<p>My suggestions are. 1) don’t bake anything at home or bring home those goodies that display as soon as you enter the grocery. And 2). Amp up the exercise. I think you can indulge a little at holiday events, but the rest of the day cut back on the calories. I don’t think you have to deny yourself, just be really thoughtful of the calories you are consuming between your events and then you will be ok. I find if I bake at home, I want to eat it all the time…keep it out of your house.</p>
<p>@garland , I have a Nordictrack incline treadmill. I admit it can be boring but it’s one of the few things I can do without setting myself up for injury. I have a notable curve to my spine , have since I was a young girl. It limits what exercising I can do without my back or hips getting injured.
I was doing boot camp classes a couple of years ago…loved them, but they didn’t love me back. So I am happy to be the boring without pain.
Im not a big outdoor workout gal in the cold. I think this will be what keeps me on track this month </p>
<p>@lotsofquests you have some great tips there! Bring your own beverage to a party. If you are assigned candy to bring, buy a kind you don’t like! </p>
<p>I will definitely bake at home. I bake, put things in the freezer and then take out stuff to thaw as needed. I have never been one to not be able to keep my hands off treats in quantity. I’m “ok” having one or two cookies and stopping. But if that’s your downfall, at least try and back up your baking till closer to the holidays so the temptation is there for a shorter time period. If you bake cookies today on the 10th you have lots of days to raid them. If you wait and bake on the 18th, that’s 8 less days the temptation is there. </p>
<p>Sharing the “Maintain, Don’t Gain” tip posted for us here at work today:</p>
<p>“For an entire day, only eat foods WITHOUT a label” </p>
<p>Interesting concept, eh??? </p>
<p>Thanks for starting this thread. I lost around 25 lbs last year through a combination of South Beach diet principles, a Fitbit and daily treadmill walking for between 60-90 minutes. I’ve started backsliding and have put back 5 of those pounds, all around my middle, so I need to get back on track. This thread will help provide the motivation I’ve been missing.</p>
<p>One thing that really helped was that I attached a shelf to span the side handles of my treadmill so I can put my laptop or iPad on it, plug in the earbuds, and watch Netflix, HBO GO, Amazon Prime, etc. while I walk. Over the past 18 months I’ve managed to catch up on so many great TV shows that I never had time to watch when they aired. It really makes the time fly – I’d never be able to stay on the treadmill that long otherwise. And instead of sitting on my butt reading CC, I can put the laptop on the treadmill shelf and walk slowly while I read – sort of like having a standing desk!</p>
<p>Patsmom, is that a shelf you purchased??? Sounds like a great idea. </p>
<p>Yep, just a white shelf from Home Depot. My husband attached a couple of conduit clamps on either side of the shelf underneath and it just slides right on to the handles. Fortunately, the side handles on my treadmill aren’t huge so the clamp fits right over them. It wouldn’t work on every treadmill.</p>
<p>I wish I could watch tv when I am on my trainer, but it is a cumbersome piece of equipment and it is perched in front of a window …so about all I can see is birds eating the berries off the trees. I have an iPad , but I find it hard to focus and read anything when I am in motion</p>
<p>I often bring some fancy fizzy water with me and it often is gone before I get a glass! If you are hosting a party, please put out some seltzer for the dieters and teetotalers! With all the bad press diet soda has been getting, that’s really not enough any more.</p>
<p>@lje62, would downloading podcasts or listening to an audiobook work for you?</p>
<p>Some good thoughts here today. I really enjoy running outside and really dislike running indoors on the treadmill. I need to just get over it and go to the gym and run. abasket is right - bad weather doesn’t stop me from eating so I can’t let it stop me from exercising!</p>
<p>Sometimes (most?) I’m my own worst enemy. My biggest downfall is baked goods and yet I always make lots during the holidays. It just seems like it wouldn’t be the same without all the Christmas cookies, etc. Yet truth be told, with only a couple exceptions I am probably the person who enjoys them the most. If I drastically cut back the amount of baking I do, chances are that I am the only one who would care. Hmmmm…food for thought (and it doesn’t have any calories!).</p>
<p>Christmas lunch at work tomorrow. I think I should be able to make decent choices at the restaurant we’re going to and I’ve already decided that I’m going to the gym tomorrow night and run on the treadmill. So there! (talking myself into it…)</p>
<p>Thanks for starting this thread. </p>
<p>15 (maybe 20) pounds have jumped on my body in the last year. I verified with my doctor during my annual that my weight has been stable within a 3.5 pound range for the last 31 years, then this year, BAM!!! I thought I would lose the weight without much focus, turns out that is not going to be the case. I had bunion surgery in June so my activity level has been low (my arms look pretty good from using the crutches but my behind…not so much). </p>
<p>I started walking my 14 year old dog a few months ago, more like a limp around the block. The dog is now in pretty good shape and beyond excited about the prospect of a daily walk. She herds me to the closet to change my clothes when I get home then sits an whines by the door. My dog is guilting me into walking every day. </p>
<p>I had thyroid testing done because my weight changed so fast, turns out I am just getting fat and there is no hormone to take the blame. So, as a person that has never had to watch what I eat, I am struggling to get this weight off. </p>
<p>All suggestions are thankfully received. </p>
<p>Don’t laugh but I joined Jazzercise late October. I did it mainly to do something besides go to my basement and work out…be around people, do something to music, have something to do, etc. I really like it and what a workout! Everyone is so nice, and we have 3 places and different instructors to choose from. The music is quite up to date, and it’s working. Over the holidays, they really push you to keep coming and I think that helps keep in mind what I’m eating. Also, they do a little “goal” if you come 20 times from Nov 1 thru Xmas eve, you get a Jazzercise sweat towel. Now, I know you’re saying “well, whoop de do” about the towel…but believe me, for some reason that is a fun incentive to go and get “checked off” to get that free towel! LOL!</p>
<p>Why would we laugh?! Some people do better with a class commitment , some do better with fitness on their own(me, not a class person). If Jazzercise is the catalyst for you, it is GOOD!. </p>
<p>Many people say, “as soon as the holidays are over, I"m going to buckle down and lose weight/start exercising/skip dessert, etc.” NO. Why wait? Start now with a plan - if you can “maintain” through the next few weeks, then your efforts PAST January 5 will likely be easier - you will be feeling good about yourself and your efforts - which I believe is one of the major keys to a continuing healthy lifestyle of eating and exercising. </p>
<p>Wear that towel PROUD when you earn it. 
</p>
<p>I would never laugh at any kind of exercise that someone would choose to do. Never!</p>
<p>It’s hard to maintain over this time of the year. The time change and the weather are hard. I’m still getting out there. Remember when you are shopping to power walk between stores! Anything helps. </p>
<p>I don’t make cookies and try to make the house a “safe” place to be. Too much temptation everywhere else. </p>
<p>Oh, I have a friend who was teasing me. Jazzercise has been around 30 years, and there is just this “image” of it 'woo-woo" yelling during exercise. LOL! Actually, I would say the average age is late 50’s…so I guess I’m really only a few years younger. One of the reasons I started is now that one kid is gone and the other is so busy, that i find I have all this time on my hands when I get home (I work 30 hours a week) and last winter I was sinking into a little depression and watching ALOT of TV when I got home. I’m finding life is changing and I need to find things to fill my time now. Well…why not exercise. I need socialization, and that seemed to be something to reach for. Anyway, don’t want to turn this thread into something that it isn’t…just advocating that Jazzercise tried to proactiviely help you out over the holidays!</p>
<p>My D is in to cross fit. I’m not sure about cross fit and there are lots of arguments about why cross fit is bad. I never say anything to her. Anything that gets her out and active is better than sitting around. </p>
<p>She like her cross fit gym because it’s a nice community. She works with a bunch of older men (engineer) and needs to get out there and find women to socialize with. Her boyfriend and his roommate also belong to the cross fit gym so they can go together. The gym is so supportive of any physical activity, they all came out and cheered D on when she ran a 10k not too long ago. And they did a team marathon. </p>
<p>So conmama, don’t let anyone tell you what is good to do or not do! Stay strong and do that jazzercise. </p>
<p>I recommend Brian Wansink’s new book Slim By Design. (He’s a scientist and author of Mindless Eating.) Just the first part will help: they analyzed behavior at Chinese buffets and identified key differences in the way slim and heavy people ate. Slim people are 3x more likely to face away from the food, sit 16 feet further away, check out the food before picking up a plate, are more likely to use a small plate, more likely to use chopsticks, more likely to sit in a booth. Heavy people: more likely to face the buffet, to use a fork, to sit at a table, to pick up a plate and head directly into the food, sit close to the food. When asked, the slim people had no idea why they did these things. </p>
<p>Another simple example: if you go in your house by the kitchen door and you keep breakfast cereal on the counter, you are likely to weigh 21 pounds more than a neighbor who enters the same way but doesn’t keep the cereal on the counter. </p>
<p>Brian puts these ideas into something he calls the “food radius” and describes how you can change your food radius when you go out, when you’re home, etc. </p>
<p>His point is that year of research shows you can’t win by willpower. He says his research can be summed up as “becoming slim by design works better than trying to become slim by willpower”. If you read his first book, you learn about many of his experiments in portion size but also things like “do people eat more at a buffet if you clear their dishes?” </p>
<p>I do want to make cookies, but I am going to wait until just before we leave for Christmas, so they will be fresh/ won’t get eaten up.
Since we will be at a family style lodge, there won’t be snacking between meals unless we bring food.( which we always do)
We usually bring instant soups, a box of satsuma oranges, nuts and energy bars.
But I hear dinner is now served earlier.it used to be served at 7 or so, which is a long time to wait if you came in from skiing at 3 or 4 pm.
I just ordered a yoga mat for H to give me for Christmas, and I found out some friends take yoga at the local senior center, so I may sign up for that soon.
( Ive been going swimming three times a week, but more stretches are needed)</p>
<p>The Verizen store called to tell me that the iphone that I ordered for S is in. I had planned to jump in the car to pick it up but after reading the most recent 16 posts, I am going to put my walking shoes and find my ear buds and walk that mile. Maybe I will also download an audiobook from the library.</p>
<p>One other trick is to buy yourself healthy treats without regard to cost. I love raspberries but they’re very expensive. I’ve decided I have every right to eat $10 worth of raspberries at a sitting because I’m saving money I would have spent on junk food. That little indulgence makes me feel like I’ve treated myself.</p>