Fat-Free Friday

Today, I am grumpy. I was having problems with my scale, so I had to play around and rejig it and reset it...and it appears my weight isn't quite as low as I thought it was all week. I'm at 160.4, and I am dying to be back in the 150s. So....grumpy.

Any, enough about me. I have a treat for you today: a special guest post from my pal Emily, all about surviving the holidays while still following a healthy lifestyle. Enjoy!

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Hi all, I'm Emily Stone, a SAHM, proud wife, runner, fitness freak, health food addict, and animal lover! I also have an intense passion for writing, and luckily for me, Brenna has been generous enough to let me share my writing on her wonderful blog. So today, I'd like to share with you some of my favorite tips for keeping the weight off during the holiday season! If you have any questions feel free to email me at estone292@gmail.com!

Now, onto the post...

Keeping weight off during the holiday season – A Post from Emily Stone

The holidays are coming seemingly faster this year. I absolutely love the fall and preparing for feasts and parties. But I don’t want this seasons to derail my fitness plans. I find that if I maintain an exercise regimen, and loosen up on my dietary restrictions just a little, I can have an excellent holiday season without having to detox come January.

Keep Moving

A month ago, I enjoyed exercising harder and longer with the moderate temperatures. But now, it’s not as temperate anymore. That jarring cold when I step outside to take the kids to school in the morning sometimes makes me want to rush back to security under the covers. Never fear, I know what to do. When it’s time for me to bring my workouts inside, I still enjoy a thorough but shorter session. Fall and winter are best for interval training. I perform one exercise for a short period until I’m about reading to keel over, then move to another. Each individual exercise is intense, so I get a very powerful workout in a short period of time. An excellent example of interval training is the Focus T25 workoutby Insanity creator Shaun T. All it takes is 25 minutes, and I’m done.

Indulge Occasionally

I have gone on diets in the past where I have to stick precisely to the diet all the time. This can be a nightmare, and why I think most really strict diets fail. When the holidays start sneaking up on me, I try to take a rational approach to them. For example, I always buy the Halloween candy far too early. By the time Halloween arrives, everyone has eaten the candy. This year, I took little zipper bags, wrote names on them and portioned out a handful of pieces that everyone in the house could have. Then I hid the rest of the candy. Once the bags are empty, that’s it until Halloween. I didn’t feel compelled to binge because I knew I could have a piece or two. And surprisingly, everyone else in the house stopped binging, too. I think this approach applies especially well to big-feast holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you’re anything like me, you get to Thanksgiving, see all the pies, and panic. Oh no, zillions of calories! Deep breaths, I’m going to be OK. I will eat a slice of pie. Or maybe follow my mother’s advice and eat two half-slices of pie, so I can get a variety. One slice of pie is not going to kill my diet, as long as I’m eating healthily otherwise.

Honor the 80/20 Rule

That is where the 80/20 Rule comes in. When it comes to the holidays, I give myself a break. But only a little break. I aim to make at least 80 percent of what I eat very healthy–reasonably low in fat, low-carb, natural, high in nutrients. Then I don’t feel so bad when I indulge in the slice of pie or a piece of Christmas fudge. The trick is to make healthy food stay healthy. For example, sweet potatoes. These tubers are a powerhouse of nutrients! However, I have to watch for those syrupy-sweet concoctions that always make the rounds at the holidays. If I can’t make it myself with a minimum of sweetener, I try to eat from the bottom of the pan, to avoid the worst of the glaze and marshmallows.

The holidays should be a time of getting together with family and enjoying winter activities. I stay in shape and indulge moderately, so I can participate fully in both.

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I hope that you took the time to read Emily's post, because there are some GREAT tips in there - I know I'll be trying some!

See you next week!