With Christmas less than a week away it may be tempting to just throw all the rules out the window and give in to the holiday’s temptations. Delicious appetizers and extravagant meals followed by decadent desserts. It’s something many people look forward to all year long. But do you really have to put your weight loss plan on hold in order to fully enjoy the holiday? You probably have plenty of excuses to keep yourself from exercising or eating healthy: “I’m too busy with Christmas preparations to fit exercise in to my day”, “I want to relax in my time off from work/school”, “I’ve been really good recently I deserve to eat whatever I want”, and so on. But does it ever really feel satisfying when you give in to temptation? We tend to tell ourselves that we have to go overboard in order to really do a holiday right. But there is also reward in doing something, no matter how small, that makes you proud of yourself when the holiday ends. Think of it not as missing out on something, but more like making a smarter decision that will be even more satisfying.

With two of the biggest holidays this month, it can seem impossible to stick to your weight loss plan in December. Traditional and seasonal foods are so important to the meaning of both Christmas and Hanukkah but there are a couple ways you can make your holiday meals healthier without feeling like you are missing out on any of the celebration.

  

Tomorrow begins the Jewish holiday Hanukkah and a week-long celebration. It is an eight-day holiday packed with festivities and traditional food. The meaning behind it celebrates the symbolic meaning of a candle that was lit with enough oil to last one day but miraculously it lasted eight days, which is the reason why it is also known as the Festival of Lights. Because it is such a long holiday, some families celebrate one or two nights while others celebrate every night. There are several traditional aspects of the holiday that are usually present such as the driedel, the menorah, gelt and the traditional foods that can include chalah bread, brisket, kugel, matzo ball soup, latkes (potato pancakes) and other fried foods to highlight the importance of oil. Cheese and dairy foods are also common. For those of you who are celebrating, this can be a tough holiday when it comes to your weight loss plan because of the importance of dairy and oil. Here are our top three tips to enjoy the holiday without derailing your weight loss.

Tis the season. The hustle and bustle has started and each day that passes we find ourselves closer to mayhem than the day before. I myself have been experiencing the craziness of running from the city to Woodbury, attending school functions and holiday events. It’s amazing how much we can fit into a month that seems to fly by in a blink of an eye. Yet everything we experience seems to feel a little easier, lighter and brighter. For example, last night my normal 2 hour commute took 4 1/2 hours to get home from my New York City location. There were no accidents. The tunnel was just gridlock and bumper to bumper in the daily rush hour traffic. But most commuters around me took it in stride. Holiday music blared from car windows and everyone seemed more relaxed in what would have been a usual night of frustration. For many, the month of December brings happiness and cheer along with many scheduled and unscheduled events. Traffic, holiday parties and unplanned eating. While the average person can gain 10 pounds over Thanksgiving, in the month of December you are packing on between 12-15. So here are some thoughts to get you through the unplanned and planned parties you have coming up.

Your commitment may be strong right now but it can be hard to find motivation in the cold weather to get active. Leaving the house can feel like a battle and at the end of the day all you want to do is get inside and curl up on the couch. There seems like no right time to fit in a workout or go to the gym, and any time you spend outside you want to keep to a minimum. But hibernating in the winter will just make you feel even more sluggish and lethargic, and when spring comes around you will have to start all over again. Don’t let this time go to waste. There are a variety of ways to stay active inside and outside this fall and winter that can crush any excuse.

So you’ve gotten through Thanksgiving weekend and whether you are happy with how the holiday went or not, it’s time to get back on track. It’s easy to get caught up in festive eating all weekend and beyond when it comes to leftovers and seasonal foods, but it’s important to get out of the holiday haze. This time of year can provide you with plenty of excuses to overeat or fall off the wagon, OR it can strengthen your resolve and sense of self-control. Confidence and determination will help your mood and subsequently, your success. Anxiety and regret can cause you to stress eat under pressure. It can be an unfortunate cycle that can intensify during the holidays, but preparing before and getting your momentum back after are just as important as what happens during a holiday.

8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11979

469 7th Ave Manhattan, NY 10018

The countdown to Thanksgiving is now less than a week! As one of the most highly anticipated meals of the year, it’s good to have a plan to get through the holiday as healthy as possible. Break the cycle of overeating and post-holiday regret with these tips to stay in control.

It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is only one week away! Time really flies, so make sure you are making this next week count, such as eating really clean or getting in some extra exercise time, because before you know it you will be faced with one of the biggest meals of the year. Whether you are preparing to host, bringing a dish or attending dinner in someone else’s home, there are a couple dishes and sides that can be great options for a healthy and yummy holiday. Here are some tips and tricks for making healthy Thanksgiving dishes.

This is the time of year when warm, hearty foods can bring comfort and good feelings in the cold months. You may even associate this time of the year with certain foods, like casseroles during the holidays. You can’t imagine a November without turkey or a December without a special feast. The same can be said for more day-to-day wants and needs that food may fulfill. When you’re stressed do you reach for treats or snacks? When you’re bored do you open the pantry? When you’ve completed a difficult task do you crave your favorite food? Ask yourself – are you living to eat, or eating to live? When you live to eat, you indulge in foods that make you feel comfortable, relieve your stress or boredom, or reward an accomplishment. You eat something because of how you feel emotionally instead of the physical hunger you feel when your body needs fuel. On the other hand, when you eat to live you provide your body with nourishment that fuels and supports your health.

It’s hard to believe, but Thanksgiving is only two weeks away. The Halloween decorations just came down and now another holiday is already around the corner. This is going to be a very busy time, but you should use these next two weeks to prepare for the four day feast.