Let\u2019s do something different this holiday season. Let\u2019s choose to maintain our weight, to stay healthy & fit, to feel good physically. It may seem impossible, but it\u2019s not. Here are my top tips in no particular order for maintaining your weight through the holidays.<\/p>\n
1. Sleep.<\/h2>\n
The more sleep deprived you are, the higher the levels of cortisol in your body, which will increase your appetite. Your body also has a hard time processing sweet stuff when you\u2019re lacking sleep. Plus you make better choices when you are well rested and if you\u2019re sleeping, you\u2019re not going to be binging on cookies late at night. So go to bed an hour early and catch up on those zzz\u2019s.<\/p>\n
2. Exercise. Stay active doing something you love for at least 30 minutes a day.<\/h2>\n
It not only improves your quality of life, reduces risks of diseases, and improves your stamina, but it also helps you control and maintain your weight. You are meant to move! Choose something you love so you\u2019re more likely to stick with it.<\/p>\n
Decide beforehand what you\u2019re going to eat or not eat. Don\u2019t let yourself have one of everything. If available, choose vegetables, fruit, & shrimp cocktail which are all low calorie and packed with nutrition. You are the one that decides what you put in your body. Better yet, be the one that brings the healthy option.<\/p>\n Write them down and share them with a friend that will help keep you accountable. You are more likely to follow through if it\u2019s written down and shared. Are you going to sign up for a 5k or commit to drinking 8 glasses of water a day? Let her know!<\/p>\n Instead make time for taking care of you. Meditate, go for a walk, take a bath, listen to music, or read a book. Do something that brings refreshment to your soul. If you\u2019re feeling overwhelmed, give yourself permission to say NO. It\u2019s okay to not be a part of every event there is.<\/p>\n What about coconut oil instead of butter, maple syrup instead of sugar, almond flour instead of white bleached flour? I have started doing this and we can still eat yummy things but without the guilt or the bulging waist line. Pinterest is loaded with so many fun recipe ideas. Give it a go and let me know what you think!<\/p>\n Enjoy the food you do decide to eat, don\u2019t waste your calories on stuff you don\u2019t even like! But choose your main focus to be the ONES you are celebrating with.<\/p>\n Make special memories together, enjoy the conversations, the caroling, the gift-giving, the decorating, the sledding. Make those things your focus.<\/p>\n So there you have it. Simple but effective things that have helped me and I hope they will help you too! Wouldn\u2019t it be so nice to enjoy this holiday season and not have to make your new year\u2019s resolution to lose the weight you gained over the holidays? You can do it! I believe in you.<\/p>\n I know there are many other tips and ideas out there, so tell me what has helped you stay healthy over the holidays?<\/strong>\u00a0I would love to hear about your experience in the comments below or on\u00a0our facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s that time of the year again. It seems like there are endless parties and celebrations, grandmas cinnamon rolls, mom\u2019s sugar cookies, school parties, cookie swaps and where does it end? If it was one day or maybe even 2, we would be okay, most likely maintaining our weight. But when it\u2019s months of celebration […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[12,17,16,15,10,13,14,11],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/winter-exercise.jpg\")
<\/p>\n3. Portion control! Don\u2019t show up to an event hungry, because you are more likely to end up overeating.<\/h2>\n
4. Set health goals before the new year. Don\u2019t let them go out the window for the holidays but be intentional.<\/h2>\n
5. Keep your calm. Stress leads to overeating.<\/h2>\n
6. Make over your favorite cookies or thanksgiving dishes by choosing healthy ingredients.<\/h2>\n
![\"Camille](\"http:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/19534083_1203924536386095_3420047629914996736_n.jpg\")
<\/p>\n7. Finally\u2026choose not to center the holidays only around food.<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.theholisticpursuit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/14709472_1834762196737611_5843637412361666560_n.jpg\")
<\/p>\n