Okay so today your headed to grandma’s house or Aunt Susy’s and they make the best (insert the food or dessert) Now you think the best strategy is to starve yourself all day so that you can get your grub on at Thanksgiving dinner.

WRONGO BADONGO!

Trust me, my Grandma is the best cook, she can make brown rice take like a treat.  Sorry, I digress.  When you starve yourself you body goes into starvation mode and thinks no food is coming an actually holds on to all the food that you eat.  So when you think you are saving calories and not eating you are actually doing a disservice to your body and all the extra food that you consume because you are hungry will turn to wait for it.. FAT!!!  So the moral of this story!!

Severely restricting your calorie intake will not work!  So are are asking, what should I do to serve a day of eating!

• eat small meals throughout the day
• drink water so that you stay hydrated
• pick your battles, select 2 high fat/caloric items and you are done
• lose the dark meat — white meat has less calories and fat

Good luck out there!! We can survive the holiday without gaining much weight.

Americans drink more hard liquor in December than any other time of the year, according to the Distilled Spirits Council.  Plus, we all drinking leads to EATING!! If you’re picking appetizers all night, you’ve got your head first in a pizza, or worse yet, as the Brits say if your drinking eating is like cheating!

So it the holidays and with everything that is  going on in the world, who can blame a girl for going out and getting a cocktail or 2.  But here are suggestions on how to do it without blowing your diet. Try on of these to cocktails.

There is no scientific evidence about what is the best time the exercise, what really comes into play is motivation’  When will you FEEL like exercise’

We all have different body clocks, some of us feel our most energy in the morning or in the late afternoon. Which is great, but with all of the other obligations — work, friends, family following your body clock may become a little difficult.

According to the American Council on Exercise, they find the people who exercise first thing in the morning tend to be more consistent with their exercise as its less likely to get squeezed out due to time constraints.  I work out feel great because I have done something for myself and it’s not possible for anything to get in the way.

Now I hear what you are saying, setting the alarm for 5am stinks, but .. it’s WORTH IT!!!  So, how do you do it.

• Set a bed time! Yes a bed time, you need to sleep and with the invention of Tivo, DVR there goes your excuse about missing your favorite TV shows.
• Relax a little before you go to bed, so that you can fall asleep — try reading or listening to relaxing music before you go to bed
• Lay out your clothes before you go to bed, so all you have to do it get dressed.
  • I even had one client dress in her gym clothes
• Make a date with yourself and put your workouts in your calendar.

Be sure you have something in your stomach before you head off to gym.  It doesn’t have to be a full Old Contry Buffet breakfast, but something small like a banana, piece of toast or a glass of juice.

1. Don’t want your turkey to dry out try rubbing olive oil mixed with herbs and garlic.
2. Avoid the skin and dark meat  — you’ll save tons of calories
3. When your stuffing recipe calls for butter try using chicken broth.
4. Decide the few thing that you are going to splurge on before you go.
5. Go for a pre-Thanksgiving Day walk, or try a turkey trot to help burn off some calories
6. Watch what you drink, because liquid calories do count
7. Don’t starve yourself all day, make sure you eat sensibly during the day
8. Replace some of the sugar in your baked good with applesauce
9. Use light varieties of sour cream, cream cheese or butter
10. Be friendly, get up a talk with friends and family away from the food table so you won’t endulge in mindless eating

A new client of mine approached me with a big challenge.  She as a number of goals that she wants to achieve over the next year, she wants to:

1. lose over 100 pounds
2. pass the bar
3. graduate with her MBA
4. start interviewing for a job
5. start dating again
6. potential attendance to the inauguration of Barack Obama

Do you have goals like this’  Have you ever set goals like this’  Now honestly tell me how successful have you been’

Many people have these goals and if they don’t achieve them within a few weeks, they get disappointed and go back to their old habits and behaviors. My advice to her was slow and steady wins the race.

Instead of focusing on the top of Mt. Everest, let’s set up a number of steps along the way, and celebrate each step.  This will help keep you motivated to keep going. I also encourage all of you to tell as many people as you know what you are doing say that way, they can help hold you accountable and provide a little encouragement along the way.

These next 2 will be the hardest of all

1. STAY OFF THE SCALE!!
2. STAY POSITIVE!! You can do this and You will do this!

So, you just go an invite to a special event were you want to wear that little black sleeveless dress, or just booked that Caribbean vacation.  Then you look in the mirror and say……

OH CRAP! I gotta loose some weight!

The first question you have to ask is are you prepared to change your eating habits’  If your eating is not fully in line they losing weight will be tough. The best way to do this is to ask yourself:

• what are you eating’
  • will journal all your food and exercise
• how much are eating’
  • are you willing to start weighing and measuring your food
• when do you eat’
  • time of day
  • is it an emotional response
  • is there long time lapse between when you eat
• how do you feel after eating’
  • full
  • still hungry

After answering theses questions how do you feel’ Are you ready to take the next step are you willing to commit to changing your eating habits’

I hear so many times, from my clients that I don’t know how to cook! Well trust me, I’m no Martha Stewart.  But I do liken myself to Rachel Ray, okay a little less perky, but I can whip up some healthy recipes with minimal cooking experience in 30 minutes or less.

So here’s a minimal cooking recipes.

• 1/2c oatmeal
• 1 T sunflower seeds
• 1 T dried cranberries, raisins or cherries
• 1 c skim milk

place in a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.

This recipe can easily be doubled to feed a family, the current serving size is 1.

Nutrition: 332 calories, 7.5 gram fat (1.5 saturated), 48 grams carb, 138 mg sodium, 5 gram fiber and 18 grams protein

Okay other options:

increase the protein — stir in some protein powder (any flavor you like)

mix up the nuts — try almonds, pecans, walnuts
change the milk to Fage or any other Greek yogurt

This one is so easy you can’t screw it up!

Do you have a favorite no cook recipe that you want to share’

Remember happiness doesn’t depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely on what you think. ~Dale Carnegie

This quote sums it up quite nicely.  I hear so many excuses, time, money, family conflicts, work you name it. But what we really need to do is change our thinking. Making time for yourself just as important as taking your kids to soccer and meeting deadlines at work. So instead of saying well, I’m a mom and I can’t do it, or to be the best employee and get ahead, I have to stay late. It’s time to think about yourself and how you can help yourself. If you aren’t taking care of yourself, how can you take care of anyone else.

We are our own worse enemies, we are great a negative self-talk.  So, when you feel yourself saying something negative, turn it around! Think about what are you good at, if your not good how can you make it better!  Remember baby steps, we all fall down, but its the strong women who dusts herself off and starts again’

Talk to me how are you going to change your thinking’

Okay, I can resist most things, with the exception rice krispy treats! They are heavenly!!!! I have a good day rice krispy treats, Have a bad day rice krispy treats, it’s raining out rice krispy treats!  What makes it worst is that Starbucks has started to sell, do you know how many Starbucks I pass in my everyday life.  Heavens!! It’s heard to resist the pull of the rice krispy treat.  they are AWESOME!!!

What is your weakness’ What makes you stop in your tracks’

Courtesy of Nerd Girl Blogging

Don’t these look AWESOME!!!

Now, this is where I tell you about control.  If we don’t give ourselves treats every once in awhile we will go CRAZY!! The best rule of thumb is 80 -20.  80% of the time you are eating healthy and the other 20% you are giving yourself a moderate free pass, so if pass by that Starbucks on a Saturday and want a rice crispy treat.  Go for it!

I grow easily bored with gym bags, in fact I have a ton! But guess what I need a new one, my current bag just isn’t cutting it any more. It’s been a few months and it’s falling apart!  Are you a bag junkie like me!!

Current Bag above, below is my bag graveyard!

Does your graveyard look like mine’

I have a great lulu lemon bag, and  Nike duffel, and free bag I got at show that worked for awhile and again I still find myself on a quest!!  So help me out!! This is what I’m looking for in a bag! Must haves include: POCKETS!! I l LOVE compartments! I need a place to stick my ipod, my water bottle, phone and an outside pocket for my bus pass and cell phone (I stink at hearing that thing! Plus another outside pocket for my book. Again, I take public transportation and need to entertain myself with something beyond some of the interesting characters that ride public transportation.  Also, it must have a shoulder strap. So if you know a bag,  that my be useful to me, let me know!!  Like I said I could always use a new bag!

So, last night we made history. Obama told America we need change and America turned out in record numbers to vote for that change.  How about what change are you going to make’

In order to change we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired.- Author unknown

So if you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, the time is now to make a change.

What change am I making’  I am getting ready for my show in Las Vegas, which is 15 days and 12 hours away, but who’s counting.  I am going into a full on show diet mode, amping up my cardio and dialing in my food.

Let me know, what you are up to, by placing comment below.

I see it all the time in the gym, women who are flying through reps thinking that they are lifting. I ask all the time do you think you could lift a little heavier, and I get the same response, I don’t want to bulk up!

News Flash!

Unless you have some sort of hormonal imbalance of testosterone, it’s impossible for you to bulk up! It is possible for you to tone up and show some muscle definition.  Who doesn’t want that!  Plus, muscle:

• Burns FAT!!
• Strengthens your bones
• Takes up less space that fat, so you look leaner

So, you need to stop flying through your reps and increase your weights.  You ask’ When do I know it’s time to increase my weights’  Well, when you get to the last 2-3 reps and you feel like you can do 10 more, then you need to increase your weight.  With that said, you should only increase when you can maintain proper form!!

So tell me, are you flying through your reps’ Do you have any more questions, about weight training, I would to hear them’ Just post a question below.  I plan on answering a question every Sunday.