Healthy Eating Choices - Being Polite Can Make You Fat

How can being polite can help you pack on those extra holiday pounds? It is not something we think about often, but being polite or considerate of other people's feelings can actually help us pack on more pounds than we care to think about. The real question is "How to stop gaining weight?" and still be polite when people are shoving food at you during the holidays.

Being polite does not help you lose weight. Especially during the holidays or at gatherings where there will be lots of food. We all over do it. We make our special dish for everyone to enjoy, then we fill our plates and eat to our hearts content. That's just the way it is during the holidays or at gatherings where food is served.

We make a lot of choices and decisions every day. It is part of life and during the holidays, we have even more choices to make. One of these concerns the dreaded holiday weight gain that we put on so easily, but lose with much difficulty. When there is a lot of delicious food available, how much we eat is entirely our decision. We know that if we eat too much, it can stay on our hips or belly for a very long time,

Holidays are a time when we all tend to eat too much. How many times when you go to a party, family gathering or just out to a smorgasbord, have you said, or heard someone say, "Man, I'm stuffed". But, consider this, eating too much is a choice, just one of the many choices we make every day.

The biggest problems:

1. We make too much. We all have three or four favorite holiday dishes that we know everyone just loves. So we make three or four dishes because, well, we love them and have a burning desire to make them happy. What better way to make them happy than with delicious food, lots of delicious food.

2. We eat too much. When we go to a holiday gathering, we sometimes feel obligated to try a little (or a lot) of everything. Think about how much food most people eat when they go to a buffet. The idea is to get as much as you can for your money and the food is so good anyway. And just look at that dessert bar. Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm.

3. Most of all, we don't want to hurt the feelings of the person that made their special dish (that's being polite). After all, they spent all that time preparing it, the least we can do is sample it, just to make them feel good about bringing their favorite dish.

What can we do about it?

We know that most people will overeat during holiday gatherings, and there are some simple things that you can try:

1. Find out how many people are going to be at the gathering. Many times, we prepare dishes without considering how many people are going to be there. And sometimes, children eat less than adults.

2. Don't make a lot of food. You don't have to feed an army. If everyone is bringing a dish, then there will be enough food, without any going to waste or anyone overeating.

3. Put smaller portions on you plate and leave the rest of the food for others (that's being polite). After all, how much you eat and how full you want to get is your choice. Make it a good choice and you just might avoid the anxiety that comes when we realize we have put on four or five pounds.

4. Help your guests by serving the food on smaller plates. People will usually eat as much food as they put on their plate. Smaller plates mean more trips to the food, but there will be more time between servings to allow the food to reach the stomach and send that "please, I'm full, no more food" signal to your brain.

How much we eat is a choice we make every day. You can make it easier to keep the holiday pounds off by looking at the choices you make during the holidays and every other day. It is your life, make the best choices you can and enjoy the holidays.

Avoiding holiday weight gain is all about making good choices about how you eat and how much you eat. It is exactly the same as any other time of the year, but with more temptation thrown at us. CLICK HERE and go to weight loss diet tips 101 to find out how to stop gaining weight and for free tips and information on losing weight and keeping it off.

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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Exercise, And Then Some

Muscle Soreness
When you use your quadriceps, your muscles will get the sorest, since it is the largest muscle group in your body. Whenever you use that muscle in a different capacity than you're used to, you'll experience some kind of soreness. However, once you do that exercise anywhere from 3-6 times, your body will adapt and you'll find that the soreness does not continue when you're exercising in that way.

Variety in Your Workouts
There a lot of really great reasons to switch up your workout routines. One reason is so that you don't get bored. When you're repeatedly doing the same thing, it becomes almost a habit and doesn't keep your mind's attention as well as a new workout would. It also keeps you from doing a routine out of habit, which can lead to inattention and potentially even an injury. Varying your workouts also allows you to use the muscles in a different capacity. For instance, there are 3 muscles in your triceps and 2 muscles in your biceps. Each workout is going to touch those areas differently. It's also good to get used to variety in case your needs change or you have an injury. If you're used to constantly changing up your workout, it will be easier to transition to a new style of working out that suits your needs.

Working with a Trainer vs. Group Classes
A trainer can pinpoint exactly what you need to be doing to get your body in the shape you want it. They can tailor exercises to suit your body, which is a major plus. They'll also help you discover what kinds of exercise you enjoy doing, so that you can do your workout on your own and still have the motivation to do so. Group classes, on the other hand, are really great because you have the camaraderie of other people who are doing the same workout you are, no matter how grueling it might get. They're also on a regular schedule, so if your schedule changes, you can catch a class earlier or later in the day, or even the next day. Working out with a trainer or working out in a group class both provide amazing physical benefits and will get you the body you want. Which one you choose is really up to your preference. Some people enjoy the companionship of others in their classes and some people enjoy working one-on-one.

How Often?
The minimum you should exercise is 20-30 minutes, 3 days a week. Of course, you can always shoot for higher. Gradually work your way up to longer workouts and more frequency, but don't push yourself. Always keep in mind what your body is capable of doing. You know your body better than any professional out there. The incredible thing about exercise is that the more you do it, the more you want to do it. Especially if you're finding new exercises that you enjoy doing.

Cardio vs. Weight-Bearing
A lot of women focus on cardio and a lot of men focus on weight-bearing activities, have you noticed that? If you really want to get fit, you need to do both. Cardio is any exercise that gets your heart rate up. You should be able to talk to someone else, but not really hold an entire conversation. This can be anything from bicycling to kickboxing. Weight-bearing activities are any kind of exercise where you're using the muscles in your body. We typically think of this as weight-lifting, but even walking can be a weight-bearing exercise if you consider that you're not sitting or lying down. Be sure to fit in both kinds of exercise each week.

Stretching
There has been a lot of hype and confusion about stretching, kind of like the newest diet fads. Stretching is really important and here's what you need to know about it: you only really need to stretch at the end of a workout, during your cool down. Before working out, though, you need to warm up. You can do this by doing sidesteps, marching in place, and circling your arms. This loosens up the muscles and gets them ready to go. If you don't warm up before a workout, you can risk pulling or straining a muscle.

The Best Type of Exercise
Here's my biggest secret: the best kind of exercise you can do, is one you enjoy doing. That's it. If you like doing it, it won't seem like a chore, which means you'll do it more often and for longer periods of time.

Food and Exercise
Food is really up to the individual. The best way to find out what to eat to get your body in shape is to work with a nutritionist or a health coach. They can help you figure out which foods are best for your body, since there is no blanket, one-size-fits-all diet. Even protein intake isn't the same for everyone. It really just depends on your body type. In terms of eating before and after workouts, you want to make sure that you do eat something before you work out, especially if it's in the morning. You don't want to eat a huge meal that's going to make you feel uncomfortable when you're working out, but you do want to have some kind of sustenance in your stomach.

When You're New to Working Out
The biggest complaint trainers hear from newbies is that they're hungry. Now that you're working out more and you're burning more calories, your body needs more nutrition. That doesn't mean that after every workout you need to go polish off a bag of potato chips. It just means that you need to find healthy snacks that will keep you nourished and satisfied, like a handful of almonds or string cheese.

Water
A standard measure for the amount of water you need is to drink half of your body weight in ounces every day. Of course, this also depends on the individual. If you're working out more, you need more water. If it's hot out and you're sweating a lot, drink up. If it's dry outside and it's drying out your skin, you need to drink more. The best way to tell if you're drinking enough water is to look at the color of your urine. It should be a pale yellow or even clear; darker than that and you're dehydrated. You can also hop on a scale before and after a workout. Any difference in weight will be because of water. For every pound, drink a cup of water.

Shannon Lagasse, BodyLove Coach, teaches women who are struggling to lose weight how to love their body, ditch the diet, and lose the weight. Her clients are empowered to find freedom from restrictive dieting, deprivation, rigorous exercise regimes, and beliefs about food that are holding them back from having their ideal body. Get your FREE copy of The 7 Missing Ingredients in Every Diet Program That Are Crucial to Weight-Loss Success by visiting http://www.breakthroughtobodylove.com.

Pam Chilton is Founder of Healthy Journey 2 You, a fitness professional, and a certified health coach. Pam specializes in coaching women over 50 on how to maintain fitness, improve their health, and increase energy levels by combining nutrition, fitness, and mindset. She leads group fitness classes in step, aerobics, bootcamp, Pilates mat, interval training, and floor work for abs. Her 30

Losing Weight and What We Eat

Do you have a fast metabolism? How lucky are you? It probably has nothing to do with what you are doing or not doing. The fact that you can eat anything you want and not gain weight, if that is the case, may all be due to inherited genes. Studies have learned...

According to a study in the "Journal Nature, those of us who claim we can eat anything and not gain weight have the advantage in their special genes, and those of us who do not have the special genes, are more likely to become overweight or obese."

"Dr. Phillippe Frogue of Imperial College, London in a study he spearheaded said: This is the first genetic cause of extreme thinness to be identified".

If we are overweight, though, we still have the responsibility of looking out for ourselves and the way we do this is by watching what we eat and exercising.

Every day we have the results of different studies that are being conducted today regarding our health. The bad news is, one of the latest studies tells us that for every hour of TV watching, we lose 22 minutes of our life, the reason being that it turns us into couch potatoes say the study scientists, because we do not exercise enough. "But while smoking rates are declining, watching TV is not says Lennert Veerman, a researcher in the Australian study."

Don't forget that living a sedentary life style contributes to heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other health problems. The good news is that for every 15 minutes a day we work out, it adds up to three years to our life.

Nutritionists suggest that we eat based on the food pyramid which states that we should eat more fruits, whole grains and vegetables; in moderation, eat hard cheeses, Yogurt, lean meats, nuts and eggs; and consume less sugars, margarine, oils, and butter, although these are necessary, they should be eaten in sparingly.

Do not forget that what we eat affects our general health; stop eating processed meats, hot dogs, meats that are full of chemicals and nitrites used to enhance the color of the meats and prolong their shelve live; hamburgers that are saturated with fats, fried foods, sodas and excessive sodium and sugars.

Try eating more whole grains, vegetables, preferably frozen, they keep their nutrients longer than the "fresh" ones which are shipped to us from one place to another and by the time they to us, they have lost most of their nutritional value. Fruits, (but watch out for those that are high in sugar), eat more legumes and be very aware of your portions. Try reducing your plate by one third; do not take seconds, especially if your purpose is to lose weight.

Do not skip breakfast, it is the jump-starter of your metabolism, eat smaller meals several times a day to keep your metabolism working, if that is not your style, then have a mid-morning snack, and a mid-afternoon snack so that you are not starving at meal-time.

Don't forget that we eat to live, we don't live to eat!

Dr. Gladys Alvarez has done what millions of interested people were hoping for; the legwork concerning weight loss and health issues. With 45 years experience in the health, fitness and weight loss fields; and through extensive research and studies in nutrition, she has finally eliminated all the hype out of the losing weight plans that are in the online weight loss programs, presenting you with only the very best, as a correspondent who has traveled world wide and experienced first hand the different styles of nutrition in diverse countries. For more information on health issues, nutrition and weight loss, please visit her website to receive your FREE videos at http://www.problemslosingweight.com TODAY!

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