‘Twas a week before Christmas and all through the land, the
annual struggle to maintain weight was readily at hand.
Let’s face it. We eat
during the holidays. It’s what we
do. It’s part of tradition, right? So how can you eat during the holidays and
not gain weight? I’m not going to lie to
you. It’s not easy. In fact, it’s probably more difficult than we
even realize. I mean, it’s just one
piece of pie. That can’t hurt
anything. And it probably wouldn’t. That is, unless, you say that at every meal
and then sit on the couch and do nothing.
That’s when it becomes an issue.
Trust me, I have a huge sweet tooth! I had a holiday cookie exchange last week and
have more cookies in my house than I’ve had in a really long time. And it’s like crack, or at least what I
would assume crack is like. Once I have
one, it’s hard to walk away. WALK AWAY
MARY KAY!! JUST WALK AWAY! Sound
familiar?
Here’s what I recommend.
You can treat yourself to a cookie or a piece of pie. Don’t deny yourself because that’s just going
to lead to binge eating and that is worse than if you let yourself have a
treat. So have that treat but stand up
while eating it. Better yet, walk around
while eating it. It may sound weird and
your family may think you’ve lost your mind but you can burn twice as many
calories walking rather than sitting. If
you weigh 150 lbs and sit while eating, you will burn roughly 12 calories in 10
minutes. If you walk while eating, you
can burn up to 30 calories. And 10
minutes isn’t that long! So if you are
eating a piece of pie that has 300 calories in it, you are automatically
burning off 30 of those calories by walking around. Yes, you read that right. A piece of pie can have more than 300
calories in it. Think about that…300
calories. If you are trying to maintain
your weight, you typically can eat about 1800 calories (depending on your
height, weight and age). 300 of your
1800 calories (or 1/6) coming from one item! YIKES!! That means that between breakfast, lunch and
dinner that day, you only have 1500 calories left! Walking around while you eat doesn’t sound so
bad now does it? That 30 calories you
are burning means one more bite of turkey.
The other concept behind walking while you eat is that you eat slower and eating slower means you get full faster so you inherently EAT LESS! Perfect!
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that you should eat all your meals while walking around. That would be ridiculous. What I am suggesting is that you look doing things differently. Going to a holiday party? That’s the perfect opportunity to do what I’m describing. Don’t just sit in one spot while you are talking with people. Move around. Find various people to talk with. MINGLE! You can eat while you are doing this and POOF! You are burning more calories and are less likely to eat too much.
Are you cooking dinner for your family this year? That's a great opportunity to burn additional calories. You are bending to perhaps get something from a lower cupboard, right? Guess what? You just did a squat! Waiting for the water to boil for the potatoes? Excellent! Do some leg raises while you are standing there. Listening to music while you cook? Great! Put on some faster tempo Christmas songs and dance while cooking. I do it all the time. I make dinner, burn calories and entertain myself all at the same time. Who knew it was this easy!
In short...it's okay to treat yourself. lf once or twice this holiday season. Just don't go overboard and find ways to burn a few extra calories.
BE BOLD! BE YOU!
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