Tips for avoiding Holiday Collapse

As another Holiday Season has started and food and drink become abundant, keep in mind the following tips to keep fitness and health routine on track:

• ENJOY the many tasty foods you will experience. To fully enjoy SLOW DOWN and really taste the food and drink you are having. This simply means do not eat like it is the last supper, but breathe and enjoy the pleasure of good food and drink and even those annoying relatives.


• ESCAPE the party scene and excuse yourself for a good walk. It is helpful to have a dog to get you out of there, so consider rescuing one from your local shelter. It is proven that those with animals perform more physical activity then those without one. And plus what a great way to "get out" of those mundane conversations with Uncle Al.


• Be in CONTROL. You have kept on top of your health and fitness routine for the whole year, why blow it now? Think back to how good you have felt after a good exercise session and self-control with your diet.

Happy Holidays!

Start your Challenge today!

If you're still waiting to get that New Year's Resolution for Better health going, you are not alone and the time is Now to get started.

It all begins with you Deciding that this is the time to make it happen. Some quick tips to better accomplish your goals include the following,

1. Hold yourself Accountable. After you determine your start date then I advise you to let your friends and family know that you are going to challenge yourself to lose weight, increase social connectedness, decrease stress, etc. By letting others close to you know what you are setting out to do you will always be reminded of your important decision to increase your health and well being.

2. Set a time Frame for achieving your goals. Whatever your goal is, set a deadline for achieving it. For example, if you want to lose weight; give yourself 8 weeks to achieve this. You can measure your results by weighing yourself on the first day of your challenge and then again at the 4 week point and again at the end of the 8 weeks.

Remember you can always challenge yourself at anytime to accomplish any goal, just make the firm decision to do it.

Re-visiting our goals and altering the "game-plan" when necessary.

I hope everyone is having a great 2011 thus far.

As we work on accomplishing our wellness goals for the New Year, it is important to continue to re-visit and review our goals daily.

Furthermore, it is crucial to be sure our "game plan" is working properly for achieving our goals and to make the necessary changes or alterations to keep moving forward.

For example, if my initial overall goal was to increase my physical health by taking a cycling class at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and then out-of -the blue my work schedule changed making it impossible to take this class, I would have to alter the "game plan". This particular alteration may be that you take a cycling class on Monday and Wednesday evenings when you have available time.

Set-backs and un-foreseen changes in schedule and life are inevitable, thus we need to be prepared when these set-backs occur and respond to them accordingly. I urge you to write down and think about what obstacles may stand in your way of achieving your goals and how you plan to deal with them.

Keep on moving forward!!