Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

The countdown is on. School is out and let the holidays begin! Remember, find some time to fit in some sort of exercise each day. Enjoy the Christmas treats, but do so in moderation, and eat some healthy snacks and you will feel much better come January 1, 2012. Drink lots of water to help stay full and hydrated when going out or visiting during the holiday season. Enjoy the holidays and try to have somewhat of a healthy Christmas and you will enjoy the coming New Year even more. 

Merry Christmas and a very Happy and Healthy New Year to you all!

Cheers!

Matt 

All I want for Christmas is….chicken breasts and broccoli!

With Christmas just days away, it got me thinking.   What do I really want for Christmas? To be honest, there is not a heck of a lot I need or want.  I have a wonderful family and my health is great, so what else could I possibly want for Christmas?  Boneless chicken breasts, pork tenderloin, fish, whey protein, broccoli, spinach, egg whites, brown rice, whole wheat bread, oats, frozen peas, legumes, cottage cheese, pumpkin puree, almond butter, and cinnamon spice.  Oh yeah, and maybe a few small pieces of my mom’s delicious fruitcake!

While many people think the holidays are about indulging, it really does not have to be.  With so much time away from school or the workplace this is the perfect time to experiment with your diet.  Last year during Christmas break I cooked for my family 16/18 days I was home. Not only did I enjoy cooking clean nutritious meals, but also my mother enjoyed coming home to freshly prepared meals and meals during a busy time she didn’t have to worry about.

With so much down time this holiday season, why not invest in your health? The number one cited reason for not exercising or eating nutritious meals is due to “lack of time.”  In reality, there is tons of time... it’s just our priorities are different.   We make time to watch T.V., go out for meals with friends, and neglect the very things that keep our heart beating.  If you make your health a priority there is no reason to skip out on exercising and neglect your diet. There is nothing more important than your health; you cannot look after your kids, perform at work or school if your mind and body are not healthy.

This holiday season why not try something different.  Instead of asking for gift certificates to your favorite fast food joint, or a new video game, ask for something that will benefit your health. Ask for a new stopwatch, gym clothes, chin-up bar, gym membership, or if you’re as hardcore as me…Chicken breasts and broccoli will do just fine!

Healthy holidays!

*** The 12 Days of Fitness ***

With Christmas just around the corner, students and staff are excitedly counting down the days to the start of the holiday break!  For many people, this time of year is extremely busy.  Be it winter sports, time spent with family and friends, most of us are swamped with hectic schedules for the next few weeks.  The holiday season is here and involves an abundance of food wherever we may go.  Reflecting back on my childhood memories, a big part of Christmas for me involved peanut butter balls, eggnog, massive amounts of sweets, and Helen’s (family friend) famous chocolate marshmallow squares, and I cannot forget my Aunt Rosemary’s fudge.  This visit entails a whole day, and I am not exaggerating, trying her countless bags of fudge…I guess this is why my sister labeled this “fudge day” on the calendar…no mention of Boxing Day in our house!  

While the holidays do involve “treats” they certainty should not be the sole focus of the holiday season.  Did you know the average person gains 3-5 pounds of fat over the holidays, with the majority of this weight being gained by indulging in high sugary sweets?   For some people, this is not a problem as we quickly loose the weight shortly after the New Year.  However, for many of us these 3-5 lbs hurt our weight loss accomplishments from the previous year and only hinder our New Year’s resolutions.  Every year it’s the same old story.  We tell ourselves that this year will be different. This will be the year we lose the weight.  All seems fine and dandy, however, ask yourself, did you not make this silly promise to yourself last year?

We all want to enjoy ourselves over the holiday break, and I too am no different.  I am after all human and still enjoy the occasional treat.  However, we do not need to make the holiday season one month all about food. We should also not throw our fitness routines out the window.  After all, we have worked so hard all year to blow it for one month of the year!

Tips to staying on track this Holiday season

Exercise every single day over the holiday break – with time off school, or work, why not invest in your health.

Do not go to social functions hungry.  Eat all your regular meals during the day and stay full!  Most social functions have an abundant supply of high fat, sugary foods, with little or no nutritional value.  If you eat before you go out, you won’t crave as much.   If you do feel the need to eat, try and fill up on veggies or fruit instead, and chances are these options will be available.  Fill up on healthy options first, and it will help reduce your craving for other things.  Just because everyone else is eating potato chips and dip, doesn’t mean you have to!  Another great tip is to take some sugar free gum with you, or even take some nuts with you to snack on.

Choose water over other drinks.  Sodas and fruit drinks are loaded with sugar and provide no nutritional benefit.  Remember most of the time we think we are hungry, when in fact, we are thirsty.   Stay hydrated and drink cold water with lemon, or carry an individual crystal lite mix as a substitute.  Water with lemon is a surprisingly, refreshing drink!

If you feel the need to indulge, enjoy and know that one treat is all you need to satisfy that craving.  Alternate water with lemon as the alternate drink.  Take some nuts with you when you go out!  There is nothing wrong with treating yourself if you feel you must, but, the key to success during the holiday eating season is moderation!   

If you are craving something sweet, have a piece of fruit.  This will be more filling than one small piece of chocolate!

Finally, exercise every day during the holiday season.  Go for walk in the morning, or after dinner.  Go ice skating, play hockey, toboggan if we get snow…activity will take the mind off food.  I can never recall a time where I have exercised and regretted it.   However, I can recall times where I indulged too much and regretted that decision later.

Enjoy the holiday season.  Combine physical activity with healthy eating habits, and you will feel good about the holiday season.  Celebrate the season feeing your absolute best.  Merry Christmas!

WALKING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND

Brrrrrrrr....the seasons are changing, but does that mean our eating habits should?

The answer to that may be yes, to some degree.  There are extra things we should do during the upcoming colder months to keep our bodies warm, from the inside out.   First, we should be making sure our fluid intake is maintained.  Our bodies tend to lose fluid in the colder weather and while outside, so keeping the body hydrated with plenty of water and other fluids, will help keep the body hydrated during this colder time of year.   

Maintain and snack on healthy carbohydrates!  We all know healthy carbohydrates give our bodies fuel, and especially so when are outside, or participating in winter sports.  Even when we shovel snow, we need more carbohydrates, and not sugar.  Eating more whole grain breads including high fibre foods will keep you full longer, whole grain English muffin or crackers,  cereal....and you know what I  am going to say next, my fav, oatmeal...easy to make and great “on the go” food and good carbs! Grab some nuts or a precooked sweet potato before going outside or doing winter activities, and this will help fuel the body in the colder temperatures!

When the temperatures start to drop, we still need to keep warm on the inside.  Fresh veggies may not be in season now, or may be expensive, but that is no reason not to eat veggies at all, when there is an abundance of great frozen veggies available to add to your meals...put them in home cooked meals including soups, casseroles, and even chilli.  Cook veggies and toss with olive oil, basil, garlic, or your fav spice, and allow veggies to be the new winter “comfort food”.   Eating well in the colder months will help balance body temp in colder weather when you are outside!

As we all know, winter is a time for many outdoor sports activities, including skiing and cross country skiing, walking, hockey, skating,  school sports teams...so why not fuel up on bananas, a handful of nuts, or granola, whole grain breads or even  a small handful of pretzels, which will help the metabolism and keep your body warm while participating in winter sports.  Don’t forget to drink lots of liquids including water or broth based soups to stay hydrated, which is great for the body at any time!  You will stay much more satisfied with good carbs and plenty of liquids this cold time of the year. 

Next time you go out, don’t just put on a warm jacket, hat, gloves, extra socks and boots to keep you warm, but eat some healthy foods with good carbs to keep you warm inside, satisfied and full while outside or participating in winter activities!  While walking in our winter wonderland this season, we keep the outside of our bodies warm, so why not the inside too!  Happy Winter

“Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” – Shakespeare

Just recently, I was driving in my car listening to the radio, when I heard the broadcaster quote Shakespeare “nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”  This thought resonated with me for the entire day, and it still keeps popping into my head.  It really got me thinking…

This idea is critical to everyday life and highly applicable to school.  Think about this idea for a moment.  You walk into school at 8:30 and head to class and find out immediately you are starting a new unit on quadratic equations.  At this moment, you have two options.  Option 1, you think “I suck at quadratics, this is so dumb” or Option 2, you think “quadratics are not my strength, but I’ll try my best.”

You see, in everyday life we are faced with decisions.  We can see the glass as “half full” or we can see it as “half empty”.   If we approach every situation with a positive mindset and see the positives outweighing the negatives, you can win at life every time.  If, however, you see the negative, and think people are out to make your life miserable, you are in for a long, hard, negative life.

You can apply this concept to virtually every aspect of life “nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”