Last week I wrote about weight gain season and I promised I would share some tips on how you can have a joyous holiday season without gaining weight. So, today I share with you tip #1 but first I have a confession to make.

If you have read my story, you know that transitioning to a healthy lifestyle has not been easy for me. My biggest challenge on this journey has been learning how to consistently incorporate some physical activity into my life.

To say that I was not athletically inclined as a child is an understatement. I was the kid that couldn’t climb the rope (P.E. in the good old days), couldn’t do more than 10 sit-ups and was last to finish a race. Unfortunately, I was not taught that given enough time and proper instruction, I could improve my fitness level. If I had, I have no doubt I could have climbed that rope!

As a result, I entered adulthood attempting one diet gimmick after another, simply to circumvent having to exercise at all. I will confess that once upon a time, these negative words often fell from my lips – I hate to exercise. This attitude, of course, only served to make matters worse.

I’m getting to the holiday tip, I promise.

It wasn’t until I started learning about holistic health and addressing the body as a whole that I really began to understand the importance of moving my body. I learned that we were meant to move our bodies. Moving your body helps to lower your body fat, strengthens your lungs, heart and cardiovascular system, increases bone density and so much more. Most importantly, moving your body is the only way your lymphatic system can do its job of removing pollutants from the body. Unlike the circulatory system that comes equipped with a pump (the heart), the lymphatic system does not. The more you move your body, the more your body moves your lymph. Not moving your body causes waste to accumulate, creating a blockage in the lymph, and this allows for illness to set in.

This education went a long way in helping me adjust my attitude toward exercise but let’s be real, we all lead busy lives. After a long day filled with obligations including work, children, chores and errands, usually it’s only the natural born athletes that are eager to exercise. For them, exercise relieves stress and is relaxing. Uh… Me? I want to curl up on the couch and relax.

Now that we are in weight gain season, our days are shorter and colder. This adds to the challenge of moving our bodies enough to give our lymph and heart a good workout, which brings me to my holiday tip #1!

By the way, it can also be just fine to gain weight during this season. I’ll share more on that in a future post.

Lately I’ve been researching fitness routines that are simple but efficient. I was reminded of this holiday tip while doing my research and reading through some fitness blogs. Scott Colby of www.theabsexpert.com has a goal of doing 100 consecutive pushups by Thanksgiving, he started at 20 pushups. Having a very specific performance or fitness goal is a great tool for creating a healthy lifestyle and it is an especially powerful tool during the holiday season. This simple tool will keep you on track and boost your mood. Accomplishing a fitness goal, is incredibly empowering and exciting!

You want to approach this in a slow and steady fashion if you’re currently sedentary. If you can’t do a push up, you could set a goal to do at least 1 or more by Christmas. Sign up for a 5K-10K walk, run or ride, or a dance competition and train for it everyday. There are an unlimited number of fitness goals you could incorporate. All you have to do is pick ONE that is appropriate for your fitness level, one that really excites you, and stick with it this holiday season. It doesn’t have to be difficult or time consuming, just pick ONE!

On Monday, I’ll show you how you can enjoy your Thanksgiving feast without guilt and without adding on any extra pounds. Stay tuned!

What’s your fitness or performance goal this season? Do you need some help finding one? CLICK HERE scroll down to the bottom of the page to leave your comments and questions now!

Alicia Castellano, CHHC, AADP

Alicia is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor with a passion for helping others transition into a healthy lifestyle and create extraordinary lives for themselves. She lives in Houston,Texas where she runs a private practice. Alicia loves to dance, loves music and has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and learning.

Visit Alicia and add her as a friend on TWITTER | FACEBOOK | MYSPACE

As you turned the clocks back and pulled out the sweaters did you stop to think about what is upon us? Weight gain season! Yes, weight gain season starts in October and runs for about 3-6 months during the fall/winter season. During this time the sun does not shine as brightly during the day, the temperature drops and night falls sooner, making us want to curl up on the couch instead of venture outside for some physical activity. We, naturally, crave warmer, richer foods that are calorie dense and, of course, beginning with Halloween, sugary and fatty edibles are easy to find. For, at least, the next 3 months, you will be presented with candies, cookies and cakes at your work place, in your mail box, from a colleague, your neighbor, friends and family. They will be everywhere!

Are you still munching on that left over Halloween candy from two weeks ago? In a couple of weeks Thanksgiving will be upon us and in about a month, we have Christmas and New Year’s a few days after that. Have you prepared so that you can have a healthy holiday season this year? Did the thought even cross your mind or where you just going to muddle through it as you have in years past, promising yourself to start anew on January 1st?

This year I want to help you do better than just muddling through. In the coming days and weeks, I will be blogging about how you can have a joyous and healthy holiday season, without gaining any weight. I’ll share how you can have your turkey including all the fixings without guilt and without packing on the pounds. I’ll give you tips to help keep your sanity as you deal with the shopping, the holiday parties, the wrapping, the decorating and the relatives.

I’m excited about bringing you this information and look forward to hearing from you as well. What would you like to see me cover during this series? What is your top challenge around eating healthy during the holidays? What causes you the most stress during the holidays? CLICK HERE scroll down and leave your comments and questions.

Alicia Castellano, CHHC, AADP

Alicia is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor with a passion for helping others transition into a healthy lifestyle and create extraordinary lives for themselves. She lives in Houston,Texas where she runs a private practice. Alicia loves to dance, loves music and has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and learning.

Visit Alicia and add her as a friend on TWITTER | FACEBOOK | MYSPACE