Don’t press the freakout button!!! I hear you Thanksgiving is not the same without sweet potatoes with gooey marshmallows, pumpkin pie and
all the other goodies that are brought out on that day’  Let’s be honest with each Thanksgiving is all the food that feeds the stomach and soothes the soul. It is the culinary equivalent of being tucked into a warm bed on a cold night.

How do you honor your healthy lifestyle while wanting to dive head first into those sugar filled treats of the day washed down with a little
Sauvignon Blanc’ Plus your guests may not be expecting brown rice, steamed broccoli, and boiled turkey breasts.

Your hungry guests who are expecting — nay, demanding — all the Thanksgiving classics’

Ready to dig deep

Set the Mood

Let’s face it eating is emotional. Raise your hand if you’ve ever eaten when you’re stressed. Seriously when things are going well, we never think about eating.

Wanna eat less”” Dim the lights and play some soft music, you’ll eat 175 fewer calories and still feel satisfied.

I have two go to’s for stress management is one is Ionix Supreme it’s a blend of plant-based adaptogens and helps protect me against the negative effects of stress. The other is sleep spray, this helps me get to sleep and stay asleep without a food coma.

Create Food-Free Zones

I know I’m so guilty of this, if there is food in front of me I’ll eat it. Do yourself and your guests a favor and create a food-free zone where the socializing can happen without food being within sight. If everyone will be eating at the dining room table, set up a buffet line in the kitchen,
away from where people will be eating.

Ideally your guests are having so much fun socializing that they  forget about going back for seconds, or at the very least, think twice about it because you’ve created a physical distance between them and the food.

Manipulate Supply and Demand

Serve higher calorie foods like pasta salad, stuffing, or mashed potatoes in smaller bowls, while serving healthier foods like vegetables in larger ones. It’s subtle, but what you’re doing is creating less demand for the unhealthier food and more demand for the good stuff.

Use Smaller Plates

I know you’ve heard this before, but research suggests that when we use smaller plates, we overestimate the amount of food we’re consuming
and end up eating less, while using larger plates causes us to underestimate our consumption and eat more.

So go ahead and swap out those plates — even if it means using paper plates (if someone wants to get all judgy about having to eat on paper
plates, you can kindly offer to let them do the dishes!).

Don’t Let Leftovers Hijack Your Health Kick

Here’s the thing — Thanksgiving is just ONE day. We certainly don’t want you to miss out on all the seasonal favorites, and it’s absolutely all right
to enjoy yourself for one day. But, with the usual abundance of leftovers, it can be astonishingly easy to let one day turn into one week.

When you come to my house EVERYONE gets a doggie bag!!! I want no more than 48 hours of food in my house!!

What are some of your healthy holiday tips”’ Leave me a comment below.  I’m always looking for things to add to my bag of tricks.

If you are over 40 and looking to live a healthy life, be sure to grab my FREE guide!!!

The post Making The Holidays Easy appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

On on one hand I think New Year’s resolutions are awesome because they give us something to strive towards, an ideal that we can be a better version of ourselves. Somehow when we achieve this resolution our slate will wiped clean. My challenge with New Year’s resolutions is they are made purely out of tradition rather than with intent to actually make a change.

Now I’m not being negative Nelly, so I want to make sure that you don’t let yourself fall victim to the “diet” pitfall when setting your New Year’s resolution!
When you decide to make a healthy lifestyle change you should be going into it with a lot of thought about what you want to change and how you’re going to do it. Just deciding at the spur of the moment that you’re going to be healthier as the clock counts down doesn’t really give you much of a chance to do the research and planning you need to make healthy, informed decisions. It’s good to make the choice to become healthier, but it should really be something that you think hard on rather than something that just happens to come to mind.
Here is where I advise my clients to set 2 week sprints. Take your overall healthy living goal and break it down into what will you accomplish in the next 2 weeks. This gives you short term targets to hit and when you hit them you’ll feel far more accomplished. When you feel accomplished guess what you’ll want to do more!!
Most people approach getting healthy as this all or nothing thing. They go ALL in and then get burnt out. They are trying to change way too much to fast. Some find that they are unable to sustain that change and they fall off the “wagon”. If you’re planning to “get healthy” or “lose weight” for the New Year, make sure that you’re planning on doing it in a stable way that you’re going to stick with until you reach your goals.
Don’t let yourself be tripped up before you even start with a temporary frame of mind that doesn’t have much thought or planning behind it.
I’d like to help you get a jumpstart on your holiday resolution. I’ve asked 12 fitness professionals to give their best tips on how they get through the holiday season stress and weight gain free. Each day you’ll get one simple fitness tip, recipe, or workout that can be done anywhere. Want in” Grab it right it right here.

The post Steal The Exact Process Fitness Professionals Use To Cruise Through The Holidays appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

• Ty-she Gym towel  –This towel wraps around your waist covering your butt and has convenient pockets for your IPod, keys and ID.
• Words to Sweat by — Need some motivation while you are working out’ These handy little personal sweat towels having truly inspiring words to really funny mantra that keep you plugging through your workout.
• The Body Shield towel — Want to create a true barrier between YOU and the machines at your gym’  Check out The Body Shield, its antimicrobial, odor free, and come with an elastic band that lets you attach the towel to equipment without it slipping off.
• The Blender Ball shake mixer — Most shaker bottles contain a plastic mesh cap that is “supposed” to help blend the powdered protein shake with the liquid.  This doesn’t always give you a clump free shake, enter the Blender Ball shaker. It has a wire whisk ball that makes your shake taste like it was but through a blender – okay almost =)
• Sandbells/Waterbell — Dumbbells, Medicine balls and kettlebells aren’t portable, hurt when you drop them on your feet or hands and can be expensive to have all of them in your home gym arsenal.  Sandbells combine all 3 and then some! You fill these stretchy neoprene bags with sand or water.  You can use these bags at home or bring them with you to add strength to any outdoor workout.
• Valslides or Gliding Discs — Works your lower body as well as your upper body with these little devices.  They may be small but they will leave you feeling the burn!  Both of these little pieces are portable so you can bring them with you to the gym or throw them in your suitcase and create an ultimate travel workout.
• Monster bands — Are you someone who travels or know someone who travels a bit.  Do they go to the hotel gym, see pink dumbbells, and think how am I going to get a good workout’  Maybe you’re a new mom who has a challenge getting to the gym.  The typical bands you find at your local Target or sporting goods store may not provide enough resistance.  You can purchase these monster bands – you can use them in a variety of ways.  They are lightweight, portable and can add versatility to most exercises. http://www.roguefitness.com/rogue-monster-bands.php
• Vitamix — This is a blender on steroids.  You can blend partially anything with this blender.  It takes a lickn’ and keeps on blending.  I’ve had mine for over 15 years and it’s still going!
• Magic Bullet — Not quite ready to step up to the Vitamix’  Check out the Magic Bullet.  It’s perfect for travel and it’s a little friendlier on your wallet.
• Sweaty Bands — This is a cute way to keep the sweat out of your eyes and it won’t slip.
• Mini Exercise Ball — Use this ball to upgrade your ab workouts.  This little ball will have you feeling every muscle in your abs.  Just put it under the small of your back extends your arms and try lifting your feet.

If you don’t like any of these ideas, you can always send them to Lululemon to get you a cute outfit or a bag.  Have any other suggestions, leave me a comment below, I’d love to hear them.

The post Fitness Minded Gift Ideas appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.

1. Exercise regularly.  I know, at this the time of year, we typically skip out on our workout, but workouts will help you feel confident and work off some of that stress and potential excess holiday calories.
2. Deep breathing. When you start to get stressed, just sit quietly for 2-3 minutes and focus on your breathing. Start by closing your eyes focus your breath beginning at your toes and go all way up to your head focusing on where you feel tension and when you feel it let your breath wash it away. Once you do this, it will make you feel an immediate sense of calm.
3. Reduce your caffeine intake. Can she be for real! Yes, I can! Caffeine in a stressed state can make you jittery and edgy. Okay basically bitchy and mean. Just one simple word could set you off. I know this doesn’t sound like you. =) So instead of that afternoon caffeine pick me up reach for some green tea, still has some caffeine but also gives you a nice calming effect.
4. Scale back on the booze. I know you want to spread some holiday cheer! Alcohol stimulates the stress hormone and is filled with empty calories. If you do need to go out for some holiday cheer, limit yourself to 1 drink.
5. Set a budget. The past few years have been tough. Instead of worrying about the post holidays bills set a budget and stick with it. Sorry ladies, we can all be J.Lo.
6. Set realistic expectations. Sit down and figure what what you expect from the holiday and share them with your significant other and families members, that why you aren’t stressed when things aren’t done a certain way.
7. Cook ahead. I know with the holidays come the TREATS. Try to make sure you are cooking ahead so that you can a least have a few healthy options available before you hit the treats.

The post 7 Tips To Beat Holiday Stress appeared first on Kim Barnes Jefferson.