Winning the Battle of the Holiday Bulge with Mindful Eating

As the holidays approach us again many of us feel that by the New Year we will gain several pounds due to all the holiday parties and gatherings that are filled with foods and tasty treats. Let’s face it, most of us engage in mindless eating most of the time. Eating is part of the social holiday tradition; however, most of us eat simply because food is put in front of us; especially during the holidays. Mindful eating is learning how to eat with a conscious, non-judgmental awareness. So, I eat when I am hungry, and stop when I am full, which is easier said then done. It’s using your common sense when you eat and not getting lost in the activity of cramming food down your mouth just to eat. For example, eating the cookies on the table just because they are there while you chit-chat with your friend. Mindful eating is also eating to meet our physical needs not our emotional needs. Too often, especially around the holidays, we tend to eat emotional due to physical, mental and emotional stress all this mindless eating can add pounds to your body which linger long after the holidays are over.


It’s almost an unspoken tradition for most people to gain those extra unwanted holiday pounds. It’s time to break that tradition and start mindful eating and finally win the battle of the holiday bulge! Try these mindful eating tips for a healthier holiday season that will carry over to the New Year.

• Eat breakfast: People who eat breakfast every day eat less throughout the day than those who don’t eat breakfast.
• Use small plates: Eating from a small plate or drinking from a small cup will allow you to eat and drink less.
• Eat before you go out: Try eating a healthy snack one hour before you go to the holiday party or gathering. This allows you to be in control of your appetite and make wiser food choices as opposed to eating everything and anything.
• Drink water: Drinking water helps you stay hydrated and fills you up. If you are bored with plain water add lemon. Lemon water is healthy and cleansing!
• Eat in moderation and never deprive yourself: Don’t ever deprive yourself during the holiday. Making certain foods forbidden only makes it more appealing. Tell yourself that you are allowed to have your favorite foods in moderation. When you allow yourself, you will have less of a tendency to overeat.
• Savor your food: Mindful eating means tasting your food, eating slow savoring the flavors, and enjoying the texture of your favorite food for a delectable experience that will fill you on every level.
• Eating alone when possible: Research shows that we tend to eat one-third more when we eat at social events then we do when we eat alone. We tend to eat more, talk more and pick on snacks and foods without having any focus on what we are eating. There by in-taking more calories and unhealthy foods.
• Physical activity: Most of us during the holiday season barely get a chance to go to the gym or participate in some sort of physical activity. This holiday get creative by finding alternatives ways to stay physical such as ice skating, dancing, taking a brisk walk in the morning, skiing, or hiking.
• Watch your alcohol intake: Alcohol has a lot of calories, watch what you drink and how much you are drinking. Have a glass of water for every glass of alcohol to help you from having a possible hangover the next day. Don’t drive under the influence of alcohol even if you are a bit tipsy give the keys to your friends, take a cab or try to sleep it off before you get behind the wheel. Don’t put your life and some else in danger.
  

As you learn to eat mindful you will change the behavior of eating on auto-pilot. Learning to savor your foods and enjoy them will create a better eating experience all around and give you greater results of eating less and feeling full faster without feeling like you have been deprived.



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Time Management During the Holiday Season

As the holidays approach we become more pressed for time. With all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and the added pressure of the holiday season, it’s no wonder why this is such a stressful time of the year for everyone. All the shopping, gift giving, cooking, holiday gatherings, decorating and cleaning. Whew!! If you are not careful during this time of the year you can over extend yourself on every level.

During the holiday season it can be difficult to fit all we have to do into the allotted time we have. The secret to managing your time is about prioritizing the important things, delegating tasks and learning to use your time efficiently and effectively. Not as easy as it sounds! You can reduce some of the stress of the holiday with good planning and time management skills to help you survive the holidays and enjoy this joyous season with family and friends. Try these tips to help you create more time and lessen the stress of the holiday season.

• Plan ahead: Don’t wait until December to do all of your shopping and decorating. This will only create a large amount of stress. Schedule specific days on a weekly basis starting as early as late October or the first week in November.

• Create a to-do list: When you write things down you can determine their order of importance and cross them off the list once they are done. It will give you a sense of accomplishment.

• Stop procrastinating: We tend to procrastinate when we have a lot to do or when we feel a task is too big for us to handle.

• Try “chunking”: Break down the big task into smaller manageable ones.

• Prioritize: Prioritize and do what is most important on your list first.

• Ask for help and delegate: Ask your family members, husband and children for help. Delegate minor task such as sending out holiday cards, gift wrapping, decorating, cooking prep work and cleaning. While they are helping you out, you can go take care of important tasks that only you can.

• Schedule extra time for interruptions: Remember that life happens and we sometimes get hit with unexpected things and interruptions. When managing your time, allow for at least 1/3 of time for these interruptions.

• Don’t be a perfectionist: Do what you can and don’t worry about the rest.

• Shop on-line: Shopping on-line at your convenience will help you save time from running from store to store. Take the extra time you save by shopping on line to relax or do something fun with your family.

• Eliminate trivial tasks: Practice the art of intelligent neglect, eliminate trivial tasks that aren’t necessary for you and yours to enjoy the holidays.

• High energy time: Consider your high energy time and do all major tasks at the time of the day you work your best.

• Gift card and certificates: Save time by purchasing gift cards and gift certificates. You can easily buy them anywhere in any amount and people like them. Purchasing gift cards and gift certificates will save you lots of shopping time. You can use the extra time you saved to work on other tasks or do something special for yourself or with your family.

• Gift wrapping: Wrap gifts as you purchase them to save on the time you’ll spend wrapping all the gifts at once. You can also opt to have them wrapped at the store at time of purchase or delegate that task to someone in your household. Doing either of these will save you time.

Learning simple holiday time management skills will help lessen your holiday stress and give you time to sit back and enjoy the holidays with the ones you love.

Being Grateful on Thanksgiving

We all have so many things to be thankful for however, when something negative happens we are so quick to say "If it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all". Why are we always acknowledging the negative things that occur to us in our daily life and ignoring the good things. Why do we give the negative so much power?

When something good happens have you ever been thankful for it. I mean really thankful for it. Have you said “Thank you” to God and those who have given you so much without expecting anything in return? I bet some will answer no. Yet we are so quick to point out the negative in our lives. This has always baffled me about human behavior. By acknowledging the negative we are creating more negative. Why not acknowledge the positive and good things that occur in our life. Thoughts are powerful and what we believe we create. Let's create good things, like joy, happiness, and most of all lets be grateful for the cornucopia of blessings in our daily life.

Thanksgiving is a time to acknowledge all the positive and good things in our life that we take for granted throughout the rest of the year. We are all blessed with so many wonderful things to be grateful for. If you look at the way the world is today most of us are so much more fortunate than others. Some of those things are good health, family, our partner, good friends, a roof over our heads, food on our table, our job, clothes on our back and the blessing of another beautiful day of life, are just a few of the little things we take for granted on a daily basis. With all these blessings we still tend to hold on to the negative things that happen no matter how small they may be. So what if the driver in the other car cut you off, stop holding on to it, let it go! Why would you ruin your day over something so small and petty? Whatever negative experiences you may have, let them go. Always remember this too shall pass and concentrate your thoughts on something positive.

This Thanksgiving I would like you to try something different. Let’s make an extra effort to be thankful and show gratitude for all the good things in our life no matter how big or small they may be. Being grateful allows generosity to flow and many believe the more you love what you have and show gratitude the more you will get what you want. May you keep an intentional attitude of gratitude this holiday season that will last all year.

Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving filled with much gratitude, love, happy memories and many blessings.


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