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Staying Fit and Healthy During the Holiday Season

The holiday season is a great chance to enjoy food and fun with the people you love the most. Unfortunately, a lot of people tend to go overboard when it comes to festive eating. Who can blame you when there are so many delicious treats that only come around during this time of year. Sometimes it’s impossible to say no as we indulgent food that makes the holiday season even more exciting. But by the time New Year’s rolls around, a lot of us regret eating so much as our waistline begins to expand.

With healthier eating and smarter choices, there’s no reason why you have to deal with weight loss after the holiday season. It’s entirely possible to stay fit while enjoying family meals and good times as well. Of course you won’t be able to go crazy with all of the food you’d like to eat, but you might be surprised at how enjoyable careful moderation can be. Here are some things to consider that will help you to stay trim during the holidays.

Avoid Dieting – it might seem like a good idea to skip a few meals or go on an all-out diet for the holidays. But if you don’t do things carefully, you could end up creating incredible cravings that become irresistible. You might also slow down your metabolism to the point that your body can’t help but gain weight throughout this time. You should avoid unhealthy dieting at any time of year, and there is virtually no chance of success in the long term if you start during the holidays.

Don’t Go For Seconds – this seems like a very simple rule, but it can work wonders if applied appropriately. Just make sure that you don’t go for seconds at family meals. Whether it’s a meal cooked by your grandmother or a self-serve buffet, go ahead and indulge with your first plate. Limiting yourself to one helping will help to cut down on the excess calories.

Watch the Drinking – remember that every calorie counts during the holiday season, and for many people, a lot of calories come from a drinking. Every delicious alcoholic beverage contains calories and in many cases, more than you know. You don’t have to go completely dry during the holidays, but you should be aware of how much you drink and where you can cut back.

Cook Your meals – a great way to ensure that you aren’t getting too many high cholesterol foods or excess calories is to prepare your own meals. Instead of going out to a restaurant for a big family dinner, think about using fresh ingredients and the healthiest recipes you can find. Having full control over what goes into a menu gives you far more control over your overall health. Obviously you aren’t going to be able to cook every meal during the season, but one or two can make a tremendous difference.

Exercise – if you are serious about staying fit during the holiday season, then get up off the couch! You might be loaded with obligations and busier during this time of year, but there are no excuses for not exercising. It will help to keep your metabolism going and allow you to indulge in more treats because it gives you a lot more leeway your overall caloric intake. Rather than dealing with a fast weight loss program in the future, maintain a healthy degree of exercise and you’ll be able to maintain your regular weight.

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Acai Berry

HCG Diet Success: Maintenance/Starches

The HCG diet is a diet that many people follow and has led a lot of people to achieve their weight loss ambitions and goals. Many people work really hard to lose weight and find it very hard to be successful. The great thing about the HCG drops is that it does have a great record of results for a wide array of different people. One of the things that a person who is following the HCG diet needs to keep in mind is that it is a fairly strict diet and it does require a lot of will power as well as a significant amount of motivation. The diet has four phases and along with each phase comes certain parameters that a person must abide by in order for the diet to work and in order for a person to lose weight.

During stage three, which is the maintenance phase of the diet a person is not allowed to eat starches for the first three weeks of the maintenance phase. It is very important for an individual to know what a starch is as a means to know what a person must avoid eating. Many people may think that they know what constitutes a starch, but once a person is told that they can no longer eat them they realize that they are not exactly sure what qualifies as a starch and what does not qualify as a starch. It is imperative for a person to be sure of what falls under the category of a starch if this person is going to abide by the rules of t he diet which stipulate for an individual to not eat starches.

Starches cover an extensive amount of different foods, some that are commonly associated with a starch like foods and others that a person might be surprised to find fall under that category. Breads fall under starches and that even includes the Melba toast and bread sticks that are on the meal plan and list of foods that a person is allowed to eat, so for the first three weeks a person cannot eat these as part of the meal plan. A person cannot have any type of pasta or any type of rice. An individual avoiding starches should also definitely avoid cereal and oatmeal for breakfast.

One might be surprised to learn that there are also some vegetables that fall under the starch category. A person who is avoiding starches cannot eat yams, corn, carrots, pea or potatoes as all of these vegetables are starches and, therefore prohibited from the beginning phases of this healthy diet.

There are also some fruits that a person cannot eat either. Bananas, pineapple, mango and cherries are all fruits that must be avoided when a person is eliminating starch from their diet.

It also might come as a surprise to some people that they cannot eat beans while avoiding starches, while beans are healthy, they are under the category of a starch.

Starches must be avoided at the beginning of the HCG diet and it will certainly help for an individual to know undoubtedly what is a starch.