Right this moment my husband and I are the only ones awake and moving around in the house - hopefully the rest of the family will be up soon. We traveled to Rhode Island this year, and the youngest person in the house is my sister's son - 24 years old - so the traditional Christmas excitement has been replaced by sleeping luxuriously late and relaxing over coffee before diving into the presents.
This year my Christmas list was pretty light - I am trying my absolute best not to acquire new things (except books!) and instead requested spinning classes, spa gift certificates and the like. But my real Christmas list can't be delivered by Santa, wrapped and put under the tree: the strength to make permanent healthy changes in my behavior. Nope, I have to be my own Santa this year to make that happen!
Hope all of you have a great holiday season - and here's to peace, joy and kindness to old friends and new in the coming year!
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Friday, December 25, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Holiday Strategies
I ran across this list on the Weight Watchers website this morning - sixteen great strategies for navigating the holiday season. My favorites are 3, 14, and 16. Personal training gift certificates will DEFINITELY be on my Christmas list this year!
Monday, November 30, 2009
It's a Thanksgiving Miracle!
This morning I was delighted to step on the scale and find that I have passed the 10 pound mark - a milestone made all the sweeter because it happened over Thanksgiving! I attribute this success to a few factors:
In other news, this past week my inlaws were visiting. Their visit gave me the incentive to visit Twisters (a local yoga and fitness studio) - my husband's mom really enjoys yoga, and Twisters offers a 1-week guest pass. The pass allows you to try all of the classes for free (normally they are $15 each) so I suggested that she give it a try. When she reported back that the studio was very nice, I decided to take advantage of the same offer. So yesterday morning off we went - she to a Vinyasa Flow class, and me to a Spinning class. To date I've tried 3 classes at LA Fitness and enjoyed them, but the class at Twisters was a cut above - the room was spacious, well-ventilated, clean and had a wall of cubbies where you could store personal items. The instructor was on a platform so you could see exactly what she was doing, and the bikes were in excellent condition and nicely spaced apart (read: I wasn't bumping shoulders with my neighbor). The music was pretty good too, and most importantly it was LOUD. And finally, the room was private - no windows where the general gym population could stand around watching you struggle and grimace! So 2 thumbs up for Spinning at Twisters.
Mom-in-law told me that she enjoyed both of her yoga classes, and that the students were all very experienced. Of course, this is completely intimidating, but in the spirit of Getting Over Myself, I'm going to try a few of the classes this week anyway. I survived the spinning class, right? Tonight I'm planning to try the Kripalu yoga class, which is described on the schedule as 'gentle yoga'. As a yoga newbie, I think this will be just my speed. Later in the week I'll try Hatha yoga, mat pilates, Body Pump and hopefully reformer pilates if I can get into the class (which is limited to 5 participants). After each class I'll report back on my experience.
- Planning ahead to manage the T-day feast
- Extreme diligence over the past week with counting calories
- Daily 400-calorie workouts
- Extra activity wherever possible. For example, my husband needed to return some library books on Saturday, so I suggested we walk the half mile to the library instead of dropping them off the next time we were driving by.
- Habit - over the past month, I have gotten into the habit of eating smaller portions and eating more fruits & veggies, so it didn't seem like a chore this week to keep up with that routine.
In other news, this past week my inlaws were visiting. Their visit gave me the incentive to visit Twisters (a local yoga and fitness studio) - my husband's mom really enjoys yoga, and Twisters offers a 1-week guest pass. The pass allows you to try all of the classes for free (normally they are $15 each) so I suggested that she give it a try. When she reported back that the studio was very nice, I decided to take advantage of the same offer. So yesterday morning off we went - she to a Vinyasa Flow class, and me to a Spinning class. To date I've tried 3 classes at LA Fitness and enjoyed them, but the class at Twisters was a cut above - the room was spacious, well-ventilated, clean and had a wall of cubbies where you could store personal items. The instructor was on a platform so you could see exactly what she was doing, and the bikes were in excellent condition and nicely spaced apart (read: I wasn't bumping shoulders with my neighbor). The music was pretty good too, and most importantly it was LOUD. And finally, the room was private - no windows where the general gym population could stand around watching you struggle and grimace! So 2 thumbs up for Spinning at Twisters.
Mom-in-law told me that she enjoyed both of her yoga classes, and that the students were all very experienced. Of course, this is completely intimidating, but in the spirit of Getting Over Myself, I'm going to try a few of the classes this week anyway. I survived the spinning class, right? Tonight I'm planning to try the Kripalu yoga class, which is described on the schedule as 'gentle yoga'. As a yoga newbie, I think this will be just my speed. Later in the week I'll try Hatha yoga, mat pilates, Body Pump and hopefully reformer pilates if I can get into the class (which is limited to 5 participants). After each class I'll report back on my experience.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thanksgiving Success Story
Turkey Day has come and gone and I have one more thing to be thankful for this year - my plan worked! My total calorie intake was about 2600 for the day - higher than a normal day, but definitely low considering the damage that could have been done. I burned about 400 calories on the treadmill in the morning, took the dog for a half-hour walk in the afternoon, and stayed pretty active all day with prepping and cooking dinner. Breakfast was bran flakes, one clementine and about 15 almonds. Lunch was toasted naan with homemade hummus, followed by a couple of gingersnaps. At dinner, the "veggies first" strategy worked well - I only had room for about half a plate of turkey, stuffing and potatoes, and only had one slice of pie. Between workouts and a high level of activity, I managed to end the day without a calorie surplus to burn off on Friday. Woohoo!
The capstone to the day was a late night shopping trip with a couple girlfriends - we decided to take advantage of the crazy sales at the Philadelphia Premium Outlet Mall! Stores began opening at 11pm, so at 10:30 we got on line behind about 200 other people (yes, you read that correctly!) to snap up some Black Friday bargains at the Coach outlet. We entered the store at about 11:45, bought a few things, then split up after that and shopped individually for another couple hours. By 2 am I had 3 large bags - carrying them from store to store and weaving around a ton of other shoppers was definitely a bonus workout for the day! Traffic was horrendous on the way out, but we made it home successfully, and after taking a few minutes to gaze lovingly at our new purchases we went our separate ways for the evening. I finally got to bed around 3:30 and slept right through breakfast this morning! Today will be a day of light eating, and due to many sore muscles from all my workouts this past week, I will have a rest day and just putter around the house instead of hitting the gym. It feels so good to have made it through Thanksgiving without a load of calories to work off!
The capstone to the day was a late night shopping trip with a couple girlfriends - we decided to take advantage of the crazy sales at the Philadelphia Premium Outlet Mall! Stores began opening at 11pm, so at 10:30 we got on line behind about 200 other people (yes, you read that correctly!) to snap up some Black Friday bargains at the Coach outlet. We entered the store at about 11:45, bought a few things, then split up after that and shopped individually for another couple hours. By 2 am I had 3 large bags - carrying them from store to store and weaving around a ton of other shoppers was definitely a bonus workout for the day! Traffic was horrendous on the way out, but we made it home successfully, and after taking a few minutes to gaze lovingly at our new purchases we went our separate ways for the evening. I finally got to bed around 3:30 and slept right through breakfast this morning! Today will be a day of light eating, and due to many sore muscles from all my workouts this past week, I will have a rest day and just putter around the house instead of hitting the gym. It feels so good to have made it through Thanksgiving without a load of calories to work off!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Thanksgiving Day - Bring It On
Hello out there in blogland! With the inevitable Thanksgiving feast just around the corner, I've been giving some thought to how I will navigate the 'feastivities' without completely going on a food bender and putting myself in the position of feeling guilty & disappointed in myself.
I am hosting a small T-Day this year – myself, my husband and his parents. Unlike my family, my inlaws prefer to eat dinner late in the day, around 5-6pm. I’m used to a dinner time of noon, after which there is usually a nap, much watching of TV, and then more feasting on leftovers. This year will be different. After a month of keeping the momentum going, and losing 8 fatty pounds, I can't afford to derail my progress and backslide. So it was necessary to devise a master plan to keep my mojo going:
T-Day Plan Part 1:
There will be a good long workout in the morning, most likely step class and then a relaxing swim. A light lunch, and then some yard work or a long dog-walk in the afternoon while the turkey cooks – keep that calorie burn going!
T-Day Plan Part 2:
At dinner, many of the traditional foods will make an appearance: cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and stuffing (mom-in-law makes an incredible sticky rice stuffing with chestnuts – I will try to steal the recipe and post it later this week). However, I will also be steaming lots of healthy veggies (green beans, brussels sprouts, broccoli) to accompany this feast. The centerpiece of my plan is to fill my ENTIRE plate with veggies, eat them all, and only then enjoy the usual treats and eat until I am nice and full. I’m hoping that I will be pretty well filled up with veggies before I start on the high-calorie stuff and thus will not have the belly space to do too much damage! In addition, a later dinner means only one feast, rather than a second round of eating after a long nap.
T-Day Plan Part 3:
Since this party is at my house, I need to worry about LEFTOVERS! The final piece of my grand plan is to make smaller quantities of everything, so that the leftovers are gone by Friday and I can get back to my usual eating routine without the temptation of tasty treats in the fridge.
This is a new strategy for me - usually I just try to control my portions and fail miserably, thus triggering the guilt, disappointment, and mental flagellation routine - and then inevitably eat more to numb the bad feelings.
For more thoughts on Thanksgiving, check out this great post by MizFit. What are your plans for navigating this tempting holiday?
I am hosting a small T-Day this year – myself, my husband and his parents. Unlike my family, my inlaws prefer to eat dinner late in the day, around 5-6pm. I’m used to a dinner time of noon, after which there is usually a nap, much watching of TV, and then more feasting on leftovers. This year will be different. After a month of keeping the momentum going, and losing 8 fatty pounds, I can't afford to derail my progress and backslide. So it was necessary to devise a master plan to keep my mojo going:
T-Day Plan Part 1:
There will be a good long workout in the morning, most likely step class and then a relaxing swim. A light lunch, and then some yard work or a long dog-walk in the afternoon while the turkey cooks – keep that calorie burn going!
T-Day Plan Part 2:
At dinner, many of the traditional foods will make an appearance: cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and stuffing (mom-in-law makes an incredible sticky rice stuffing with chestnuts – I will try to steal the recipe and post it later this week). However, I will also be steaming lots of healthy veggies (green beans, brussels sprouts, broccoli) to accompany this feast. The centerpiece of my plan is to fill my ENTIRE plate with veggies, eat them all, and only then enjoy the usual treats and eat until I am nice and full. I’m hoping that I will be pretty well filled up with veggies before I start on the high-calorie stuff and thus will not have the belly space to do too much damage! In addition, a later dinner means only one feast, rather than a second round of eating after a long nap.
T-Day Plan Part 3:
Since this party is at my house, I need to worry about LEFTOVERS! The final piece of my grand plan is to make smaller quantities of everything, so that the leftovers are gone by Friday and I can get back to my usual eating routine without the temptation of tasty treats in the fridge.
This is a new strategy for me - usually I just try to control my portions and fail miserably, thus triggering the guilt, disappointment, and mental flagellation routine - and then inevitably eat more to numb the bad feelings.
For more thoughts on Thanksgiving, check out this great post by MizFit. What are your plans for navigating this tempting holiday?
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