Holiday Moderation: Bah, Humbug!
By Mirabai Holland, MFA ©2010
http://www.movingfree.com/Mirabai Holland M.F.A. legendary fitness pioneer, specializing in preventive and rehabilitative exercise. Her Moving Free® approach to exercise is designed to provide a movement experience so pleasant it doesn’t feel like work.
It’s starting again. All that advice about how not to gain weight, how to reduce stress and how to stay on your fitness program during the holidays. Well good luck with that. For years I’ve been giving out advice of my own. Moderation I’ve always say, “Just take a little taste of everything”.
Exercise on holiday mornings. Huh? Well, I’m throwing up my hands this year, kind of.
I’m not going to tell you to just take a little taste of pie when you really want to eat the whole piece, nor to bypass that great stuffing that you only eat once a year. Life is short and this behavior is not the culprit anyway. The fact is holidays are a time to embrace life, be social and enjoy activities bordering on the excessive.
And when you come right down to it, it’s not what you do during the holidays, it’s what you do the rest year.
So, if you really need to hear about moderation in your daily life, here goes.
Know that every pound equals 3500 calories and all calories are not created equal. Some are more nutritious than others and some are downright empty. Try to make healthy food choices, watch your portion size and read your labels.
Get at least a half an hour of moderate exercise most days of the week.
Take a few minutes to do something for yourself, something you like, every day.
For instance, every morning when I get up, I kiss my cat.
If you’re already doing this then you’ve got nothing to worry about this holiday season.
If not, you have my humble suggestion for a New Year’s resolution.
Send your Moving Free with Mirabai questions to: askmirabai@movingfree.com
