Tick-tock… the clock strikes midnight and you clink your champagne glasses in celebration of the new year. And then have another glass of champagne, followed by a little more food. And maybe just one more glass of champagne. We have all been having the “little extra” in the name of celebrations and the little overindulgences add up. Even your resident wellness coach starts to feel the sins of her food transgressions after the holiday season! We can get right back on track and feel fit, fab and amazing in the new year without being a slave to diets or the gym.

 

1. Begin to record all the things you eat. During the holidays we slip up because we allow ourselves to indulge in all the little things in celebration of the season. I have clients write out what it is they are eating and they become more aware of why and when they decide to eat. Use this trick. There’s even research to suggest that sharing your weight loss efforts on social media – think Facebook and Twitter – leads to greater accountability and support.

2. Drink – and eat more – water! Your body is an amazing detox machine given the right food and plenty of hydration. There’s zero need for a crash diet or low-calorie starvation misery. Your liver will do all the work if you take the junk out of your diet – like processed and sugary foods – and give it plenty of water-based foods, like fruits and vegetables.

 

3. You don’t have to kill yourself at the gym to peel off a few extra pounds from the holiday season. Try one to two weeks of your pre-holiday routine and notice if your body corrects for the holidays. If you don’t have a favorite sweat-it-out routine take the advice of one of my favorite physicians, Dr. Mike Evans. His “prescription“ will have you back to the normal you in no time at all with a minimal amount of sweat.

4. We love to swear off our holiday transgressions with  “I’ll never…” statements. Turn these into positive statements and actions that lead to your goal. It’s difficult enough to eat healthy at times without Grandma’s famous cookies staring you down from across the kitchen. Clear out the tempting goodies, stock healthy foods and set reasonable goals, like trying to cook 3-4 healthy meals for yourself each week.

We all had our fun over the holidays and there’s zero shame in having had a little too much fun as long as you curb the holiday behaviors and put them away for the rest of the year. Recognizing what we can do to control holiday weight gain and learning from the previous year is a big help in staying healthy, happy and stylish all year long!

Erin Haslag, a 2005 Truman HES graduate and a board-certified holistic wellness coach, can be found at @WELLinLA where she writes too often about kale and shares ways to integrate wellness in all aspects of life.

Article link: http://www.mystyle.com/mystyle/b8483_ask_style_how_make_wellness_your_focus.html