Holidays got you in a tizzy? Don't know where to turn for a good cardio burn? All over the radio and TV, in newspapers and magazines, there's some expert at this or that telling us what to do and how to eat so that we don't pack on any more partying pounds.
This Mt. Everest of overindulgence runs from Thanksgiving right on up thru January 1st. Come January 2nd, it's time to finally pay the piper and buckle down with your daily health and fitness routine, because surely by now, you have one that you can live with for the rest of your life.
I'm here to help you sail right through all of your Holiday festivities, smack into the New Year and beyond, without gaining weight. But first, you have to be willing to Commit To Get Fit and really want to improve yourself from the inside out.
You need to begin now and plan for 2011 to be the year you finally lose weight once and for all. No more if's, and's or butt's about it. If I can do it, you can, too. It's not that difficult.
I can help you achieve the same results for yourself that I did by losing 130 pounds in 2 1/2 years, on my own, and keeping it off successfully for eight years. Then, last year, I lost another 20, to boot!
And, yes, one of the key components to true and everlasting weight loss is developing a daily cardio routine that you can do on a consistent basis forever, and walking's a no-brainer. It's the cheapest, easiest form of daily cardio you can do. But you already know that.
There is no real, long-term weight loss or improved health and fitness benefit without daily cardio.
For me, an avid swimmer and biker, nothing, nothing, nothing ever worked like daily walking. It boiled all that visceral fat from my frame - all the schmutz surrounding my organs and puffing out my skin is now g-o-n-e.
By combining a healthy low carb diet with walking and cardio rowing every day, I'm still able to keep my weight off - hopefully forever.
Another key component is learning to make healthier food choices you can live with - through the Holidays, birthdays and beyond. For me, these healthier food choices are a diet low in white starch and sugar carbs.
Back at the end of '02 when my first real serious diet Holiday season rolled around, I was terrified of failure. I had been working with Dr. Mark Stolar, a Chicago endocrinologist, for just a few months and was having positive results with my modified Atkins low white starch and sugar carb eating regimen. But, being known to throw all culinary caution to the wind where fabulous food is concerned - I remember one year in particular - I packed on a good twenty pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Seriously. Most of it from scads of sweets, white starches and sugar.
Those days are over for me and should be for you, too. I wouldn't go back to eating the way I used to eat for anything.
So, here are my personal favorite, tried-and-true, healthy Holiday eating tips:
Drink a big glass of water or have a beer right before you go to a party? I seriously think not, Dr. Oz.
I believe if you're going to fill up on something, make it something that you really enjoy that legally fits your new diet. If you have to, bring your own, nurse it, and use it as your drink of choice for the evening. I do club soda - a nice, fresh, crisp, gassy one, but my all-time evening favorite is a decaf café latte. I show up with both.
Stay away from alcohol. Most might be low carb, but the overproduction of insulin is what's making you fat and alcohol is sure to spike your insulin and mess with your metabolism, trust me. If you must indulge, have a wine spritzer instead of straight wine.
When I was fat, I was a notorious eggnog freak. I could drink my body weight in the stuff. Now, it's totally out of the question.
Eggnog, or any nog for that matter, is loaded with sugar. So what if it's low fat? I never counted a fat gram or calorie to lose any of my weight and keep it off - I only count white starch and sugar carbs, period.
(However, I am still secretly waiting for a sugar-free eggnog sweetened with natural Stevia to be born!)
Remember: "low fat" isn't low carb. And if you struggle with one diet after another, I venture to say you're highly insulin resistant and carb sensitive like me. It's not the fat that makes you fat - it's the carbs. Carbs create overproduction of insulin. Insulin is the fat hormone. Too much insulin keeps you fat. Not fat. Ask Dr. Mark Stolar or another good endocrinologist.
Always offer to bring something so you can control what you eat, as well. If you're eating low carb, bring your favorite low carb dish or dishes.
Ask for a small plate and fork, if only cocktail napkins are visible. Skip the scoopers and other chips that dip - they're too high in white, starchy carbs.
A friend of mine usually only provides napkins with her appetizers, no plates and forks, so I always ask for a small plate. Respectfully, I heap it up with all the low carb dips and goodies offered - because it's the chips and scoopers that are usually the high carb culprits - and I eat all the goop with a fork - tossing in some celery, broccoli and cauliflower for crunch. Believe me, you will NOT suffer.
And stay away from the carrots on the crudités tray! They're too high glycemic - too high in starch and sugar and will retard your weight loss. Another "trust me."
Don't overindulge - save room for the main event.
If you're absolutely dying for something that's one of your all-time traditional favorite foods, especially at cocktail time, use the "Taste and Toss" technique: take a big bite and covertly slip the rest in the garbage.
Think before you eat it. Do I really need all those white starches and sugary carbs? Remember, they're poison for a person who is carb-sensitive and needs to lose weight.
Keep away from the sweet table. This is the most difficult one for me. I'm a true sweet-a-holic and that's usually the first place I gravitate toward on my initial culinary reconnaissance missions.
Remove yourself from the buffet area ASAP. Join in on a group that is having vigorous verbal stimulation or start your own interesting, lively topic of conversation.
Offer to help the hostess. Pick up plates, serve drinks, do whatever.
Keep moving and not stuffing yourself. Keep busy and out of the food. Get up and clear the table.
Host your own holiday party so you can control all of it.
Make sure you have plenty of tasty, low carb appetizers.
And at THE BIG DINNER - go easy and stop at one heaping spoonful. And if it's your very favorite - well, take two, but that's it. No second platefuls! One stacked should do you.
GET OUT AND WALK AFTER THE BIG MEAL! Do the dishes for the hostess, then drag her out with you. Most will welcome the walk, the fresh air and the help.
There isn't a person on earth who couldn't lose their unwanted weight by cutting harmful carbs from their diet and by developing walking into a daily habit to keep their weight off forever - if they want to.
The power is in your hands.
Laura Dion-Jones
550 N. Kingsbury St. #120
Chicago, IL 60654
312-933-7325
12-1-07©
dionjones@aol.com
www.lauradionjones.com
www.lauradionjones.blogspot.com
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