Holiday Eating: Party Hearty Without Putting on the Pounds!Written by Marsha J. Hudnall, MS, RD, CD
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What will be on menu? A simple, healthy meal with some added festive touches will not only impress your guests, but it will truly be enjoyed by all - especially you! Many holiday menus start with roast turkey. Roasting a turkey or turkey breast is relatively simple, but most grocery and/or meat markets will roast it for you. Serve it with Brown Rice Pilaf or Wild Rice Pilaf (both recipes from new edition of Green Mountain's cookbook Recipes for Living). Add dried cherries or cranberries, chopped toasted pecans and chopped fresh parsley for a festive touch. A colorful tossed green salad could be as simple as a bag of mixed field greens with orange segments and red onion rings. Garnish with a slice of herbed chevre (goat cheese). Serve with Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette (another Green Mountain favorite). Take advantage of sweets and other treats of season that your local bakery will surely be making; order a tray of assorted cookies, for example. Serve with a scoop of raspberry, lemon or tropical fruit sorbet in holiday dishes. Or if you want a real "wow" but simple dessert, try Marinated Strawberries in Phyllo cups. Make Yourself a Priority This is bottom line for holidays that you really enjoy. Remember, if you take care of yourself first, then you're much better equipped to take care of everyone else. But women just don't tend to do that. A survey last month of 1000 women revealed that while almost all women would enjoy doing something for themselves like taking a walk or an aromatic bath, most spend less than 30 minutes a day nurturing themselves…and almost 10 hours a day caring for others! Clearly, we're out of balance here. Now there's a great gift - gift of more time for you! No More New Year's Resolutions to Lose Weight! The staff at Green Mountain at Fox Run wishes you happiest, healthiest holiday season ever. Our other wish for you is that you approach New Year not with another resolution to take off pounds gained during holiday season. Instead, we wish that you enjoy season without thinking about body size, instead caring for yourself in a way that allows you to go through season feeling vibrant and well. The truth is that most of us may put on a pound or two during holidays when wonderful foods abound. But if we're tuned in to feeling well, and supporting our bodies with sensible enjoyable eating, regular physical activity, stress management and positive thinking, those extra pounds won't be permanent. With this lifestyle in place, we'll find our weight returns to its natural, healthy place once abundance of holidays subsides.
©2004 Green Mountain at Fox Run, Ludlow, Vermont. Marsha J. Hudnall, MS, RD is director of communications and senior nutritionist. For over 32 years, Green Mountain at Fox Run has developed and refined a life-changing program of permanent weight loss through lifestyle change, exclusively for women (http://www.fitwoman.com.com/weightlossprogram.htm). To learn more about Green Mountain at Fox Run, visit us at: http://www.fitwoman.com
| | To Diet or not to Diet, that should be the question!Written by The Wardrobe Shrink - Sarah Whittaker
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Tips Jeans for a curved hipline – drop waistline but ensure you have a larger waistband, and/or no back pockets. Also, opt for jeans with stretch. This will follow your natural contours better. For men: go for jeans with a pleat around waistband to accommodate a softer belly line. Jeans for a narrow hipline – most jeans look a dream on you, but ensure you opt for structure. Stretch could make you look like you have puppy fat. T-shirts for a curve – use softer fabrics with drape and soft stretch that have a curve in cut. Avoid front pockets, too high a neckline, square short sleeves. Instead, feminine touches – flowers, soft textures and chiffon, depending on your style. For men: go for softer fabrics. T-shirts for angles – use structured fabrics, stripes and lines, boyish cuts, and heavier stretch. You can do pockets and sheer looks. Are you investing in yourself? If you are having concerns about your weight then you may have put a stop on your wardrobe spending ‘until you lose weight’. This is just plain unfair on yourself. It can only lead to you feeling more miserable if you are living in three outfits and haven’t got anything you feel really good in. You may feel it will force you to take your diet wishes seriously, but again is dieting what you need, or what anyone needs for that matter? Tips Go out now and buy yourself something that you feel really good in, that suits you, that is perhaps an extravagance and that looks slightly sexy or suave. Regardless of whether you have been starving your wardrobe. This doesn’t require emptying your wallet. The action in itself, spending some quality time for you to value yourself, will improve your spirits. For women: Go out and buy some new make-up. A fresh gloss for lips – natural or bright – whatever is your preference, and a shimmer or rouge for cheeks. Invest in good mascara and some colour or base for eyes. For men: invest in a new shampoo, a facial lotion and an upgrade your shaving system. Consider this: You don’t need to lose weight. But you do want to be healthy and have a positive self-image. If you achieve latter, your own appearance and weight will find its natural way.Being healthy is mostly achieved by finding balance. Balance between stress in your life and peace you have; a balance between your nutrients and your addictions; a balance between being active and being passive. You also want to be well. With amount of toxins we have in our foods and environment and amount of pressure we have living in Noughties, your health is very important. Dieting can be unhealthy. What is healthy is loving yourself for how you are, appreciating that as you age your body will change, and that a healthy self-image is far more important than whether you can fit into a size 2. In fact, that is quite dangerous. Dieting can be a quick fix – you see some results so you feel like you have dealt with problem. But if you are not happy with your own personal image, then weight loss or not, you will shortly be back in front of that mirror complaining about how you look again. www.thewardrobeshrink.com
Sarah Whittaker - named The Wardrobe Shrink by the media - has developed a unique system of thirty five Image Types that help you define your personal image and your true nature. She is a strong believer that everyone has their own unique 'blueprint' and by discovering that and expressing it you can fulfil your potential can attract what you want in your life.
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