The Holiday Season is upon us!!!

I love this time of year!  I love getting together with family and friends, I love hearing all of the things my children are thankful for, I love decorating the house and the yard, I love singing along with Christmas carols, I love seeing my children's eyes light up with excitement about celebrating Jesus' Birthday and that Santa is coming, I love the yummy smells, I love the food!!!!
What don't I like?  The tightness of my clothes after I have overindulged too many days in a row, my sore stomach from eating and drinking too much of that yummy food and cleaning up dried pine needles from the floor!

I think the LIKES outweigh the DISLIKES!  PLUS I have a plan to make that even better this year, and no, I am not getting a fake tree!!!  I am planning for success!!!

My love to eat... there are not many foods I do not enjoy (although I am not too fond of greasiness so I am fortunate there).  I need to be aware of food that I consume, I need to be make sure I don't get so hungry I blow my plan, I need to make sure I support my goals and don't waste the time exercising for silly choices.  Do I plan to avoid all of my favorite seasonal treats?  NO WAY!!!

MY PLANS and SUGGESTIONS FOR THIS HOLIDAY SEASON:

• Eat slowly and be aware of portions!
• Make sure there are healthy choices - if I need to ask the host/ hostess then I will... I can always offer to bring a veggie plate if need be!
• Load up my plates on veggies... NOT creamy veggies, but steamed, grilled or roasted will be top choices.
• Make some new traditions.  There are a TON of great recipes out there that lighten up our favorite foods.  Hold back on the butter, the oil and the grease.... cut out some of that sugar... add some skim milk to your egg nog.... and add a family walk or other "moving" activity to your Thanksgiving day!
• Do not starve myself to "save" my calories for the feast!  I am more likely to gorge because I am so dang hungry, and if there are appetizers I will more likely to eat all of the cheese platter or nut bowl and be too bloated for dinner anyways!  Maybe I will watch my calories a little more closely during the day but going into a high calorie meal starving will only set me up for disaster!!!
• I enjoy baking and holiday treats so I will bake but I will also share my baked goods!  Some for me and my family, some for gifts... we can all benefit!
• I will not stand by the buffet table and chat with friends while I nibble.  I will put food on my plate and move away while I chat so I am not as tempted to refill, or at least know how many times I do refill!  
• I will make good choices with my drinks.  Avoiding high calorie drinks or lightening them up... and making sure I drink lots of water to keep myself hydrated!!!

My goal is to not gain a single pound this holiday season.  In fact, I still have 3 pounds to lose to reach my end of the year goal... so I guess I better work hard to keep my focus on my goals!

If you are interested in joining my December Challenge group we are gearing up to start Shakeology, a fitness program and plan out our meals so we can fight the holiday bulge!  I won't beat you up for making some seasonal choices BUT I will help you make some better decisions and stay accountable to your goals.  Join me at www.GetFitWithNicola.com and let me know what your goals are!

what about the kids?

Can you believe that 43.8% of local children (of those surveyed) in Kern County are overweight or obese?  That astounds me!  Children are built to run and play and burn calories.  They have natural instincts to stop eating when they are full and they can even survive without dessert some days!!!  What is wrong here? 
I think back to when I was young and there weren't many overweight kids.  BUT I was one of the few!  I grew tall early so I probably needed a lot of food and I was eating with my older brother and my dad so I was offered a lot of food.  When I reached almost 6 feet and stopped growing up... I started growing out!  A few reasons for this that I can think of.  My parents were divorced, my dad worked and I came home after school, sat on the couch and watched TV and ate peanut butter on white bread!  It had to be the sugary kind too!  We would beg my dad for McDonalds so that was our treat dinner.  My dad was fairly fit and never had a weight problem, my brother was a football player and needed to keep pretty solid so the house was stocked with yummy food and I had free range.  ----> Lack of activity, lack of supervision, lack of education on food/ calories/ portion control, busy schedules!
This is an issue with many families today!  The only detail that cannot be changed by many families is the busy schedule.  Jobs and life don't allow much extra time... unless of course you cancel cable and video games for some people!  We can get our children more active - which does take time but it is vital to their health!  We can also help them understand the importance of being aware of what they eat!  Not nit picking the calories and worrying about every pound on the scale, but being aware of healthy foods that we can eat more of and unhealthy foods that we should eat less of.  If your kids have an insatiable sweet tooth.... limit what you have on hand for them to help themselves to.  Eat at meal times and one snack in the morning, one in the afternoon.  Once dinner is over, the kitchen is shut until breakfast!  These should be house rules for everyone!!!
Your kids are watching you!  If you are sneaking candy at 10pm, they will know!  If you are not getting any exercise, they will see!  Be a great role model and your whole family will benefit!

I would love to help you brainstorm on how you could bring better nutrition and more activity into your families lifestyle!!!  Please contact me or go to my website.  You can also find me on Facebook - just send me a message why you are requesting to be my friend :)

Life is too short NOT to be healthy!!!

Exercise is hard work!  Lots of things are hard work!  Exercise though is imperative to good health and longevity!  The bright side... exercise can be fun!  You just need to find the exercise that you enjoy!
Anything that moves your body, offers some resistance, raises your heart rate... work a little harder and longer at it and you can register it as a workout! Gardening, mowing, dancing, even dog walks!  Calorie burning is calorie burning!  Some people do fancy workouts at the gym, some use DVDs, some play their Wii... you just need to find something, or a combo of things that work for you and DO IT!!!!

The other important detail is calories!  Life is too short NOT to enjoy that cupcake and that glass of wine... yes and no!  Totally depriving yourself can be a pathway to disaster and uncontrollable splurging!  BUT moderation, limiting and setting yourself up for success is vital to making any forward progress!  If you don't say no to the occasional treat or the daily glass of wine at times, chances are you are never going to burn more calories than you take in and you won't see any changes on that scale!  I bet you don't even know how many calories you eat on a daily basis!  and I bet it is more than you would guess!!!

My favorite tools for losing a few pounds:

• Get an accountability buddy!  If you have someone, or a group of people, who you workout with, talk about your workouts with or just keep up with on FB, you are setting yourself up for success!  You are less likely to give up if you have a friend rooting for you or even better... depending on you :)
• Food journaling.  If you write down every bite you put into your mouth, you are going to rethink that little candy bar from the Halloween bucket and that half of a PB&J sandwich your kid didn't finish!  Just the idea of writing it down can be a diet assistant ;)
• Set yourself up for success! If there is a food that you just cannot pass up... don't go near it!  Do NOT buy it for your kids and plan to not have any... we all have our weak moments so why risk the temptation. Surely your kids like some things that you aren't crazy about... so get those instead!
• Eat breakfast!  Studies show that people who eat a healthy meal early in the day set themselves up for success.  You are less likely to grab something unhealthy on the run or at the coffee shop and you will have more energy!
• Schedule your workouts so they are non negotiable!  Just like a doctor or dentist appointment!!!  Also, if you plan them for first thing in the morning you are less likely to get too busy!!!
• Find workouts that you enjoy!  If you like to Dance, try Hip Hop Abs, Turbo Jam or TurboFire; if you are hard core you will LOVE Insanity; if you want to get ripped, how about P90X or P90X2; limited for time, try 10 Minute Trainer; if you are just starting out and want to work your way in, try Slim in 6, Power 90, ChaLEAN Extreme plus many more!

I have a Fitness Challenge under way with workouts, Shakeology and meal planning.  I also have an accountability group so you can benefit from the momentum of others and share your own story!  I would love to help you reach your fitness goals... you just need to take the first step and decide to go for it!!!

Learn more about the Challenge here: