The SKINNY on Holiday Health

The holidays are time full of family, friends, joy, drinks, food, and more FOOD! Am I right?! Below are some tips to help keep you on track this holiday season and more importantly enjoy this season :)

1. Maintain, Not Gain: Be realistic. I am not saying it is impossible to lose weight over the holidays (30 Day Challenge graduate Erin is proof!), but focus more on just staying on track.

2. Exercise: It is okay to veer from your normal routine, but still try to get some activity in. If you are like me without a gym membership and home for break, get creative! I have invested in several at home fitness DVD's like Insanity, Turbo Kick, Chalean Extreme, and PiYo to allow me to workout in my living room or garage. On Demand often has fitness channels, or the outdoors are always free! 

3. Don't Skip Meals: Skipping breakfast or other meals to "save" for the big holiday dinner may cause you to overindulge later in the day, and also slow your metabolism.

4. The More Colorful, the Better: Create a visually appealing plate with bright fruits and veggies to make up the majority. Avoid all one color like potatoes, rolls, stuffing, and creams. Think orange, red, greens, and yellows, and you will most likely have a more nutrient dense plate!

5. Indulge in Your Favorites: Don't feel guilty or deprive yourself from indulging in your holiday favorites. It takes an excess of 500 calories per day (3,500 in one week) to gain a pound. That means that that one (or 2) piece of Aunt Betty's Apple Pie is not going to make you gain weight!

6. Find Activities to Do With Family & Friends: Sign up for a holiday race such as a Galloping Gobbler, or Gingerbread Pursuit. Grab a FFF and google for one in your hometown. Play board games, cards, look through old pictures, or karaoke with your loved ones. Find activities where food and drink are not the focus.

7. Bring Your Own Healthy Dish: Pinterest is a beautiful thing, my friends. Find a healthy version of your favorite dessert...your family doesn't need to know that those bomb brownies you brought are made of black beans with half the calories! ;)

8. Be Smart About The BOOZE:  Choose fruit juices or seltzer water over sugary, syrupy drinks (usually anything that sounds fancy like a Fruity Tooty Tangy Slider Sprizter, etc you get the idea). Also choose clear alcohol...the darker stuff contains more compounds that cause hangovers or "brown bottle flu" the next day.

9. KISS: Keep it simple sweetie! Less is more! Choose foods (and drinks) where you can identify everything in the dish. Chances are items like casseroles and creams with unidentifiable objects are also packed with calories, fat, and sugar. If you can name all the ingredients, it might be a better choice.

10. Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Do NOT feel guilted into taking home all the left overs from Grandma Georgine! (these are all hypothetical family members fyi) If the gathering is at your house, send everyone back home with their dishes, claiming you have no space or desire to eat the pounds of stuffing! This goes with all things that cause you to cave, if it is out of sight, chances are you will forget what you are missing.

Stay tuned for more health tips, recipes, and advice this season. Remember, this time is to be enjoyed relaxing with the ones you love, so don't stress and just RELAX! Happy Holidays!

Need extra support and accountability? Join my New Year, New You #30DayChallenge. Black Friday sales start TOMORROW and you will not want to miss out! Post below, email, or message me with more questions and details!

Fat Free Friends

"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with."

Think about it! So true! Who do YOU spend the majority of your time with? In Chalene Johnson's book PUSH (my favorite) she talks about surrounding yourself with the type of people you want to be. So, fat free friends are NOT your super skinny, model looking, calorie counting machines! They are people who lift you UP, not weigh you down. They support your journey to become happy and healthy. They are motivating, successful, and drama free!

These people PUSH you to be the best version of you, even if that means telling you what you don't want to hear!

Fat-Free Friends Quiz

Think about the people you’ve chosen as your friends.  Can you answer “YES” to all of the following questions?

1.) Does your friend support your vision for a healthy, successful life?

2.) Does he or she lift you up and hold you accountable?

3.) Does he or she have a positive influence on who you are as a person?

4.) Does your friend have respect for herself, her relationships, health and fitness?

Below are a few (of my many) F^3 . Share this post with yours! And check out Chalene's full article on FFF :)

http://www.chalenejohnson.com/healthy-living/fat-free-friends-get-some/

Maddy and I after paying for an $85 cab to Joondalup, Australia to run a half marathon and 10K. GOOD TIMES!

Beachbody Team Sapphire after Julie Voris's PiYo class 

Paulina and I at Midwest Mania in Chicago, IL