Tag: holiday health

Move into Winter

For many of us, winter is either right around the corner or already here. As I write this, it’s close to 80 degrees and sunny here on my little island in North Carolina, but I know that will be changing quickly in the next weeks. I’m a pretty tough person but have to admit-I’m a big baby when it comes to cold weather! I absolutely despise being cold; I hate wearing heavy clothes, I hate gloves on my fingers, and if it were up to me, it would be 40 degrees and snowing from Christmas Eve until New Years-and then right back to 80 degrees for the remainder of the year! Cold weather makes me want to stay inside, bundled under blankets, in front of a fire, doing nothing but waiting for spring, but I know that I can’t do that for weeks or months on end and still feel energized and healthy. Winter, for me and I’m sure many others, means putting a little extra thought and effort into getting my exercise in, as well as making sure I get a little vitamin D from the sun. I thought I’d share a few winter movement ideas to get you motivated, maybe even excited, about the upcoming colder months.

Skating/hockey

I’m not a winter girl, but I spent much of my early life ice skating. It was my obsession in my teens, and I spent hours at the local ice rink and skating on a little pond in my Baltimore neighborhood. Skating is wonderful exercise in all forms-hockey, figure skating, or even in just attempting to stand up! If you have access to smooth ice, whether in a rink or in nature, grab some skates, invite a few others and try it out.

Snow fun!

Snow is not really a thing where I live, and while I find it beautiful and peaceful, my last few years up north gave me more than enough for a lifetime! If you are in an area that gets snow, use it to your exercise advantage! Skiing, sledding, tubing, and snowball battles are all fantastic way to get some exercise in while having a great time with friends, family and neighbors. Bundle up appropriately, grab whatever gear is needed, and get out and enjoy acting like a kid again-you won’t even realize that you’re getting fitness in, I promise!

Winter runs and walks

As much as I consider myself a summertime girl, I do love to go for long walks in the snow. Nothing is quite as peaceful or beautiful. Walking and running in cold weather requires a little more consideration for how you will be dressed, so be sure to take dampness and windchills into consideration. If you walk or run in snowy or wet weather, be sure to keep your feet dry and warm.

Touch football

Because I’m originally a born and raised Maryland girl, I’m a big fan of the phrase “crabcakes and football, that’s what Maryland does!” Touch football was a huge part of my childhood, and it can be so much fun to pick up a game with family and friends. Nothing is better than a cold Saturday tossing the ball around with generations of football lovers. This can be a super fun way to enjoy all aspects of the holiday season while getting some movement in and enjoying those you celebrate with.

If you are in a place with terribly cold or wet weather and winter in especially long, consider scheduling some indoor exercise each day to keep you feeling fantastic:

Yoga There’s something very cozy about winter yoga. I do yoga daily year-round, but wintertime yoga may be my favorite. I love to set up my mat near a window and do my practice in the soft light of the winter sunshine. The poses and the stretches warm my muscles slowly, and the warmth stays with me for quite a while after finishing. For more info on beginning a yoga practice, check in HERE.

Treadmill

If you have access to a treadmill, your exercise plans can be very simple in winter months! Schedule time each day to get your steps in, vary your pace or incline, and mix it up while never venturing outside. Put on a great playlist, or load up some Netflix, and the time will fly right by.

Dancing

Easily my favorite way to get some incredibly fun fitness in! Most nights you will find me cooking or cleaning up dinner while dancing and singing to whatever music inspires me at the moment. It’s a fun way to get my heart rate up and goof around before settling in for the evening. If you have kids around, invite them to join in-some of the best memories of my kids growing up were the impromptu dance parties after dinner time.

Online fitness apps

If you’re interested in a scheduled, focused, trainer type program to get you through the winter months and beyond, consider a fitness app. Openfit, Fitbit, and My Fitness Pal are just a few that offer a wide variety of programs and challenges to keep you motivated and inspired. Choose from stepping classes, yoga, mat Pilates, running, weights, cardio and more, and fill up your winter schedule with feeling GREAT. I’ve used all these apps, and Openfit is by far my favorite! They run both live and on-demand classes with fabulous trainers in an online virtual community experience that is super fun and interactive.

I hope you got a little winter fitness inspiration from this post! As always-make sure you pick movement that you enjoy! If your holiday season is very scheduled and busy, be sure to add some daily movement time into your calendar. Daily movement will keep you energized and focused, keep your metabolism in check, and even help you sleep better. If you are traveling this holiday season, be sure to have a plan for getting your movement in. Check with your hotel for fitness centers, invite your guests out for walks, or do a little yoga in your room each morning.

Get up and get some movement in, spend a little time showing yourself some care and love, and make this holiday season a fun, fulfilling, and healthy one. Happy Holidays!!! ~Sami Bee Scarborough Certified Health and Wellness Coach

Let’s Have Some Food Fun! Thanksgiving Edition!

The average Thanksgiving Day Dinner intake, according The Calorie Control Council, averages 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat. And that doesn’t include our drinks, appetizers or leftovers, or our sampling of food. I thought we’d have some fun and see what that actually looks like!

Watch below! And, as this was originally recorded in 2020-I need to edit a bit and say Happy New Years 2022 in advance! Enjoy!

Looking for guidance in you health and wellness journey?? Need help with habits, mindset, nutrition, motivation, or stress relief? Let’s chat! Also, be sure to get you awesome 22 page Holiday Survival Guide for FREE right HERE!

Enjoy my video:)

Some fun Thanksgiving food facts! Eat mindfully!

Gift Yourself a Healthy Holiday

It’s that time of the year again! In keeping with my current holiday theme, I’d like to address some of the habits that seem to fall by the wayside for many of us each year during this time. For many, it’s the comfort food, sedentary behavior, extended darkness, and cold weather that tend to affect our health goals just as much as parties and social events. My goal, as a health coach, is to make people aware of the habits and hidden traps that can lead people into the land of temptation and help them create tactics and plans to avoid those added pounds and that sense of exhaustion we often feel around this time of year.

Many factors play into us losing sight of our healthy plan during this busy, and usually stressful, time of year. Aside from the parties, dinners, and social events that fill our schedule, we also may find that our time for movement is cut short. Cold weather and long dark nights may keep us indoors, therefore limiting our time spent getting exercise outdoors, and keep us from getting the fresh air and sunshine that keeps our bodies happy and healthy. Daily walks are cancelled due to inclement weather, and most outdoor physical activities like gardening, tennis, and running are impossible in most areas. It’s important to take some time to evaluate how you used the outdoors in your exercise plan and come up with a replacement that can be easily done indoors. Yoga, treadmills, dancing, and streamed workouts are a fantastic way to bring your movement into warmer settings. It is important to continue to get some fresh air each day, and a bit of sunshine to boost our vitamin D and prevent depression and seasonal affective disorder. Seasonal affective disorder, or “winter blues”, leads to symptoms of depression in healthy people due to a reduction of daily sunlight. Symptoms include depression, lack of energy, loss of interest in things that bring us joy, issues with concentration, and sleep disorders. Spending a small amount of time each day in the sunshine can alleviate these issues, even if you spend it sitting inside a window basked in sunshine.

Holiday parties and dinners often include decadent foods, adult beverages, and lots of treats we wouldn’t otherwise have in our health plans. The important thing to remember is to ENJOY without OVER-INDULGING! It’s absolutely fine to enjoy a few “only baked once a year” cookies, just remember-it’s about TASTING them and ENJOYING them! It’s not about eating the entire plate of them!! Enjoy your favorite foods and treats in small amounts and move on to the main focus of the holidays-making memories with family and friends, enjoying those around us, and appreciating the time we have together.

When planning your meals during the busy holiday season, be sure to focus on quality over quantity; Eat foods with BALANCE in mind. Consider eating a small healthy snack before heading to parties or big dinners to calm your hunger. Fill your plate with healthy filling foods to begin your meal, and then have small bites of more decadent fare. If you are asked to bring a dish, consider a dish that is veggie based so that you know for sure that you will be getting those healthy bites in. ALL foods are fine in MODERATION! Take small bites, be mindful in enjoying the taste, and enjoy!

Most families have what I call a “food pusher”. It could be your mom, your aunt, or a friend that simply gets her holiday joy from watching people eat ALL her treats. You know who these people are, and you need to have a plan to deal with them in advance-they generally do NOT take “no” for an answer. There’s lots of ways to say no politely, after trying a small sample, of course, but these people usually don’t settle for a simple “No thank you!” Have a plan of action going into this situation and be strong about it. Some people think they must announce their health goals, diet plans…But that often leads to too much attention and discomfort from the food pusher. Always remember, “NO.” Is a complete sentence, and that food pusher will likely move on to a new hungry victim quickly! 

I’ve put together a pretty little resource for surviving the holidays, and it’s free to you HERE. You’ll find great tips for self-care, healthy holiday travel, getting exercise during busy holiday weeks, optional food choices for meals, and a few tracker templates to print out to help get you organized and motivated. I hope you will grab yourself a copy and make your holiday season a little healthier and happier.

New Years is coming up super soon, and with it comes the blessing and promise of a brand new year! If you’re looking for a great way to start your year off with health goals in mind, consider booking free chat with me to discuss putting together the perfect, personalized plan focused on YOU and YOUR goals. Whether it’s getting your nutrition in order, finding time in your schedule for building healthier habits, dropping a few pounds, or finding ways to relieve stress, focus more on self-care, and gaining the energy you crave in life-I can guide you to your goals and keep you motivated for success. Learn more about health and wellness coaching HERE. Find out more about me and my passion for great health, and feel free to drop me a message here to start a conversation about YOU!

Healthy Holiday Habits

IMG_9628.pngThe Holidays are upon us, and with them comes parties, dinners, baking, busy schedules, and all the general “cheery” chaos that can knock our fitness and nutrition plans right out of whack. This year, instead of giving up, or giving in, and thinking, “Hey, I’ll start back after New Years…” Let’s make a solid plan for success!  After all, different studies have shown that the average person can gain 5-10 pounds during this festive season-and who want’s that???

*SCHEDULE and PLAN! Holidays get our routines out of whack, so your current routine may be completely impossible right now. Take a few minutes-right now-to look at how your schedule is going, and how you can better plan your exercise, water, and meals. Schedule those needed changes! Put it on your calendar or reminders!

*Be prepared for those big dinners and social events.

**Here’s a crazy fact:
The Calorie Control Council says you may consume up to 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat in total during any one of your holiday gatherings. While the majority of this comes from the meal itself, you can expect to eat nearly 1,500 calories in appetizers and drinks! Don’t find yourself in a situation where the food and environment send you into a nutritional spiral-have a plan of action!

*Don’t skip meals thinking it will help in your calorie intake; this can easily backfire and leave you starving and unable to control your appetite. Instead, focus on small meals and snacks of lean protein and fruits and veggies. Eating a small, healthy snack before your event can help you avoid overindulging.

*Many people ask their guests to “bring something” to a holiday event. Instead of baking a huge tray of grandmas famous butter cookies, or dumping some marshmallows into those healthy sweet potatoes and delivering it to the table, take something you can add that you KNOW can fill your belly without, well, “adding to your belly”
For me, this is a beautifully done platter of fresh cut veggies and fruit. I like to fill my belly with THAT, and then sample small amounts of the other foods-while making my protein the base of the meal. And a big glass of water before joining the table!

*Choose you splurges carefully. Look over the offered foods and plan your plate. Sample small amounts of your holiday favorites instead of filling up on foods you eat year round. Enjoy your splurge foods, eat slowly and taste them. Prepare yourself for “food pushers”! Food pushers are thse loving friends and family member that don’t take “No” for an answer. It may be your grandmother with her famous pie, or your best friend with a bottle or two of wine. I’ve seen lots of ways to “explain” the WHY behind saying “No thank you!” to the food pushers…cute ways to inform people that you are dieting-“no thank you, I’m allergic, if I eat that my thighs will break out…” or putting the responsibility on your doctor or nutritionist-“My doctor says I can’t have….” Personally, I find that just saying, “That looks truly delicious, but no thank you” works nicely Stand firm, and don’t feel the need to explain yourself. The last thing anyone wants to do at a gathering is spend time explaining your food choices, whether it be for diet reasons, allergies, or otherwise; not to mention, all of the opinions that will surely follow. *As always-enjoy the people and social aspect of your event. Have a few great conversation starters to keep your socializing active, and try to be social away from buffet and snack tables. And hav

* Exercise during the holidays can be super difficult. For some, the weather is nasty, there’s lots of travel, busy schedules, and guests. This can make sticking to an exercise schedule HARD!
Again, it’s all in the planning. Think “family fun” and schedule in some family activity: Ice skating, skiing, hikes, walks. Enjoy some social time while getting some movement. Consider wearing your exercise footwear while cleaning, cooking, shopping-and take small breaks to march-or even dance-for short bursts of calorie burn. If doing some crazy Black Friday shopping, take a few laps around the mall. If you find yourself traveling, walk the airport while waiting for flights. If driving, stop for small breaks and take a few laps around a gas station or convenience store parking lot.
 If you are staying in a hotel or with friends, ask about exercise equipment that might be available. Or, pack some resistance bands or your yoga mat to get a short workout in.

*Set up your current environment for success! If you are visiting family, or traveling, or just running around getting things done-make your surroundings successful. Keep a cooler of water and healthy snacks in your car, or in the room where you might be visiting. Throw your sneakers in the car and get some extra steps in the parking lot of the mall. Take a break from decorating, wrapping, or cooking, and march for 10 minutes.

*Practice SELF CARE! (So hard this time of year!) take a minute before meals to breathe and set yourself up for mindful eating, get the rest that you need, take some times for yourself each day to look around, breathe, look at the beauty of your family and friends, and take in the lights, decorations and music of the season. All of this will help avoid stress.

*FIND SUPPORT! Find an accountability partner; ask a friend or family member to join you on your journey

*If you do succumb to a bad day, or even week, pull your self together! Do not feel guilty! We are all human, and this happens! Feeling guilty can lead to even worse behavior-so pick your self up and brush yourself off! Plan to make your next meals balanced! Check your portion sizes, focus on lean proteins, and lots of fiber filled veggies. Avoid those processed foods, drink that water, and get up and get some movement in.