As we approach Passover, Easter and Vacations – there are a few things I want you to think about when it comes to your Weight Loss, Health and Feeling your best.
Let’s start with remembering that the Holidays are about celebrations with two beautiful meanings behind them: Freedom and the Resurrection of Life. We never want to forget why we are celebrating and spending time with family, friends and loved ones. It’s about the celebration and the people – not the food. It’s not about who has what or what you are eating, or how much you can eat. Sometimes we take the wrong perspective on what is really important. Like we forget to think about how lucky we all are to have this time together and to share in the family togetherness, traditions and memories we are making today and remembering those who passed. This holiday make it about new and old memories shared with laughs, stories and always about the love that is around you. We live in a rush -rush world that we easily get tied up in negative stress instead of all the amazing positives we work so hard for everyday. Keep your holidays and vacations about the positive. Because it’s the happy positive times in life that get us through the stress and negative times.
Start with knowing what you are doing and have your plans going in so you can feel great from the start of your positive Holiday/Vacation to the finish of it. Sometimes when we go in with our focus in the right place – we stay on path and really celebrate and enjoy what we should.
Here are some choices to follow to keep your Holidays and Vacation on Path:
- Celebrating Easter: This is an easy one. Clean all week and use your Cheat Day to eat all your Chocolate Bunnies and feast on Easter Day.
- Passover Celebrating Friday /Saturday: Eat Clean all day (on program) and only cheat at dinner – make sure you know what you are cheating with. You don’t want to eat a whole days worth of food in one sitting. Plan where you are going – what they are serving and what your cheating with and include drinks/or dessert.
VACATIONS: This is where it can get a little tricky. If you are going on Vacation following the Weekend Holiday(s) or you are celebrating the holidays on Vacation – you have a couple of choices.
- Leaving for Vacation after Holidays: You have the choice of Cheating Friday and Saturday holiday dinners and continue this through vacation with one Cheat meal a day (breakfast, lunch, or dinner & drinks or dessert). You eat clean all day and only one cheat of choice each day. If you do this you will maintain your week. — you do not have one full cheat day when you have a cheat everyday.
- Stay Clean Friday and Saturday and make sure there is chicken / and or clean fish at your holiday dinners and allow yourself a drink of wine, vodka or tequila (if you drink). Stay on program so you can enjoy but go into your vacation feeling your very best. Once you are on vacation you will follow the one Cheat Meal a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner or drinks/dessert). You eat clean all day and only one cheat of choice each day. — you will maintain the week.
- Cheat Meal every other day. When it comes to weight loss – less is always best. So if you don’t have to cheat everyday – don’t. Pick a cheat meal every other day or whenever you really need it. Remember you feel so much better when you are eating clean so if you can do less cheat meals through the week – do it.
- Cheat Day. If you choose to stick to the one cheat day a week and stay on 110% clean the rest of the week home or on vacation – that will make you feel your very best and give you the best weight loss results. If you choose this – try and have your cheat day more toward the end of the vacation. Once you cheat you are more likely to cheat again. If you can hold out until the end of the vacation you will more likely only have one cheat day – and come home feeling as good as you left.
Regardless of which one you choose – your body needs time to adjust. No scale until after you come home and get right back on program and have a solid 110% week and then go on the scale.
Whether you are home or away incorporate some exercise. Get out and walk. Do it before breakfast and again before dinner. Play miniature golf; swim; hike; row; play tag or “I got you last” (our favorite:). ;
When you are 100% all week you really enjoy your cheat treats. You enjoy it because you are not cheating everyday and everything taste so much better when you don’t do it all the time. Same goes for vacation. Enjoy it and all that comes with it. We don’t have them every day so you want to feel the best and live the happiest you. Don’t do anything or make any choices that you know is going to make you feel uncomfortable or take you out of that happy vacation feeling. Think things through and make the right choices that keep you in a happy place. You are the only person in charge of your happiness. Keep yourself feeling good – because how you feel will determine your day.
Everyday you are in charge of your happiness
Before you make a choice make sure it’s one that will make you happy
Happy Holidays
Much love and happiness from the staff of Innovation
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
