Machine's Healthy Living Tip of the Week

Looking for a great way to keep those holiday pounds from adhering themselves to your stomach and backside? Well, why not be pro-active about it and start fighting the fat and flab that seems to creep on so readily this festive time of year?

Let's face it, this season involves a whole lot of celebrating...hopping from holiday open houses, where the booze is plentiful and the Christmas cookies magically land in hand and then travel mouth to hip...Or the holiday party at the office which basically amounts to the entire month of December...food filling the aisles and the break room...it is almost as though you have landed in a Harry & David catalog with all of the temptations that abound. Then there are those cookies for Santa, which must magically disappear, washed down with eggnog, only to resurface as your second chin come January. Nor let us forget the bubbly that goes down so easily as we ring in the New Year, and after enough champagne, even the stale fruitcake and smashed candy canes seem to make it into many a toneless tummy.

So, how do we prevent ourselves from resembling jolly, old St. Nick and still indulge in sugarplums and the like? Quite simply, we get ourselves moving...not all that hard, or new an idea, however we must jump to action and simply do it...we need to get outside and walk or run...perhaps, actually make use of that gym membership we have been paying for all year, and have rarely employed since we ditched our New Year's resolutions. Maybe it's spinning class or power yoga that puts a smile on our faces and gets our hearts pumping...Whatever the case, kick-ass cardio is in order to keep the body cocktail dress ready!

Some suggestions...Register for your local Turkey Trot or Kris Kringle 5k...and if the snowflakes start piling up, get out there and cross-country ski or go snowshoeing...both of which equal some serious burn! Head to your health club and have your body composition taken. Then set a goal for yourself, that by New Year's arrival, you will be leaner. Taking the time to set a measurable goal, such as improving your overall body composition, is likely to provide you with much more motivation which makes attaining the desired results much more probable.

When we set goals such as increasing our lean muscle mass, or being able to run a 5k without stopping, we give ourselves something to work towards, something to be proud of achieving. By investing this kind of time and thought into keeping ourselves healthy, we are almost guaranteed to avoid the holiday heft! In fact, we may never have to worry about our weight again, because in reaching our goals, we also make the decision to adapt a healthy lifestyle...the real aim of all this rambling anyway!

The more we concentrate on taking care of ourselves, the more we will realize how overrated overindulging is. All of the Bouche de Noel in the world cannot compare to a rock hard core and a fierce pair of lungs...Remember, while the holidays loom near, summer is always coming...always on its way! So, we must not fool ourselves into thinking that those winter sweaters and coats are something to hide beneath or that they offer any kind of respite. Eventually, they must come off and our very stripped down selves must step forward. How much easier that unveiling will be, if we never give that winter weight a place to settle!