Tis the Season to Get Silly
The holiday season is a time for good food, family, and friends. Unfortunately it is also a time of stress, financial strain, and over-indulgence. Often this is followed by New Years Resolutions, with people promising themselves to look after themselves a bit better. Why wait for the new year? Why not start looking after your body right now?
Welcome to the silly season
Many times I have gulped down an enormous Christmas dinner, then felt so full that all I could do was sleep. That's gluttony. It's quite possible to eat and savor tasty foods without going overboard. The same goes for alcohol.
Along with the silly season comes a slew of silly diet claims. Many diet pill vendors are well aware of the tendency to over-eat at holiday times. Attached is one advert that made me laugh - "Get skinny for the holidays without giving up the holiday food." The pouting woman in her Santa silliness is supposed to convince us that a small pill will let us have our cake and eat... and eat...
Anyone can over-indulge - but only those who are truly in control can show self-restraint.
Exercise is always the key. Also, you don't have to eat every treat placed in front of you--pick and choose what appeals to you most and enjoy it.
Replyi agree with tulip exercise is the main ingredient in developing and maintaning a healthy fit life without it ur body will look soggy and weak it is a vital living source we must alll need and breathe on towards the evry end
ReplyI have Christmas dinner in my home, so I make stuff healthier but still tasty - the stuffing for the turkey doesn't have a ton of fat, I buy a ton of fresh fruit, and dessert is always something like a low-fat crust fruit pie, as opposed to the death-by-chocolate type things my family always makes (did I mention they are all either obese, anorexic, or had weight loss surgery?). I also use yogurt and a bit of olive oil to make the potato salad instead of mayo.
ReplyExercise is very important, however, nutrition is going to have far more impact. You can go to www.HowManyPounds.com and plug in a few numbers to see just how nutrition and exercise are connected. For example, the typical Thanksgiving dinner may be around 3,000 calories (far more than most healthy people eat in a day). To burn 3,000 calories, you would have to run about 30 miles (the average person burns around 100 calories per mile). That's a lot of miles to counterbalance the meal! On the other hand, just watching your portion sizes and avoiding the heavy foods might take it down to 1,000 calories. If you then ran 5 miles, you'd only be 500 calories over for the day which is just 1/7th of a pound. Not bad.
I think the problem is that a lot of people are in "on/off" mode - either I'm going "all out" or I'm sticking to nutrition. The people I see succeed are in the middle ... i.e. "Sure, I am going to enjoy the cookies we baked ... but I'm just going to have one."
Moderation is definitely important. I love Jan's post about the healthier alternatives. That, balanced with exercise, can do wonders.
Jeremy
ReplyYou do not need to eat every treat placed in front of you. This is so true, and sometimes there is a feeling of satisfaction when you have the ability to say "I'm going to stop there." Sometimes it's a matter of unlearning so many things that you were taught (especially with a family like Jan's ;-)
ReplyIt's a matter of quality over quantity. If I want cookies, I'll bake them and adjust the ingredients to my liking or need instead of buying the overprocessed, oversugared, generic-tasting grocery store cookies.
ReplyExactly tulip - the healthier homemade stuff is more filling, you don't feel like you had to pass up on something, and you can have the foods you are used to.
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