friday::FITNESS

How to Not Jiggle All the Weigh: Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain

The average adult gains 7-12 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years Day.

YIKES! That's around a pound a week!

Here are a few things you can avoid to help you stay the same size through­out the hol­i­day season.

1) DON’T skip your work­out.

We know. The most wonderful time of the year is often the most stressful time of the year. Did you know that exercise has been proven to reduce stress? You need your workout now more than ever! Get a work­out buddy and hold each other account­able. You could also mix up your rou­tine to avoid bor­dom — try a new class, give yourself a gift of a a new home workout program, etc.

2) DON’T skip break­fast.

Knowing of an evening party, many peo­ple will skip break­fast as an attempt cut calo­ries. WRONG! Eat­ing a healthy break­fast (oat­meal, egg white omlet with fresh veg­gies, whole wheat toast and low fat yogurt) at the begin­ning of the day starts your metab­o­lism and will pre­vent you from overeat­ing later in the day. Those who con­sis­tently eat break­fast con­sis­tently weigh less than those who skip the most impor­tant meal of the day.

3) DON’T eat only fat and carbs.

Most Christ­mas good­ies (gin­ger­bread cook­ies, candy canes, hot choco­late, etc.) are full of refined sug­ars and unhealthy fats. These are also the nutri­ents that make you feel even more hun­gry than you did before you ate some­thing! Fill up with lean pro­tein first to help con­trol cravings.

4) DON’T eat straight from a bowl.

When you get to those hol­i­day gath­er­ings, take the time to put every­thing that you eat on a plate. If you nib­ble straight from the dish, you will mis-judge por­tion size and be in trou­ble before you know it! Try and fill your plate with veg­gies and lean pro­tein. Only allow a small place on the place for treats. (Addi­tional tip: Try using the dessert plate instead of the din­ner plate. It’s smaller, and it will help you with por­tion control.)

5) DON’T eat treats that you like.

Only splurge for those treats that you love. If you just like them, you don’t need them.

6) DON’T let ignorance be bliss.

Weigh in reg­u­larly this month so you can see how you’re doing. If you pre­fer to mon­i­tor a dif­fer­ent way, get your favorite pair of pants that make you feel healthy and fit. Try them on every other morn­ing to see how they fit.

7) DON’T go to a party hun­gry.

The worst thing you can do is arrive at a party fam­ished! Because you know there will be LOTS of unhealthy options, and very few items that fit into your nutri­tion plan, try eat­ing a bowl of broth-based soup or a salad before you go. That way, you already have some healthy nutri­ents in you, and you’ve knocked the hunger edge off so you don’t devour every unhealthy food in sight.

8) DON’T eat the whole thing.

Most of the time, you can sat­isfy a crav­ing with just a few bites. Instead of eat­ing a whole piece of pie, split a piece with your spouse.

9) DON’T eat for speed.

Slow down your eat­ing, and savor every bite. You don’t indulge every day. Take the time to enjoy it! Plus, the longer you take, the longer your stom­ach has to real­ize that you’re full, and you can avoid overeating.

10) DON’T beat your­self up if you mess up one time.

If you go to a party and overeat, don’t use that as an excuse to let your­self go for the whole sea­son. Get up the next day, go to the gym, and make a healthy food choice at the next meal. No one expects you to be perfect!

Michelle Myers is going to have fit and healthy before you know it! You can connect with Michelle Myers Online, Twitter, Facebook, Myers Cross Training and be sure to check out her latest book The Look that Kills: An Anorexic's Addiction to Control (2010)!

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new column::LIFESTYLES

We know (from personal experience!) that being a PW is about more than just church issues. It's about marriage, family, money, politics, hospitality, forgiveness, frustration, ecstasy - and the list goes on. It's about our public life and our private lives.

As we seek to be godly women who care for our families and support our husbands and love our church members and train our children and, and, and... often we totally forget to take care of our own needs. We forget to be healthy. We forget to look nice. We get overwhelmed by pinching pennies to stay within the budget.

So we want to bring some freshness to CLUTCH. Here are three new writers who will be blogging under our new LIFESTYLES column. A slight departure from our normal content, but we hope you'll enjoy it.

Look for these writers on Fridays!

fashion::SARAH

Hello! I’m Sarah Nelson. I’ve been married to Ian, the most incredible man I know, since September 2009. Six months into our marriage we moved to Portland, Oregon to work at a church called Solid Rock and I have just loved living in the big city!

I studied apparel design at Oregon State University in Corvallis and then switched to Interior Design when I transferred to Portland Community College. Though I never finished college, my passions still revolve around design and creativity.

I'm a part-time administrative assistant at our church and a full-time wife! My personal blog, Frills for Thrills, is an outlet for me to share my passion for fashion and interior decorating, crafting and thrifting, and all the other fun things that come with being a girl! Over at Sitting Solo I also write about the blessings and burdens that come with being a Pastor's wife. Otherwise, find me right here on CLUTCH!

I am so excited to write this fashion column on CLUTCH to share affordable and creative tips to broadening your closet and style. I hope you'll share your ideas with us too!

No matter how natural, conservative, or eccentric you are -- all women long to feel beautiful. I believe fashion is an easy way to feel good about ourselves and confident standing next to our man when other women in the church try to get at him! : )

fitness::MICHELLE

Hi! I'm Michelle.

I strug­gled with anorexia and obses­sive over-exercise for four years, but was brought out of my addic­tion and restored to health through a real rela­tion­ship with God and an under­stand­ing of His plan for my life.

Because of how poorly I treated my body in the past, I am amazed every day that my job is now help­ing oth­ers get healthy the right way — through a bal­anced lifestyle of proper nutri­tion and exer­cise. You can read about my jour­ney in my book, The Look that Kills: An Anorexic’s Addic­tion to Control.

Now I'm the new mom of baby Noah, as well as a nutrition coach and fitness instructor. I'm a pastor's wife in Austin, TX.

If you’re into the aca­d­e­mic thing: In 2005, I received my Bach­e­lor of Arts in Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Stud­ies with a minor in Psy­chol­ogy from The Uni­ver­sity of Ten­nessee in Knoxville, TN. In 2010, I earned my Mas­ters of Arts in Chris­t­ian Education (Women’s Min­istry Con­cen­tra­tion) from South­west­ern Bap­tist The­o­log­i­cal Semi­nary in Fort Worth, TX.

Every­thing I do revolves around my top pri­or­i­ties: my faith in Jesus Christ, my incredible family, and my com­mitment to a balanced lifestyle of fitness and proper nutrition.

finance::HEATHER

Hi there, I'm Heather! 

Growing up a pastor's kid, I always said I would never marry one, but love has a way of changing things. When the guy I'd had my eye on since middle school announced he was going to study theology, I gave in.

Andrew and I have been serving in our first two churches for almost a year. We are also blessed with a 2 year old son, Jaden, and a six month old baby girl, Lilly.

Between being a PW and mother of two little ones I rarely have time to "play," but when I do, I love to scrapbook, decorate, shop, and cook. Budgeting/Finances is another one of my hobbies that grows from lots of personal experience. Raised in a single-income home, serving as a missionary to India for two years, and currently raising a family on one income has taught me a lot about economy. I enjoy finding ways to minimize our spending while still providing nice things and creating quality experiences for my family.

During these financially challenging times I know I'm not the only one pinching pennies, so I am looking forward to sharing some of my tips with you and hearing your tricks too. My prayer is that we grow together as we seek to bring glory to God in the way we use our financial resources.

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© CLUTCH, 2009-2011 unless otherwise sourced.
Use allowed by express written permission only.
Tweets, trackbacks, and link sharing encouraged.

Read more...