.
Here are 10 tips to help you stay lean and fit and still be able to
indulge during those hectic holiday weeks:
1. Create a plan ahead of time.
Before the holidays sneak up on you, create a plan for incorporating fitness and good nutrition into your daily routine. Evaluate your holiday schedule and then determine how much time you will realistically have available to devote to working out and/or eating healthy meals.
2. Don’t put your fitness goals on hold until the New Year.
If you can’t exercise as often during this time period as you normally do, adjust appropriately. Don’t use the excuse that since you don’t have time for your full workout you just won’t workout at all. Instead accept your limited availability and simply reduce the frequency and/or duration of your exercise. It’s much better to cut your fitness time in half than to completely eliminate it.
3. Don't Starve yourself on the day of the party or dinner
On the day of a party, be sure to eat regularly all day long.
One of the secrets to avoid the holiday weight gain is to eat small meals throughout the day consisting of some lean proteins like chicken or low fat dairy
products. By doing this you will keep your metabolism elevated and when you are at the party you are less likely to overindulge, not to mention if you starve yourself all day and save up your calories, your body can not process all those calories at once, and as a result you gain FAT!
4. Schedule your workouts.
Mark them on the calendar and set-aside time to complete them. Consider them as important as any other appointment or event you have marked on your calendar. One of my secret fat-loss tips to burn the most fat is doing a cardio session first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. This will not only accelerate your fat-burning process but you will have more energy to shop longer! Also incorporate weight training, having more lean muscle will speed up your metabolism, and keep your body lean and toned. When you weight train your metabolism is elevated even more throughout the day then just doing cardio. In my ten years of experience I have seen too many women stop with their exercise program during the holidays. Not only will this make you tired, but it does not allow your body to burn off those extra holiday calories, and it takes twice as long to get your body into shape when you start after the New Year.
5. When at a party, start by eating some of the healthier foods
For example, vegetable sticks (without dip), fruit pieces, plain chicken pieces, etc. Then move on to some of the less healthy (but yummy) offerings. You will be less likely to overindulge on these foods if you have already filled-up on some of the healthier items. Yet, you will not feel deprived or unsatisfied.
6. Sample a little bit of everything
When presented with a large variety of food options, it’s tempting to want to eat everything.
Rather than eating one large slice of chocolate cake or a huge plate of meatballs, select a sampling of bite size pieces of several of the desert or appetizer offerings. This way you get the enjoyment of trying many different foods without overeating.
7. Exercise at home.
You’ll be more inclined to follow-through on your exercise commitment if you don’t have to drive somewhere to do your workout. Plus, you won’t waste any time on driving, parking, the locker room or waiting to use equipment. Working out at home requires very little equipment (it even can be equipment-free) and is quite inexpensive. Check out my fat-burning workouts that you can do at your home
8. Avoid wasting calories on alcoholic beverages.
The average alcoholic drink contains 150-200 calories per glass. Indulge in just 2-3 drinks and you’ve drunk the equivalent calories of an entire meal. If you partake in these beverages, choose wisely. For example, instead of having a full glass of wine, try mixing half a glass of wine with sparkling water or with a diet soda. This will help cut your calories in half. Drinking excessive alcohol will also stop your metabolism from burning FAT! Not too mention that feeling you get when you wake up the next day feeling tired and dehydrated.
9. When running errands or shopping, be sure to pack some fat-burning snacks to have on-hand.
Some great examples are my pumpkin protein bars from my book “Fat Burning Recipes for Women on The Go”. Then after you work-up a big appetite, you won’t be tempted to grab something at the mall food court or the fast food restaurant on the way home.
10. Tell yourself “ I will allow myself to indulge a little and also make healthier choices”, the Power is the choosing…..when you allow yourself to have what you want you are less likely to overindulge. One of the most powerful things I teach in my 6 Week Ultimate Fat-Burning & Mental Makeover System for Women is the mental aspect, particularly visualization. What you can do is to picture yourself making healthier choices and feeling great in your best holiday outfit.
P.S. Get your FREE Guilt-Free Thanksgiving Recipes below!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Cornbread Stuffing
3 gloves garlic minced
1 lg. onion
3-6 stalks of celery
Red pepper (optional)
1 bag of Arrowhead Mills Mix (use egg substitute to eliminate fat from directions)
Follow directions to make 1 batch of Arrowhead mix.
Saute veggies, Crumble up cornbread and add veggies.
Add sage to taste. Moisten with ½ cup vegetarian chicken flavored broth.
Bake at 350 for aprox. 35 minutes.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
2 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut
6 Garlic cloves,peeled
1/3 cup fat- free milk, warmed
1/3 cup fat-free sour cream
½ tsp. black pepper
Chives, freshly chopped
Boil potatoes and garlic gloves in a large saucepan for 20-25 minutes until potatoes are tender. Drain and return to pan. Add heated milk plus sour cream to potatoes and garlic, and mash with a potato masher, or with a mixer, until smooth. Add black pepper to taste. Garnish with chives. Serves 6
Sweet Potato Pie
2 large Sweet Potatoes, cooked and mashed
½ cup skim milk
½ cup sugar free syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. nutmeg
2 egg whites,1 yolk
Boil sweet potatoes until soft, mash potatoes in a large bowl. Combine sweet potatoes with eggs,syrup, vanilla, milk, and nutmeg. Mix well.
Spray 9-inch pie pan with non-fat cooking spray. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour or until knife comes out clean.
Serves 8
Calories 105
Fat 1.5g
Carbs 20.8g
Protein 2.3g
Can also top off with low fat or sugar free cool whip
Protein Pumpkin Cheesecake
2 C. nonfat ricotta cheese
1 ½ C. pumpkin puree
½ C low calorie or sugar free syrup
8 packets splenda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup whey vanilla protein powder
1 lowfat graham cracker crust
Sugar free whipped topping
Mix all of ingredients (except crust) together until smooth. Pour into crust and bake for 40 minutes at 400. Let cool. Top each slice with cool whip.
Serves 6
Calories 173
Fat 3g
Carbs 22.5g
Protein 14 g
