Thanksgiving and NO WEIGHT GAIN!

If you are like me and you want to enjoy the holidays with your family and enjoy some food but you do not want to put on any pounds here are some great tips by Corinne at Phit-N-Phat. She posted this in her blog today and I thought they were great things to do that you might not think of or if you have thought of them they are great reminders.

I have finally learned over the past few years that Thanksgiving to me is about spending time with my family. I enjoy the food that I really like such as dressing, cheesy potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans and corn but I just get small portions of them and really savor the bites then I pick out my MOST favorite dessert of the ones to choose from and enjoy that too but I only choose one that is REALLY WORTH IT or I might choose 2-3 bites of a few of them if I just can't choose. So I do get to enjoy the food that comes along with the family but I don't eat myself sick like I have done MANY MANY times in the past. It's all about moderation folks and it is possible AND you still have fun. Probably more fun b/c you aren't moaning and groaning and just sitting b/c you ate too much that you can't move (oh, I have so been there).

Ok here are the tips:

I've been scouring newsletters, people, and my own history to give you ideas on what you can do to keep from gaining any TRUE fat the week of Thanksgiving. Remember, you are likely to bloat a little but come Monday you should have the same weight as last week.

Add 10 minutes a day to your exercise plan. By adding 10 min. of INTERVAL training to the end of every workout that week you will burn up 400-500 additional calories to help off set a small piece of pie and serving of dressing.

When you eat pie, take a true 1/8 of a slice and cut off the end piece where the crust is. There is a mother load of calories in that piece.

Skip the rolls. Most are store bought.

In fact, anything that isn't homemade and special skip it. Do you really want to gain weight off of Kroger brand white rolls?

NO GRAVY. Come on! Are you telling me the mashed potatoes and such aren't rich enough without the gravy on top?

Be the fun grown up. Rather than hanging in the kitchen to nibble or watching the TV, play with the kids. Even playing a game of checkers will avoid BLT'ing through the day. If you are really spunky go outside and play a game. You can throw the football and let them run around if you need to. You don't have to be in the best shape. Just get away from sitting and eating.

DO NOT take home leftovers. A lot of people will want to send home leftovers with you. They are smart. They don't want the temptation sitting around THEIR house.

The opposite holds true, too. Get the leftovers out. For those that want to take some home, let them. Otherwise, I wouldn't keep anything past Friday. Remember, food poisoning can make you just break out in a horrible case of fat.

Get up CRAZY early on Thanksgiving and Strength Train - not just cardio. You can also do some cardio afterward, but if you lift you are less likely to crave carbs all day. You can do it at home with DB's and if you don't have equipment, you can do squats, push ups, step ups on a chair, lunges, and other body weight exercises to failure.

Make it one meal. The rest of the day eat your regular diet. If you go in hungry trying to save calories you will eat double the calories you normally do. Plus, you will likely store it as fat if your body is in a desperate hunger state.

Take vegetables and fruit to the dinner. Have a lot of those and enjoy a little of the special stuff.
If you don't love it, just don't eat it.

Seconds ONLY after you have drank 16 oz of water when you finish the meal and you have waited 15 min. from finishing. You may still want more but you are likely to only dish out half of what you would have right after eating.

Bring your toothbrush and brush your teeth when you are done. Get the savory flavors out of your mouth.

Help clean the kitchen. You'll be moving or you can go back outside and play more with the kids.

If you do shopping on Friday, every hour, leave the mall, put your bags in the trunk, and then walk one lap around the outside of the mall. It will stretch your muscles, clear your mind, and burn off some calories.

I don't have a title

I can't think of a clever title or just a title at all. HA

Umm, let's see, I am doing well. I am feeling a tad better than I was yesterday. I think the neti-pot is working its magic. I hope it continues and I can avoid the Dr. and antibiotics.

I got up and did a short cardio workout on the TM and then some core work with planks and the stability ball. Then I went to the gym at lunch and did some upper body strength training. Shew, that felt good. I need to do that more often. That rev's me up for the rest of the day and give me some much needed energy for the afternoons.

Tonight we are headed to a basketball game to watch our friend coach. He is coaching a sr. high girls basketball team in a town nearby so we thought we would go watch. They have two little girls that my girls love playing with so that will be fun for them.

ok, that is all I have to share today. Have a great Tuesday, what is left of it anyway.

Gloomy Monday

It is rainy and dreary and cold here today. Just one of those days you really want to stay in bed ALL day long. I totally could have too since I am having some sinus congestion issues since Friday night. UGH. Having sinus issues just makes you feel run down. Could be worse though so I am doing my best to stay positive about it and hope it goes away in a few days. I broke out my neti-pot. I heart the neti pot!

This past weekend on Saturday my Mom, Dad and I took the girls to a drive through zoo. It is called the Gentry Drive Thru Safari. They loved it. We all loved it. So glad we finally went. What a great way to spend a few hours on the weekend. It was a beautiful day too.

So I have been struggling with my food on the weekends and keeping it consistent. The only way I will drop the fat that I want to is if I am consistent with the food. Well....I FINALLY did it. I had a solid weekend and didn't stray from my healthy food path and I am THRILLED!!! I needed that to show myself that I could do it. I didn't even miss the foods I usually eat. Not that I typically just totally fall off the wagon or anything b/c I don't but I do typically eat foods that are not in my weekly plan.

My goal as of now is the keep my food solid until Thanksgiving day. I want to earn that splurge that I plan on having. I CAN DO IT!! I WILL DO IT!!

Football pictures

Here are pictures from J's Fall 2009 football season coaching the 8th grade football team.

Miss Chloe is such a poser.

Uncle Brett with his two favorite girls. Is that Woodland (the across town rival) blue he has on?


Chloe and another coaches daughter, Emma Kate, cheering on the track with the cheerleaders.

Nana (My Mom) and the girls at the last football game of the season.

Watching Daddy work and wondering what in the world those big things are on his ears.

He is in the booth for the 9th grade game communicating with the coaches on the field from a much better view.

At the last football game between the across town rivals, Woodland, they had an "alumni" nite. Well, I am an Alum of that school. So I proudly walked out on the field with my one other alum that was at the game for our graduation time period from there. Of course I was sporting my Ramay Red. I love both schools, I am very torn. Now, I didn't stand in the run through line for the 9th grade to come onto the field like all the other alums did. That might have been crossing the line.

Grand Lake fishing trip

I finally downloaded some pictures off my camera. We took a fishing trip to Grand Lake in Oklahoma with some of my family in late September. Here are a few pics.

Lizzie in the boat
Close up Lizzie

Chloe

Chloe and Jeremy fishing
Chloe

One of J's many many fish that he caught.

Going fast in the boat. We finally realized we could set the girls int his little area and the wind would blow on their back so that it doesn't take their breath away coming at them in the face. This worked MUCH better.

J driving FAST!

I really was on the trip, here is a self portrait going fast in the boat.

The Weekend!

Football is officially over for J. WOOT WOOT!! He loves it and I enjoy it while it lasts, the games at least, but we are both always glad when it comes to an end. It is just so time consuming. It has perfect timing though since it finishes in early November and then the holiday season begins and we all know how things get busy in November and December. Oh, I should probably report that his 8th grade team lost and the 9th grade team won. We will take 1 out of 2 and it is actually more important that the 9th grade wins so that is a plus.

Tomorrow the Razorbacks play South Carolina so we are going to that game and taking our girsl. I hope it goes well. I know they will get restless. The game is during Lizzie's nap so she will be tired. I am hoping for the best though and that they enjoy it.

I met again with my personal trainer this morning. It went GREAT!! I was a little worried b/c I did not sleep well last night. Just tossed and turned and woke up often. I just didn't get good rest. I thought I might be sluggish this morning but I wasn't. YEA!! I worked hard and I did not get light headed this time. I really like her and we work well together.

I am not planning any food splurges this weekend. I need to stay consistent with my healthy eating and I plan to do that.

Have a great weekend everyone. Enjoy the first weekend of November. WOW!

GO RAMAY!!!

Tonight is my husbands 8th grade football teams last game. We play the across town rival, Woodland (where I actually went to Jr. High). I am sending up my prayers and best wishes that we get a "W". It is always a fun way to end the year on a HIGH! If we don't win I hope we just play hard. J will be satisfied with that even if we can't pull out a victory.

The girls are so excited, they love the games and mostly love to wear their cheerleading outfits. It finally isn't raining on a Thursday night. We have missed several games this year b/c it has rained so much and I am not talking sprinkling. I am talking storms and down pours. NOT FUN!

So I meet with my PT in the morning at 5:30. Looking forward to it again. I didn't do exactly what I needed to this week to be completely ready but I am getting there. This is a process making yourself exercise consistently week after week and upping the intensity where it needs to be each time. OY! It is TOUGH but worth it after you are done every time. I never regret exercising.

This morning I woke up at 4:48 AM and looked at the clock thinking the alarm was going to go off in 22 minutes at 5:10. So I laid there and dozed off and then woke up again at 5:04 then openened my eyes again at 5:09 and said GET OUT OF BED, you are totally awake. Save the alarm from going off and I might not wake up J. So I did. Got in a great TM workout to start my day off on the right foot.

So wish the RAMAY INDIANS luck tonight...we need it!