How to Lose Those Lingering Holiday Pounds

The holidays are over but the extra pounds linger on. The New Year’s resolution to get into shape is lost. Don’t be discouraged. The experts at Personal Best in Garwood have some fit and healthy holiday weight loss tips to get you back on track.

Len Glassman, owner of Personal Best says, “People who become fit and lean, make healthy yet practical lifestyle changes such as getting regular exercise, consciously practicing portion control and finding ways to prevent emotional eating. If you look at your fitness and weight-loss efforts as something you're only doing "for now" those new, healthy changes won't stick around for long. If you try to do too much too soon, the changes will be difficult to maintain. Small, gradual changes are what will work.”

 Glassman advises to start by making one healthy lifestyle change at a time. Some suggestions are:

• Don't eat after 7 pm each night.
• Bring your lunch to work instead of eating fast food.
• Exercise 3-4 times a week.
• Only eat fruits and veggies as your afternoon snack.
• Get up early and exercise.
• Work with a personal trainer and keep yourself accountable.

 People have to stop saying the "D" (diet) word, Glassman adds. “You need to find the middle ground on dieting, the point where you can be both happy and healthy. Following a strict diet naturally lends itself to giving into all or nothing thinking. You're either "on your diet", or you've "blown your diet" and if you've done the latter...you might as well quit and eat whatever you want. That kind thinking can make your weight-loss efforts much more difficult and may even prevent you from losing weight at all.”

He offers some healthy eating tips to get you started:

• Always be prepared. For example, take a handful of raw almonds and place them in a sheet of aluminum foil. At Personal Best it’s called the "amazing silver ball". Place a "silver ball" every place you can think of where you might reach for something unhealthy - your car, pocketbook, next to your computer, near the cookie jar. Reach for your “silver ball” instead of taking unhealthy snacks.
•  Look for healthy substitutes. Having a chocolate craving? Try Swiss Miss no-sugar added hot chocolate. Looking for something crunch & salty? Pop a mini-bag of low-fat microwave popcorn. Craving something sweet and creamy? Try low-fat yogurt and sprinkle cinnamon or nutmeg on top.
• Keep a healthy cookbook handy. We tend to be creatures of habit, including our eating habits. To prevent a "healthy eating meltdown", look for a cookbook containing healthy recipes and grab & go ideas. One example is Personal Best’s "Fit & Healthy" cookbook

 Make exercise and healthy eating a habit. “If you're not happy with the way you feel and look, then adjusting your eating and exercise habits is the way to go about making real, long-term changes,” Glassman states. “When it comes to how you feel about your body, two defining habits are your eating and exercise habits. People who are in great shape have dialed into these two important habits.”

Glassman says some people think that if they exercise long enough, they'll wake up one day and suddenly love exercising and eating healthy. While he acknowledges it does tend to get easier, he says you always have to find ways to motivate yourself. “If you're waiting for a shining moment of excitement", you might be waiting for a long time,” he notes.

If you’re ready to make a healthy change, you can start by:

• Choosing one new habit, e.g. working with a personal trainer.
•  Listing your three main motivators. For example, they could be: 1) to feel confident in a bathing suit this summer, 2) to have more energy, and 3) to fit into skinny jeans.
•  Recognizing the obstacles you will face: i.e. time management, confidence that you can stick with a program and feeling selfish with your time.
• Deciding how you will overcome the obstacles, i.e. by doing workouts before work instead of after work, so you have more energy, by believing in yourself and by getting your family to join you so you can get in shape together.
• Committing fully to your new habit in a public way. This could mean posting it on Facebook or simply announcing it at the dinner table. Put yourself in a position where you will be uncomfortable to give up on your new habit.

Len Glassman is the owner of Personal Best Training & Pilates Center in Garwood. Personal Best specializes in personal training, pilates, small employer & corporate wellness programs and adult and youth boot camps. The center’s philosophy is "Train Right, Eat Right, Feel Great!” Their soft cover cookbook ($15) contains approximately one hundred recipes including "Hearty" Soups, Salads, Wraps & Apps", "Deliciously Fit & Easy Main Courses", "Carb-Conscious Breads & Muffins", "Guilt-Free Desserts" and "Grab and Go Fitness Snacks".