25. November 2010 by admin.

Thanksgiving rings in the holiday season’s bounty of feasts. Nothing beats getting together with friends and family and enjoying a holiday meal. The challenge of course is keeping our weight in check between now and New Year’s Day. No one wants to feel deprived through the holidays and you shouldn’t have to deprive yourself. Here is Alpha Fitness’s Top Ten Ways to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain.

10. Take a walk after a holiday meal. Not only will this help you digest your food better, it will help burn off some calories.

9. Incorporate lots of fresh vegetables into your holiday meals. They will add vibrant colors and flavors to many of your holiday favorites, more nutrition and fiber and help to fill you up sooner.

8. Bring a healthy dish. If you are attending a party or holiday get together bring your own favorite healthy dish. This will help you to at least be eating something nutritious that day.

7. Don’t arrive hungry. Having a healthy snack like vegetables with hummus, an apple with peanut butter or yogurt with fruit will help you to eat a more reasonable portion. Many people make the mistake of eating very little during the day to prepare for the large meal that they will be eating. This is likely to trigger a binger where you have no control over the amount you are eating.

6. Don’t extend the festivities past the day of the holiday or party. It’s okay to splurge once in a while, but don’t take that eating style into your daily life. One bad day won’t ruin your waistline, but a month certainly will.

5. Pick your favorites. Don’t feel obligated to try a little bit of everything. That will give you more calories than you can possibly need and won’t even leave you satisfied. Stick to your favorite options when you splurge and have a reasonable portion. You don’t have to deprive yourself of your favorites.

4. Run or walk in a turkey trot. Going for a good run or walk the day of Thanksgiving will help to burn calories and rev up your metabolism. While you might not be able to work off your entire Thanksgiving dinner, you certainly will make a dent.

3. Beware of the alcohol. I know, everyone enjoys a cup of holiday cheer, but the calories do add up. Unfortunately, they are empty calories so you are still going to want to eat in addition to the drinking. It’s okay to have a drink, but just watch how much you are drinking and what the drink is. For example, a glass of red or white wine only has about 120 calories compared to the 200+ calories found in many drinks. Eggnog in particular is high in calories with 343 calories in just one cup!

2. Make the people the focus of your attention, not the food. People feel deprived when they go to a holiday gathering and try to diet because they are focused on what they cannot have. If you focus on enjoying the time with family and friends, the food will not be as much of an issue. Enjoy the meal, but focus on the people.

1. Finally, this is a great time of the year to get a head start on your New Year’s resolution and start an exercise program. While it is not the best time of year to try and lose weight, starting to exercise will help you to maintain your weight through the holiday season, will improve your energy, and put you in the right holiday spirit.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Alpha Fitness!

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5. November 2010 by admin.

As the weather gets colder and the days get shorter, many people find that they want to slow down, eat heavier foods and might even find themselves developing a case of the winter blues. Particularly in New England, winter can be a long hard season for many to deal with. The cold, snow and ice make spending time outside challenging. The lack of sunshine brings our spirit down. So how can we help to prevent the winter doldrums?

First, while in the summer months we are naturally more active with lots of outdoor activities, in the winter we tend to spend much more time inside. Upping your activity level is one of the best ways to increase your sense of well-being. After exercise, most people report an improvement in their mood that can last anywhere from six to 24 hours. Exercising on a regular basis is considered as effective as counseling at helping to regulate mood. What activity is best? Really anything you like will do as long as it lasts for 30 minutes or longer and is of at least a moderate intensity.

Vitamin D is another piece in the winter blues puzzle. In general, it is very difficult to get enough Vitamin D. While our bodies are equipped to make Vitamin D when exposed to sunlight, it is not as easy as it may seem to get the necessary amounts. First, you need to have at least an hour or two of direct sun exposure between the hours of noon and 2 p.m. In order to get enough sun during the winter months, you would need to be closer to the equator for this to happen. Even if you were outside during this time frame in New England, you most likely would not have enough skin exposed to soak up the sun’s rays. The solution, at least, is quite simple. A dose of approximately 1,000 IU’s of Vitamin D3 taken on a daily basis can provide what the average person needs. Vitamin D helps to regulate mood and those that are low on Vitamin D may find themselves battling depression. Vitamin D tends to be particularly low in those with autoimmune disease and has even been considered as a particular cause in diseases like multiple sclerosis. If you think that you may be low in Vitamin D, your doctor can run a simple blood work to test your levels and then prescribed the correct amount of Vitamin D for you to take.

Be proactive this winter season. Create your own plan to prevent the winter blues.

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