15 December Ray Child December 15, 2011 Healthy Holiday Eating: How to Enjoy Your Holiday and Stay on Track Body, Hot Yoga, Yoga healthy holiday eating 0 Comment Does healthy holiday eatingsound like a myth? Whether you’re trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy lifestyle, the holiday season can bring on a sense of health-related trepidation. Between the abundant food options and the lack of time to exercise, the holidays tend to be a time of excess. Here are five tips to help you stay healthy and keep your weight on track this holiday season. Healthy Holiday Eating Be reasonable. This holiday season, don’t expect to drop 10 pounds or make it to the gym every day if it’s not already part of your routine. Save the hardcore resolutions for January 1. For now, focus your energies on creating a balance – set an achievable goal for your holiday season.. Make time to exercise. Whether it’s a 60-minute hot yoga session or just a walk around the block, make time for some weekly exercise. Get out and get moving, and you’ll find yourself much more prepared to manage the stresses of the season. You don’t have to practice every day or for three straight hours just to make up for the office holiday party. Instead, set your goal for just 2.5 hours per week. If you’re continuing to put effort into your health, you’re also far more likely to pass up that fifth cookie. Plan ahead. Keep yourself on track by taking the time to plan. Make your yoga practice a priority. Put your weekly practice times into your calendar like you would any other event and intend to keep the appointment! Better yet, recruit a friend to go with you and double the likelihood of actually attending. Eat deliberately. Let your hot yoga practice inform your life – become more mindful. Be aware of your surroundings and your actions. Take the time to survey any buffet setting completely before you fill your plate. Savor every bite, and you’ll find yourself full more quickly. Pay attention and you’ll be far more likely to stay on track. If you overeat at one meal, don’t fret. Just go a little lighter at the next meal, and get moving again as soon as you can. It takes 500 calories a day above your maintenance weight to gain one pound. According to CPMC Sutter Health, you literally cannot gain weight from one piece of pie! Keeping a regular yoga practice throughout the holidays will also help to keep you on track. Practicing on an overly full stomach is not something you will likely want to repeat. Be aware of beverages. Most of us drink way too many of our calories over the holidays. Non-alcoholic beverages can be packed with sugars, while alcoholic beverages tend to lower our inhibitions and leave us prone to overeating. Reach for water at least twice as often as any other beverage option, and you can’t go wrong. Dallas Hot Yoga Helps You Stay on Track Of course, here at Sunstone, we’re going to recommend fitness as part of your holiday routine. Yoga balances both the body and the mind, so that you get a workout, focus the mind, and substantively counteract stress at the same time. And there’s something uplifting and comforting about walking into a steamy Dallas hot yoga studio as temperatures drop outside. We offer classes that run for 45, 60, or 90 minutes, so that you can find a class that fits your schedule even when you’re in a hurry. And we’re open 364 days a year – we’ll only be closed Christmas day – so there will be classes available on your schedule this season. Check out our Class Finder page to see our most up-to-date holiday schedule Related Articles Be Engaged Throughout Your Class Last week, we introduced Sunstone’s vision as well as the Five Teaching Principles that guide our teachers in helping our students cultivate their very best selves. These principles are our core values, the foundation on which we've built our studios. They are equally valuable for you, our students. They create the landscape for what your experience with us can be like. Whether you're in your second class, or well on your way to building a body, mind, and life practice, these words describe behaviors that can turn what seems to be the simple action of taking a yoga class into something truly life-changing. Yoga Tips for Beginners: What To Know Before Your First Yoga Class Yoga Tips for Beginners: What To Know Before Your First Yoga Class If you’ve been thinking about getting into shape, you may have considered taking a yoga class. Yoga can be a great way to either get in shape or maintain your level of fitness. It builds strength and flexibility while simultaneously allowing you to focus on your breathing. By practicing yoga, you learn how to control your breathing, even during some rather challenging poses. This in turn helps you in virtually every other area of your life, as it allows you to remain calm and stay in control of your emotions. Yoga also helps you become more in tune with yourself. Therefore, you have the chance to reap both physical and mental benefits of practicing it. Here are some top yoga tips for beginners: Why You Should Invest in Coaching in 2020 Consider a few questions: Set Your Intention — Focus Wristbands as Guides What does that colorful piece of plastic on your wrist mean to you? These days, everyone — from politicians to tweens — seems to sport a wristband as a simple reminder of something meaningful to them, whether a way of living, memorial to a friend, or a special occasion. At Sunstone, we acknowledge certain steps along your hot yoga journey with colorful Focus Wristbands to remind you of your focus for that point in your practice. Taking Care of Your Hair and Skin So you are regularly attending classes at Sunstone, working hard, sweating like crazy, all the while loving the change that your yoga practice has created in your life. BUT, as you spend more time with your practice, you are noticing changes in your skin and hair. How to Really Advance Your Practice As yoga teachers, we sometimes hear students categorize themselves and others as “beginner” or “advanced.” It is interesting to hear people talk this way because they usually base the label on the number of classes attended, length of time they’ve practiced, or whether they can do certain postures. The fact is that everyone is advancing--it just looks different for each individual. Comments are closed.