Christmas: Menu Ideas, Avoiding Weight Gain, and Managing Stress
Northern Ireland in the Snow
I’m excited about Christmas this year. I think it’s because my little girl is now 14 months, so she will appreciate a little of what’s going on this year.
Elissa and Mel Enjoying the Snow
We’ve also had some snow in Northern Ireland, which always adds to the Christmasy feel here in the Northern Hemisphere.
Above is a picture of where we live.
And so I’ve been busy writing with a Christmas theme elsewhere, and thought I would share some of those articles with you today.
I hope they are useful as you prepare for Christmas.
1. Christmas Menu Ideas
Healthy Christmas Menu Ideas — ”If you are hosting a get-together this Christmas holiday, you won’t want to be spending every single second slogging over a hot stove, right? Well, I’ve got some easy, healthy Christmas menu suggestions to help you get organised, and fast! I’ve included a few Mediterranean-style suggestions along with the…”
2. Avoiding Weight Gain
5 Ways to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain — ”Let’s face it, it’s very easy to add a few extra pounds during the Christmas celebrations with so much food and drink surrounding you. In addition to this, the festive spirit tends to erode whatever discipline you maintained throughout the rest of the year. Fortunately, the holiday season doesn’t have to…”
3. Managing Stress
5 Ways to Manage Stress During the Holiday Season — ”The Holidays are a joyful time of year, but even the most enjoyable holiday season can be stressful at times. Last minute gift buying, entertaining friends and family, and the travel associated with this time of year, can get a bit overwhelming. While a little stress can actually be good for you, it’s important not to let these…”
4. Avoiding Overeating
3 Ways to Avoid Overdoing it This Holiday Season — ”Can a single meal trigger a heart attack? According to researchers, a huge meal similar to what many eat at Thanksgiving or Christmas, can actually set the stage for a heart attack, in those at risk for heart disease…”
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6 Comments
Cathy in NZ
12.25.2010
On Thursday, I happened to be at my doctor’s office to deal with my usual meds and a few other things. Because I was hoping that Santa was bringing me a new digital bathroom scale, I wanted to know what my weight was on his scale so I could make a decision at home better…
Well, we did the weight thing and he looked at his graph and said I still weighed the same as 18mths ago but no comment was made. I was a bit shocked on that but “ok” I am currently working on new exercise daily programme.
(my old scale was obviously not on the same par as his; Santa has bought me a new scale which has the same numbers as Doctors. So I do have a point to work from).
Then he decided to check my BP – oh shock it was off the scale, I wasn’t listening but he kept checking it over a few minutes and apparently it was coming down. He isn’t sure if it was the hot weather, my imagination what it might be (apparently we humans go into stress) or just something else. So he decided I needed a battery of blood tests (no results as of yet)
both the weight and BP were not what I was expecting so I have spent a few days worrying about the matters
I had put in place daily brisk walk, along with trying out some faster possibly jogging like stuff but now I have to really decide how to change eating, really checking what I am eating and sizes of. I have kept it all at a relatively modernate level but obviously I need to rehtink it all.
I lost all that weight in 2004 by using “no carbs after 5pm” to the best as I was able but also I was using gym programme. I kept it off even off I left the Gym but I need to see how well I can re-adopt that idea.
I think where things went pear shaped was about Apr/May this last year when life at University went into burnout mode and all extra exercise had to curtailed…I had thought I had reduced nutrition to the right sizing but now not sure!
So I want to drop 5kg which should bring me down to a level which is more manageable…so I have used the makeover goal setting but need to think (remember) what was the drop off Kg things from 2004. I know I lost alot of weight relatively quickly in those days
Melanie
12.31.2010
Hi Cathy,
That’s not good news at all, but you sound so pro-active about it all. Good work!! Don’t forget to drop me a line if you need help with anything
Cathy in NZ
12.31.2010
thanks for your comments
I now realise that I cannot use “no carbs after 5″ because when I did that I exercised in the middle of the day. Obviously the carbs from the morning meal kept that going well.
But I tried it a few days over the last couple of weeks and realised it won’t work well…
Because I do my exercise outing in the early morning…if I haven’t enough carbs I have problems:
have to a take a shorter timeout – get heavy, dragging feet feeling
or
have to stop & rest whilst out
or
end up in collapse mode in the mid afternoon.
So I am just going to use “snail wins the race” – steadily do at least 6days a week morning exercise; continue with the food/fuel intake that has worked well for me in recent months; do not worry!
Sometime over the 4 days of Public Holidays we do in NZ if the Seasonal holidays fall on a weekend…I realised I shouldn’t fret about it all; that it wasn’t going to help!
(Santa’s present of digital scales was great – but scales aren’t so he will need to take them back and get a refund! What happened was I was bit shocked at the first weigh so re-weighed about 15mins later – scale said something different – 4 weighs later realised it was wonky!! then I weighed on the old scales, weight was mid way of the 4 other weighs…)
Melanie
01.06.2011
lol, sounds like a bit of an issue with Santa’s present there!!
Cathy in NZ
01.07.2011
the scales are still here and Santa is not seemingly wanting to return them…I guess he has ‘lost’ the receipt. So I have decided that maybe the battery was old (it wasn’t inserted as such, but I don’t know when the scales were ‘born’) so I will buy another when I’m at the Mall today..
there is definitely a problem because the difference between naked and summer clothing weight is a 1kg and I wasn’t wearing a 1kg of clothing!!
Melanie
01.08.2011
lol, hope you get it sorted, Cathy.
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