4 Tips to Hinder Holiday Weight Gain

It is that time of year again: Time for everyone to enjoy the winter holidays and spend some extra time celebrating with friends and family. This also means it is time to pay extra careful attention to our weight loss goals and perfect a strategy that will keep us on the straight and narrow path to success. It may seem as if everywhere you turn, you are faced with more and more calories.

Everyone is having a party.

Your neighbors, your friends, your family, your coworkers, your friend’s coworkers and that guy down the street all seem to be getting in on the action.

So, how can you remain social and avoid all of those tempting foods at each and every holiday party you feel obligated to attend? By following a few of these tips, you may just find yourself meeting your weight loss goals in no time.

1. Never go to a party famished.  If you wait until you get to the party to eat, you will most likely eat more than you intended, and it will probably not be an overindulgence in grilled chicken and salad! You should try to eat something healthy and filling before going to the celebration. You may indulge in a sweet or two, but if you’re only slightly hungry, you will be more likely to limit any eating binges that typically rear their ugly heads during the holidays. 

2. Watch your beverages. Many people overindulge in alcohol and other high calorie drinks when they are at a party. These calories can sneak up on us, and we may not even notice that we are doubling or tripling our caloric intake strictly through our beverages. It may be easy to keep in mind how much food you ate, but your total drink count can seem to get a little blurry after the first few. So, if you stick to water or try rotating water in between your rounds of beverages, you’ll save yourself quite a bit of empty calories.

3. Bring a healthy option. If you are going to a potluck style party, you could always bring along a healthier option for you and your friends. You may have this new recipe that you have been dying to try out. Well, why not make something you love that you know is well balanced and allow your colleagues the chance to see that not all healthy treats taste like cardboard? You will not only be doing yourself a favor, but your friends can also benefit from having a healthy dish or two to choose from as well!

4. Distract yourself. Try to avoid making the food tables the center of your experience by choosing to talk with your friends or by dancing the night away. You do not need to hover by the food table all night. Hovering there would only put you closer to mindlessly eating treat upon treat. So, do yourself a favor and try to get in some physical activity by dancing or at least walking around the room and being the social butterfly you know you are.

During the holidays many of us can easily fall victim to a little weight gain. Temptation is everywhere, however, this time can be very detrimental to our weight loss goals if we don’t stay concentrated on our goals. Let’s make our focus be on celebrating with friends and family and not ruining our waistlines!

- See more at: http://www.9round.com/blog/4-tips-to-hinder-holiday-weight-gain/

4 Reasons Every Parent Should Workout

I know finding the time to exercise these days can seem difficult, and if you are a parent, you have to throw kids into the mix, which can stretch your schedule even thinner. However, there are many reasons you should consider for finding the time to stay fit. You may feel guilty about the time you are missing from your family, but you will only be improving and lengthening the time you can spend with them. Here are just a few reasons to help you get over this guilty feeling and encourage you to designate some time in your hectic schedule to hit the gym and get active.

1. You will be around longer. Not to be too cryptic, but, most of us have chaotic or daily routines. They are full of stress and worry, constantly going from one task to another with no breaks in between and, in many cases, loading up on fast food. This can cause us to have multiple health problems and lower our life expectancy. However, if you have a consistent fitness routine and change your eating habits, you can lower the risk for many diseases and increase your life expectancy. In fact, according to a recent study published in Psychology Today, by just walking approximately forty minutes a day, you could add more than four years to your life. So, when you look at the big picture, you are actually adding, not losing, time with your family.
2. Boost your mood and feel calmer. Your kids probably love spending time with you, but everyone has those days when we are just not feeling it. There is nothing wrong with that. We live stressful lives and things just seem to build up. However, if you have a consistent fitness routine, you can drastically reduce those days. You may notice the effects exercise has on your mood and eliminating stress almost instantly. Our bodies release endorphins, feel good chemicals, as we exercise. These increased amounts of endorphins will have us feeling better and stress-free in no time, and your kids will be able to easily notice the difference in your mood.
3. Increased energy. It can be difficult trying to keep up with your kids. They seem to be just big balls of energy, and they really want you to play with them and experience everything they do. However, after a long work day and getting the house settled, you would probably much rather sit in front of the tv and veg out. However, with a regular fitness routine, you can increase your energy and get a better night’s sleep to help you feel more rested. You may not have noticed that you even have decreased energy in the first place, but your kids will definitely be having more fun with you when you’re willing to jump, crawl and climb with them.
4. Set a great example. We all want our kids to grow up to be healthy and happy productive members of society. So, what kind of example do we set if we never exercise? We know that they learn a lot from watching us, so it is in our best interest to show them that it is important to take care of ourselves. If you can find a way to incorporate your kids into your fitness routine, then you should. You are helping them become healthier and spend some quality time with you at the same time. So, why not take your kids out for a nice jog at the park or a hike through the woods? You could even play a nice game of basketball, tennis or football with them. The main thing is that you are spending time with your family and teaching them the importance of being active in a sedentary world.

There are many things we feel responsible for as a parent that may make us believe that we have no extra time for us to spend on ourselves and a fitness routine. However, when you truly look at all the good that can come out of spending some time at the gym, you can see that it will only be worth it in the end.  

- See more at: http://www.9round.com/blog/4-reasons-every-parent-should-workout/

How to Stay Motivated During the Holidays

Did you know that the average person usually gains about eight to twelve pounds during the holiday season? I know that this is definitely one present we do not want to be receiving this year. The holiday season can be a hectic and stressful time, which can cause us to become less motivated and more stationary, and then you put an enticing spread of food out in front of us. I mean, what else is there for us to do except eat ourselves through the season? Well, for starters, we need to remember our fitness and weight loss goals and hang in there. I know it can be tough, but we really want to accomplish our goals, right? The more active we become, the more we can relieve our holiday season stress and find more energy to complete everything we need to do for the holidays. So, how can we stay motivated throughout the holidays? Here are just a few tricks you can try.

• Stick with your schedule. You have your fitness routine pretty much nailed down, and you should try not to deter from it too much during the holiday season. I know that there is so much more you are responsible for and so many parties you have to go to, but you can not allow that to interfere with your fitness routine. The more you stick to your regular schedule, the easier it will be to hit the gym.
• Write down everything you eat and drink. During the holidays, it is easy to forget what you ate. You may find yourself overindulging at parties and not knowing exactly how many calories or how much fat you have just consumed. You may also tend to eat out more, so you have to be extra careful of what you are putting into your body. Most women tend to load up on most of their calories when they go out through drinking. You have to watch out for alcoholic beverages, sodas and specialty coffee drinks. They can really do a number on your caloric and fat intake for the day.
• Find an exercise buddy or online community. Many people need the help of others to keep them going, and that is where an exercise buddy comes in handy. They can push you and challenge you to stay with your routine. However, if you feel the need to be alone when you workout, there are many online communities that can be of use. These communities can help you track your goals and keep you in touch with others who are trying to power through their regular fitness routine. It can be a boost to have someone on your side either in real life or online.
• Spend some quality time with family. Holidays are the time for families to come together and celebrate. So, why not spend some quality time together being active? You could play a nice game of touch football or head to the park or nature trails for a nice run or hike. There are so many things that your family can do together that can get them moving, and I am sure the kids will be super excited to burn off some excess energy.
• Ask for a gym membership for Christmas. This is one of the best ways to ensure that you stick with your fitness routine. You can choose your favorite gym or activity and have one of your family or friends give you the best gift of all, fitness and health. You should feel more than obliged to go, especially since your friend spent money on you to help you maintain your fitness routine. They do not want to see you fail and are offering the best support, so go out there and get fit.
• Never give up. I know that there will be times when the holidays get you down or seem too hectic, but you can not let that get to you. If you really want to achieve your goals, you will find a way to stick with it. However, if you have been searching for an excuse to quit your fitness routine, you will surely find it during the holidays. If you do find yourself slipping, do not be too hard on yourself. You need to get right back in there and find your groove before it is too late.

The holidays can be a hard time for many of us, and even though, some people just love the holidays, there are some of us who can not wait for them to be over. If you happen to be one of the ones who are so stressed and feeling as if you are at your ropes end, do not give up on your fitness routine. Stay motivated, and you may just find that your fitness routine is the best way to release some of that pent up stress.

- See more at: http://www.9round.com/blog/how-to-stay-motivated-during-the-holidays/

Which Is Better: Long, Low Intensity Cardio Routines or High Intensity Interval Training?

The fitness industry and health professionals are always coming up with the best ways to lose weight, get a flat stomach and build muscle. We all know that for many years cardio has been at the top of the list in helping people burn fat and lose those excess pounds. For the past few years, most fitness professionals recommended performing long periods of less intense forms of cardio, such as walking on the treadmill for an hour or so. However, after years and years of performing these types of exercises, many people were not getting the results that they wanted, which lead to the fitness industry reevaluating the best way to lose weight.

Fat burning potential

For the last couple of years, health professionals have been telling us to perform long periods of low intensity cardio to lose weight. They based this theory on the idea that since we burn primarily fat while doing low intensity exercise and end up burning mostly carbs while performing high intensity exercises, we would lose more weight with the longer less intense form of cardio. However, when people were not achieving the results that they wanted, the professionals decided to take another look. What they found was that high intensity cardio was actually more effective at burning fat than longer less intense periods of cardio. They discovered that if you are not using carbs for energy then your fat cells are not able to take advantage of the energy pathways that carbs use, which means that you are unable to burn them. Therefore, you need to do some sort of high intensity exercise to allow your body the opportunity to burn fat.

Which is better

Most of us would believe that if high intensity cardio burns more fat, then that is all we should be doing. However, in your quest to lose weight and become healthier, it may not as simple as choosing one form of exercise over the other. There are many different benefits associated with each type of exercise, and you should make room for both types in your fitness routine in order to get the optimal results. Long periods of less intense cardio has been shown to reduce your triglyceride levels and increase your good cholesterol levels. It has also been shown to help improve the effectiveness of insulin to do its job and helps to eliminate glucose from your blood. So, while performing long periods of low intensity cardio may not help you lose the weight you want, it can benefit you in the long run.

It may not be as easy as deciding on one type of exercise over the other. You should never limit your fitness routines this way. There should always be room for multiple types of exercises in your fitness routine. Do not be afraid to add some variety to your workout to get the best results. By doing different types of exercises you can easily spice up your fitness routine and stave off boredom, which can have you looking forward to your next workout.

- See more at: http://www.9round.com/blog/which-is-better-long-low-intensity-cardio-routines-or-high-intensity-interval-training/

How to Succeed in Your Weight Loss Routine

Achieving your fitness and weight loss goals require a lot of hard work and dedication. Many of us experience difficulty trying to lose weight, while we notice others can’t stop shedding those pounds. How do they do it? We like to think that they have those perfect genes that allow them to eat whatever they want and only exercise a little but still stay slim, or maybe they have found out some long lost secret to losing weight. Well, this may be true for a very small number of them. Most of them know there are certain habits that successful dieters have to follow and follow them to a tee. This means that in order to turn your weight loss nightmare into a success story, all you need to do is incorporate these habits into your daily routine.

1. Set small, attainable goals. Most of us focus on losing weight and unfortunately a lot of it. We set a goal to lose thirty pounds in a month. However, these bigger, more spread out goals that only focus on our weight may be doing more damage than good. You should try setting smaller goals over a shorter period of time. This should get you moving, especially when you begin to notice that you are accomplishing these goals throughout your fitness routine. You could set goals such as eating more vegetable, increasing your daily water intake, lifting a few more pounds or adding some extra distance to your run. The more attributes of your routine that you can focus on, the more you can celebrate. This should have you motivated and ready to rock your fitness routine in no time.
2. Allow yourself a few breaks. We all think that in order to achieve our weight loss goals, we have to stick to a strict schedule. We think we have to workout for hours on end to get the body we want. However, when you start out too hard on yourself, it is hard to slow down. You will only push yourself past your breaking point. By being too strict on yourself, you will only set yourself up for failure. Allow yourself some time to rest and relax from your fitness routine and give yourself enough rest days (2-3 a week) and you may be surprised at how much you can achieve.
3. All work and no play. Most of us believe that diet and exercise can’t be fun. It is a chore to us that has to be done. This attitude can put you down the right path. You need to make your fitness routine fun, and it can easily be done. You can look for new and exciting recipes to learn. Your taste buds can have the chance to experience new flavors and tastes. Just because your food is not full of calories or fat, does not mean it has to be tasteless. So, dive into those cookbooks and find something new and interesting. As far as the physical part of your routine goes, you can seek out new things in that area too. You can look into taking different types of fitness classes. There are so many out there that appeal to different types of people. You could learn a martial art like kickboxing, karate or tae kwon do. You could take a dance class like jazz, ballroom or modern. You could take yoga, a spin class, aerobics, whatever keeps you interested and motivated.

It can be frustrating trying to lose weight and feeling as if you are going nowhere. You put in all this hard work, and it just does not seem to pay off. It may be time to switch up your routine or add something new and exciting. You could reach out to others for ideas or help. You may need to take a step back and reevaluate your routine or your goals, but the main thing is to never give up. If you keep trying, you are bound to come up with a routine that works for you.

- See more at: http://www.9round.com/blog/how-to-succeed-in-your-weight-loss-routine/

5 Holiday Food Traps to Avoid

For most of us the upcoming holidays mean food, food and more food. So, how do we combat this extra intake of food? The main problem is it’s the holidays, and we want to indulge and have fun with our friends and family. The average American can consume somewhere between 3000 and 5000 calories on Thanksgiving alone, and to gain one pound, we only have to consume 3500 calories. This means that throughout the holiday season, it is fairly easy to see how these extra pounds can add up. Here we will take a look of some of our favorite holiday foods and different ways to fight the temptation of over indulging in them.

1. Cheese trays. I love going to parties that feature cheese trays. There are so many different types of cheeses neatly displayed for me to sample, and it seems that each and everyone I taste is more delicious than the last. It is just so hard for me to avoid the pull of this magical tray, but I should definitely try harder. You can typically find a hundred calories in an ounce of cheese, but what makes it worse is that cheese is also high in fat. And, like I said before, once you start sampling the cheese tray, it will seem impossible to stop. So, before you know it, you could have crammed hundreds and hundreds of excess calories down your throat. Your best option would be to skip over the cheese tray and head for the veggie tray, but you might want to make sure the veggie dip is low in fat and calories before drizzling it all over your plate.
2. Spinach artichoke dip. My sister makes the best spinach artichoke dip, and believe me, we make sure she brings it to all of our parties and get togethers. However, the name can be misleading. For instance, just because spinach artichoke dip has two vegetables in its name, does not mean it is healthy for you. In fact, a two and a half ounce serving of this delicious dip contains around 695 calories, and once again, this dish contains many of those fatty, high calorie cheeses we discussed before. Your best option would be to resist the pull of this temptation and maybe head to the fruit tray instead. However, you need to also resist the pull of all those tasty fruit dips and chocolate dips we love to slather on our fruit.
3. Eggnog. I love when Christmas season comes along because eggnog magically reappears on the grocery shelves. I just can’t get over the silky taste, but this calorie laden drink can really do some harm to your weight loss journey. One cup of eggnog contains 343 calories, and if you are like me, one little cup is not enough. Also, many people like to add in a little something extra. One ounce of rum or brandy could add an extra 65 calories to your eggnog making the grand total 408 calories in that one little cup of eggnog. The best option would be to opt for a calorie free drink to fast track your weight loss goals.
4. Cheesecake. You can not say the name cheesecake without drooling. I mean, what is more wonderful than staying in on a cold winter’s day sipping coffee and eating a slice of cheesecake. However, when you consider that one slice of plain cheesecake contains over 400 calories, we might want to rethink this perfect winter scenario. Also, who can have plain cheesecake? We want our cheesecake to be covered in chocolate, whipped cream, strawberries or cherries, and this can, of course, increase the amount of calories we are consuming. It may be hard to put down our slice of cheesecake, but it may be better for us to choose the other Christmas cake staple. A slice of fruitcake will be easier to burn off at only 139 calories per slice. Even though, we all know, it is not the same.
5. Sugar cookies. We all have to make cookies for Santa, right? And, what can we do if we accidentally make too many? I guess we’ll just have to eat them. Sugar cookies are perfect for the holidays because they are so easy to decorate. We can add icing and different candy toppings to make them look like all different types of holiday decorations. They just look so festive, and it does not hurt that they taste so good. However, you may want to put down that sugar cookie if you are trying to lose weight. One sugar cookie contains 113 calories, 9 grams of sugar and 5 grams of fat, and we all know you can not eat just one sugar cookie. And, to add fire to the flame, most of these cookies are not plain. As mentioned before, our little decorations on these cookies can add to all the totals mentioned. So, maybe again you would like to stick with that one slice of fruitcake that only has 139 calories.

It can be so hard sticking with our diet, especially during the holiday season. The best thing to remember is moderation. It may be fine to cheat on your diet every now and then, but the holiday season is the perfect opportunity to see all of our hard work go down the drain, so you need to be stay diligent and pay extra attention to what you are eating.

- See more at: http://www.9round.com/blog/5-holiday-food-traps-to-avoid/

How to Get Your Fitness Groove Back

You have been on the fast track to achieving your goals. You workout regularly, you are only eating the best foods, and your goals are within arm’s reach. You feel as if you are on top of the world, and nothing can stop you. But, then it happens. Something comes up and throws your routine off track. Then we find ourselves skipping a few workouts and hitting the drive thrus for lunch and dinner. We have become a coach potato mindlessly flipping through the tv channels and telling ourselves tomorrow we will get things back together. We will stop eating junk and hit the gym, but tomorrow never seems to come. This has happened to most of us. We fall off the wagon and just need to find the right thing that will help us get back up. So, what can you do to get your fitness groove back? I am glad you asked. Here are a few things that can help you get off the couch and back into the gym.

• Revisit your goals. The whole reason you started working out was to accomplish something. You need to look back on what you wanted to achieve and stick with it. You need to wake up with the mindset that you are going to get one step closer to your goal today and act on it. You can write down a timeline for your goals on your calendar, set reminders on your phone or leave post it notes on your mirror. Anything you can do that keeps your goals fresh in your mind and helps you to stay motivated will help keep your fitness routine from stalling once again.
• Evaluate yourself. If there was a personal reason behind your fitness routine stalling, then you need to pinpoint the exact reason and put an end to it. You need to try to keep your personal affairs out of the gym, or they will just revisit you once again and continuously wreak havoc on your fitness routine. So, do not let the stress of other parts of your life interfere with you achieving your fitness goals. Besides if you are stressed in your personal life or at your workplace, the best place for you to be is in the gym working off that stress in a healthy way instead of feeding those feelings while drinking wine on your couch staring blankly at your tv. So, get up and get motivated because you have goals to achieve.
• Reassess your peers. What type of people are you associating with? Are they a good influence on you and your goals? If not, you may need to start hanging out with different people. The saying like attracts like applies here. If you hang out with inactive people, you are more likely to be inactive, but if you hang out with athletic people, then you will be more likely to get active and achieve your fitness goals. You may want to deny that others affect you, but a study performed by the University of California-Davis grouped college students with thirty randomly selected students and discovered that these students actually adopted the diet and exercise patterns of the least fit person in their groupings. This means that the company you keep can affect how you approach your fitness goals.
• Mix it up a little. It can become boring doing the same thing over and over for days on end, and your fitness routine is no different. It is easy to lose focus when you are not excited about going to the gym or entirely engaged in your fitness routine. You need to look back and determine if this was the deciding factor in quitting your fitness routine. If it was, then it is time to seek out new things. Try a new fitness class, research a different type of fitness routine, buy a new fitness dvd or look for some different scenery. You may be surprised at how much adding a little something different to your routine can get you back into your groove and looking forward to working out.

This scenario has happened to most of us. In fact, a huge majority of us have fallen off the fitness wagon at some point in our lives. However, we have to remember that there are always going to be bumps along the road, and we will have to work hard to come up with creative ways to get over these bumps.

- See more at: http://www.9round.com/blog/how-to-get-your-fitness-groove-back/