Today at Sundown begins Yom Kippur the holiest day of the year — for those who observe it’s the day on which we are closest to G-d and to the quintessence of our own souls.  It is the day of Atonement — be forgiven and cleansed from all your sins before G-d.

For nearly twenty-six hours — from several minutes before sunset tonight to after nightfall tomorrow — we “afflict our souls”:  we abstain from food and drink, and head to temple and our time is spent in prayer to G-d.  It’s truly a beautiful holiday.

For those of you who fast, it’s a great time to give your weight loss a boost as well.  Your last meal today should be a nice balance of protein and healthy carbohydrates and this combination will sustain you throughout the fast.  Some great choices would be:

• Grilled or roasted chicken (no skin)
• Vegetables – Green Beans, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Asparagus.
• Mashed Sweet Potato – no milk or cream
• Fresh fruit

Water, water, water throughout the day today.  You should never wait until you are thirsty to drink water.   Once you are thirsty you are already dehydrated and when you are dehydrated you will feel hunger.  You should drink water all day when you are NOT thirsty to avoid dehydration.

Let’s Talk Breaking the Fast:  If you don’t cheat after the fast you will actually use the fast to your benefit. It will be a great addition to your weight loss.  After the fast you should start with a small on program snack and a bottle of water.  Then follow it by an on program meal.  Some examples:  Skagel or ezekiel bread with lox and light cream cheese; Light Tuna or Chicken salad with ak mak,  wasa or Innovation flax  crackers; vegetables and hummus; roasted chicken or fish with vegetable side.  If you really want to stay on program it’s very doable.  There will be a lot of temptation at the table so the results are all going to be about what you want when you step on the scale Saturday not what you want tomorrow.

PLAN AHEAD:  If you planned on cheating tomorrow then I am going to assume you saved your cheat day from this past weekend for tomorrow.  But if you didn’t save it and you decided you want to cheat tomorrow then I would simply skip this coming weekend cheat day.   It’s one or the other. You can’t have 3 cheat days in one week and lose weight.   Make the choice and stick to it.

Very Important – don’t cheat tomorrow and say you are going to skip this weekend cheat day and then you don’t skip it.  Because we all know where that will have you end up – yikes 🙁

Final thoughts:  You should only be breaking the fast if you actually fasted.  If you are not fasting because of medicine, not religious, you just can’t do it- or don’t want to do it… then you should be sticking 110% on program, and eating clean on program food.

Whether you are having a cheat day or deciding to stay clean on program – plan it and follow through.  I think especially on such a holy holiday it’s really important to stick to whatever you plan.  You don’t want to end the holiday and start the New Year beating yourself up because of  the decisions you made and how they made you feel.  If you are cheating then enjoy it and if you are staying on program enjoy it.

Don’t always base your decisions on what is in front of you.  Think about and base your decisions on how you will feel at the end of the night – how you will feel tomorrow getting dressed and how you will feel when you step on the scale this weekend.  

Whatever you decide— have your plan and stick to it.  Because the most important thing is owning it, — accepting it and enjoying every second on it.

Atone for the sins of the past year and learn from those sins

so that you can be a better person for the year ahead.

Innovation Weight Loss wishes you all a healthy, peaceful and fulfilling year.

G’mar Hatimah Torah

~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick

• Grilled or Roasted Chicken (no skin)
• Vegetables – string beans, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus
• Mashed Sweet potato – (no milk or cream)
• Fresh Fruit – nuts

• Light Tuna or Vegetable salads with ak mak or wasa crackers
• Whole wheat or rye toast with lox and light cream cheese
• Egg White salad with vegetables
• Vegetables and guacamole or mashed avocado
• Fresh Fruit – nuts
• Water Water Water

The Jewish holiday Yom Kippur is this week starting on Tuesday, and whether you are celebrating or not, it can offer all of us an opportunity to learn from our past mistakes and move forward with optimism and a new healthy plan. Yom Kippur is about atoning for the wrongs we have done in the past, but it is also about moving past the regret by committing to change. Sometimes, all we need is a fresh start to fill us with motivation and get us back on track – so take advantage of this holiday.

This weekend is the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, which means atoning for the sins of the past year by refraining from eating and drinking, among other things, for 25 hours. Though it is possible to safely fast for this amount of time physically, mentally it might prove difficult. After our body has finished digesting our last meal, our brain will send out signals of hunger. Dealing with that feeling can get you through the day, but it is the lack of water that can really affect your body. Water can’t be stored like glycogen, a resource that our body gets from food that we use for energy. We are constantly losing water every day, and that is why it is especially important to saturate yourself with water before you fast to help lighten the effects of dehydration such a headaches.