I can’t beleive it’s Thanksgiving already. Thanksgiving seems to be the kick-off for the holidays. For many the word holidays conjures up the thoughts of multiple parties, time with friends and family, or a time to be a little lax on their exercise. After all, New Years will be here soon and you can set the same resolution you have the last however many years, to get healthier and fitter.

Here is the thing. For many the holidays are really only 2 days, Thanksgiving and Christmas, yet many of us turn December into a month long celebration. We take the holiDAYs and turn it into holiWEEKs. And by the end of the month many have packed on an the pounds. Stats show that average gain in the month of December is 3-7 pounds.

Why do some people pack on the pounds while others go through the holidays unscathed? It really is pretty simple. It comes down to planning and common sense. Fit people tend to grasp the idea that the holidays are a time to spend with your family and celebrate your beliefs, not take a whole month off from working out and over-indulging.

Think about how many parties that you will attend over the next month, not even including Thanksgiving and Christmas. My guess is that most of us will attend at least two many of us anywhere from 4-6. Attending that many get togethers leads to ample opportunities to over do it.

I am not saying don’t leave the house this festive season, I am saying use your head. Plan Ahead! My gym is open on Thanksgiving morning. Guess where I will be before I sit down to enjoy some turkey? The gym!

By getting a workout in I feel more in control at the table. I know that this is simply another meal and that the real joy of the day comes from spending it with people you care about. Last year Suzy and I began hosting Thanksgiving at our house. We had a blast but more importantly, we knew how everything was prepared and made dishes that we could enjoy and that others would enjoy as well. No one complained about having a meal prepared in a healthier way and it tasted great despite missing pounds of butter.

Tomorrow I will have Suzy join me and we are going to share some ideas about how you can make Thanksgiving enjoyable while still making progress toward your healthy lifestyle. The rest of this month I will be writing about not just surviving the holidays but thriving during this month and how we are going to all get a jumpstart on those who are waiting for the new year to begin their changes.

This is an exciting time of the year for many reasons, lets get excited about being fit too!

Biggest Loser, diet, exercise, healthy eating, holiday tips, Thanksgiving

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009, 1:51 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.