Losing Weight During The Busy Holiday Season

With both belts and money getting tighter as the holiday season approaches, people who are trying to lose weight face their biggest challenge of the year…  How to lose weight with all the great food, desserts, cookies, and candies being thrust into our hands by our friends and family.

Let’s face it, you and I both will most likely violate our diets before this holiday season is over.  But just because you “splurge” once or twice doesn’t mean that you have to give up on your weight loss goals.  The important thing for you to accept is you are who you are.  Don’t try to fit yourself into the mold of the “perfect dieter.”

It’s ok if you splurge.  Just do your best to eat in moderation, while eating as healthy as you possibly can.

If you follow that one piece of advice, after the holidays have passed you’ll feel much better about yourself and you’ll be able to make a fresh commitment to your weight loss plan.

Also, since the daylight hours are getting shorter, the nights longer, and the weather colder, you may feel like skipping on your daily exercise routine.  But just because you cannot go outside to exercise doesn’t mean you cannot exercise.  This is the best time of year to break out those dust covered workout videos and get to work!

Workout videos are great since they can be fun and are much less expensive than a gym membership or buying home workout equipment like treadmills, elliptical trainers, and exercise bikes.

If you don’t have any workout videos, here’s a couple of workout dvds that are different from the usual that we’ve personally tried and found to be fun and enjoyable.

Tai Chi

Tai Chi is a soft form of martial arts which can help you to develop balance, stamina, and grace.  Tai Chi uses slow, controlled movements in specific forms to focus the mind, reduce stress, and bring mental clarity.  Besides those benefits of Tai Chi, it will most definitely help you gain physical strength and lose weight.  Two great Tai Chi dvds I have found to be highly instructive and fun are Simplified Tai chi Chuan with Applications and Sunrise Tai Chi.

Belly Dancing

Belly Dancing has a long and involved history which is entirely too detailed to go into here.  But it is fun to watch, fun to perform, and will definitely help you shed those unwanted pounds.  My wife enjoyed her belly dance videos so much she went and started taking classes.  Two great dvds for beginners are Luscious – The Bellydance Workout for Beginners and Bellydance Fitness for Beginners – Arms, Abs, Hips, Buns & Thighs.

Have fun!

Tags: holidays, Weight Loss, workout dvds