Motivation Monday

"Effort only fully releases its reward after 

a person refuses to quit."

~Napoleon Hill

10 Tips for Controlling Your Inner Cookie Monster

By Mark Nelson 

Face it. The deck is stacked against your waistline at the holidays. And there are scientific reasons for that. But the good news is, knowing why you crave those delicious holiday cookies can help you resist them. So what's behind the cravings?

 

It starts with serotonin.

Produced by your brain, serotonin is the "feel-good" hormone. When your brain produces enough of it, serotonin can help you feel calm, confident, and relaxed. Several factors encourage its production. A primary driver is sunlight. In the bright days of spring and summer, sunshine stimulates our brains to produce plenty of serotonin. But during the short days of fall and winter, our brains need extra stimulation to produce enough serotonin. Now here's the bad news, and you can probably guess what it is.
We crave sugar and carbs because they stimulate serotonin production.
It's not enough that grandma's decadent holiday calorie-bombs are insanely delicious. No. At this time of year, our impulses drive us to attack holiday desserts like brain-dead cookie monsters, just to get our serotonin fixes.

Does this mean we're hardwired to add holiday heft?

Not necessarily. That's because we can spur serotonin production in other ways. For example, did you know that exercise supports serotonin production? It's true.
When you look at the big picture, most of the steps we take to avoid gaining weight happen in our head, not our stomach. That's why we can think our way out of weight gain, regardless of how our brains encourage us to be bad around fattening foods.

Here are 10 tips for managing your inner cookie monster.

1.  Treat yourself. Ever notice how denying yourself something only makes you want it more? According to researchers, dieters who were told not to even think about chocolate ate twice as many candies as people who weren't. The solution? Have a taste instead of eating the whole treat—or make smart substitutions. Instead of Fritos^®, have some edamame. Or trade a bowl of ice cream for an ice-milk fudge bar.

2.  Think 25 minutes into the future. It takes 12 minutes for a thin person's brain to register that he or she has eaten. But it can take 25 minutes for an overweight person to know this. So set a timer, have a sensible meal, and know that 25 minutes after your first bite, you'll feel a lot less hungry.

3.  Skip the dip and gravy. Gravy is made of flour, salt, turkey fat, and broth. Do you really need all that? And dip? It's just a lot of goo. You're better off nibbling on fresh veggies. Besides, skipping these temptations will help you leave room for a little dessert.

4.  Flip your script. You slipped and ate two of Grandma's killer chocolate chunk cookies? Rather than say, "I blew the diet, so why not keep eating," take a breath. Smile and say,"No big deal. I can stop now and feel good about myself."

5.  Sleep to avoid holiday stress. You know the holidays are hectic. So give yourself a chance to heal. Studies show that when we are sleep-deprived, the stress hormone cortisol is released at a higher level. That will help you feel hungry, even when you're full. And who needs that?

6.  Say no to the nog. Egg nog, that is. An 8-ounce glass contains 343 fatty, high-carb calories. And that's without the rum. Think about how long it takes to burn all those calories and saying no to the nog gets easy.

7.  Walk and talk. It's harder to fill your mouth with sweets and carbs when you're talking. Well, OK, a little harder. But it's worth it, because you'll be the life of the party. And that could keep you from eating everything on the buffet.

8.  Work out. Bet you didn't see that one coming. Sure, it's a crazy time of year. But if you think of your workout as an essential way to stay grounded, you'll do it. And here's a hint that will give you more time to fit in your workout.

9.  Shop online. With all that you have to do, stay home instead. Eat healthy things you have in the fridge, instead of grabbing fast food or sweets. Put on holiday music if you must, and save your energy for a good, sweat-soaked workout.

10. Try tag-team weight control. See if you and a friend can look out for each other. If one of you begins to blow your diet, a little friendly peer pressure could help you step back from the cookie. If you don't want to burden a friend with this job, try a FREE 30-Day Team Beachbody Club VIP Pass. Team Beachbody Club members reach their health and fitness goals 3 times faster than people who don't join, in part because of the online peer support they get to keep going with their diet and exercise programs.

Now's the time to plan ahead.

Remember that a holiday is just a day. Even if you give in for 24 hours, it's not the end of the world. Also, take a breath and think when you're within striking distance of holiday goodies. You don't really want to undo weeks of sensible eating with a day of crazed eating, do you? Try these helpful tips and you will be able to keep a leash on your inner cookie monster. Happy Holidays!

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Motivation Monday

"Big shots are only little shots who keep shooting."

 

~Christopher Morley

11 Tips to Stay Fit During the Holiday Season...

1.  Eat Breakfast -- It boosts your metabolism first thing in the morning and prevents your body from going in to starvation mode and storing fat.  Eat first thing, you won't feel like you're starving by lunch and overeating.

2.  Drink Plenty of H2O -- Staying hydrated is important for many reasons, but sometimes we mistake thirst for hunger.  Drink a glass of water before reaching for an unscheduled snack.

3.  Walk, Walk, and Walk Some More! -- Park farther away from the mall, or grocery store than you normally would and take advantage of the opportunity to burn a few extra calories.

4.  Plan Ahead -- Use this idea with both food and exercise.  Make sure you have healthy snacks on hand, schedule your meals and snacks no more than 2 1/2-3 hrs apart, and pack a cooler to get you through your day if you will be away from home longer than 3 hours.  As for exercise, put it on the calendar or schedule workout "dates" with your friends and family.  Not only will you be motivated by the company, but you will do the same for your loved ones!

5.  Spring Workouts -- Shorten your workout sessions, but increase the intensity.  TurboFire is a GREAT program to help you do just that.  In as little as 15 minutes you can increase your calorie burn to 9x the amount of a regular cardio workout and it will stay with you ALL day... Oh yea... and the music is KILLER!

6.  Play In the Snow -- Go skating, skiing, or sledding (my personal favorite).  All of these activities will be additional calorie burners.  Don't live in an area with a cold climate and snow... run on the beach, go in-line skating, or biking.  They are all fun activities that can get you out of your workout rut.

7.  See the Lights -- Plan a family walk around the neighborhood and check out all the holiday decorations.

8.  Eat Smaller Portions -- At holiday time the cookies, appetizers and holiday candies are plenty.  If you want to partake, do so, but limit yourself to only your favorites that you won't get at any other time of year and allow yourself just one helping.  Fill yourself up on the healthy foods so you only have a little room for the treats and savor them, slowly.

9.  Double Up on Workouts When You Can -- If you have the extra time, get in another 30 minute session or do a HIIT workout, even 20 minutes of heart pumping exercise is going to benefit you and burn calories.

10.  Calories Count -- Write everything you eat down and count those calories!  Try this journal it is easy to use and also gives you a place to keep track of your water intake, and daily exercise.

11.  Cheers!! -- Alcohol is HIGH in empty calories, and it decreases your metabolism so you burn calories at a slower rate.  Look for low calorie alternatives or, if you want an alcoholic beverage try one of these 5 Best Low Calorie Cocktails in moderation.


These tips were inspired by and modified from Powder Blue's Newsletter.  If you would like to subscribe to their Newsletter, go to TurboKick.com

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Motivation Monday...

"Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it." 

—Lily Tomlin

Beachbody Newsletter

Issue: #195, December 02, 2010

EATING CLEAN 

Check out the Newsletter by clicking the tab above.  This months highlights include:  

5 Things to Cut OUT of Your Diet
9 Ways to DE-STRESS Your Holiday Season
Pull-Ups with Tony Horton (video)
and...
Apple-Raisin Coffee Cake