How to Loose Weight Over the Holidays

Does it seem possible to you to loose weight over the holidays? For many, that is a laughable thought. But, it is possible, nay, probable with just a few simple steps. Every holiday season I go into it a bit heavier than maybe I want to be and come out with my healthy, lowered weight. It is not from starving or fad diets. Not from massive 3-hour workouts or days in a sauna. It is from simple changes in lifestyle that we all can do all year long. Follow these steps and chances are that you will get to the new year feeling happy and healthy too!

Smoothies

My biggest secret to any quick, easy weight loss is smoothies and juicing. It is way healthier than what most of us eat in the morning, afternoon, and evening. With a smoothie or juicing you are not having to worry about added fats, salts, and starchy carbs that can sabotage any weight loss regimen. Just be sure you are putting the right things into your body to get the right stuff out. Smoothies and juices that are completely filled with fruits will only give you more sugar than needed and [most likely] keep those extra lb's on.

My go-to smoothie is two handfuls baby spinach, half a banana, and three strawberries. Blend, then add some ice cubes and blend again. It tastes. so. good. As for juicing, my favorite is the mean green juice recipe.

Now, how I loose weight with this is to have two of my big meals per day be smoothies. It usually falls into the breakfast and lunch times, but a smoothie for dinner is not bad either! This keeps the calories, carbs, and fats down but allows me to get plenty of good food in! It is also wise to eat 2-3 solid food snacks during the day (things with oats are great) and a dinner with lean protein and complex carbohydrates. Mixing chia or hemp seeds in a smoothie is pretty great as well.

Micro Workouts

Next up on my favorite things list for loosing weight is micro workouts. These are the best around the holidays and keep your metabolism up the whole day through. Really, a micro workout is anything that raises your heart rate and/or tones muscles for anywhere from 1-10 minutes. Micro workouts can be done in the morning when you are waking up, every hour, before eating, or any other time in the day.

I like to fit in 1-4 micro workouts throughout my day and, hopefully, a full sized workout as well. This keeps my body toning and raises my metabolism higher than the average would otherwise be. It also keeps me thinking healthy thoughts and ensures that I will get a workout in somehow, even if there is not enough time for a full 1-hr class.

The best advice I have for a micro workout is to make it something easy that you can do at certain times of the day. Fifty jumping jacks at the top of the hour is sure to add up in the calorie torching department. Forty squats before each meal will kick that metabolism up and help you burn more than usual. Heck, speed skaters every time you use the restroom is an easy thing that can be done anywhere without much attention being drawn at all.

Think Healthy

This post has run away with itself and there are still a few things that can be done to loose weight over the holidays. The no-brainer of them all though, is to just make healthy choices. We all want to drink our weight in holiday cocktails and hot cocoa, or eat as many cookies as humanly possible, but those are just bad choices. By no means do I encourage going through the holidays as a healthy grump who makes everyone else feel fat, but everything in moderation. Opt for the farther parking space instead of battling that grandma for the one up front. Walk up the mall escalator or take the stairs instead of the elevator. Carry your groceries to the car instead of using the cart. All of these are good ways to keep your body a bit healthier and happier over the holiday season.

Chances are, you will also find the stress level to being going down, energy levels to go up, and more enjoyment to be had this holiday season!!

TBT: The First P+K Post!

There are times when everyone would prefer to eat a big mac, fries, mac and cheese, pizza or anything else on the “no go” list rather than the salad their diets recommend. For cheat days like this along with all those other days that we would just prefer eating something absolutely delicious, I have created a list of cheats and alternatives. This is definitely not a diet list and I would not recommend using this system if you are trying to loose weight, but it will at least help curb some of those cravings without sending all of our hard earned fitness success down the drain.

Tip One, A Pizza Secret:
I am a pizza fiend. Literally. There is absolutely no difficulty for me in finishing an entire large Pizza Hut pizza in one sitting, on my own. Pizza is my kryptonite. For that reason, I was very happy to learn this little tip. If you are going through a pizza binge and have decided to eat all pizza in the world, go for the veggie. Veggie pizzas have a slightly higher nutritional content and average 1-3 grams less fat and up to 50 calories less per slice. This is because there is less cheese and none of the high fat meats.

Tip Two, Sweets:
Here is another thing I L-O-V-E, cookies. They are warm and yummy and I am drooling. There are times in my day where I could battle a fleet of ninjas for that one cookie. For me, this is usually late at night or early in the morning. Oddly though, the time that a cookie is best for me is the same time that one is more than enough to appease my craving. Afternoon, between dinner and lunch is the best time for that extra burst of sugary noms. This is the time of day when we can start getting a little sluggish and our bodies are able to digest that sweet, sweet goodness more easily.

Tip Three, Carbs:
Bread is something that oh so many people love. Starchy things are seen all over fast food menu’s and are a staple of almost every American comfort food. Too bad every health conscience person out there curses that corner of the food groupings. Oh how we love carbs and how we love to hate them even more.

Fortunately, there is a good time of day to eat them with less impact on your body. Morning is the time that our bodies are best able to process and regroup after a carb load. This energy can be used for the rest of the day and has less of a chance of being stored than that plate of spaghetti you (by you I mean me) are thinking of eating for dinner. If a starch-tastic meal is something that is happening, better to make it breakfast rather than dinner or a late-night snack. Just remember to reduce your carb intake for that day since you hit it out of the park at breakfast.

This was the first ever post on P+K way back on October 18th, 2012. It is so fun to see where a blogger (or any writer) started out compared to where they are now. An extra perk is that these tips still stand the test of time and can be super handy when those pesky cravings hit ;)

Happy Thursday and the last of our TBT series!