Quitting smoking is probably the most difficult addiction to break and many consider quitting this very deadly habit as a New Year’s Resolution, but fear that it will instantly cause weight gain.  The truth is Smoking is not helping you control your weight, it is actually making you store fat.

Smoking affects many of the endocrine glands that produce metabolic hormones. It helps cause insulin resistance and diabetes and drives up cortisol levels, which contributes to belly fat. Smoking is also a risk factor for underactive thyroid, a metabolic condition that can lead to weight gain, and if you already have underactive thyroid, smoking can cut your thyroid hormone secretion further.

1. Plan ahead. Decide if this will be a treat day since it’s a special occasion and plan which treat you’re going to have depending on where you are relative to your goals. If you’re maintaining, you may decide to have a glass of wine plus a small dessert. If you’re trying to lose weight then opt for one or the other.

2. Don’t skip meals. Thanksgiving Day is no different than any other. Don’t overcompensate for Thanksgiving calories by skipping meals that day. If you’re starving by the time dinner is served, you’re more likely than ever to overeat.  Also, when you skip a meal, your metabolism slows down and stops burning efficiently so all those calories you are eating will not burn which will naturally lead to weight gain.

What is overtraining?

A: Overtraining is a term that is used to express a situation when an imbalance occurs between training and recovery. The symptoms of overtraining can vary from one individual to another.

Overtraining, however, frequently involves one or more of the following common signs or symptoms:

• Impaired physical performance
• Reduced enthusiasm and desire for training
• Increased resting heart rate (i.e., your heart rate taken first thing in the morning before getting out of bed)
• Increased resting blood pressure
• Chronic muscle or joint soreness
• Increased incidence of musculoskeletal injuries
• Increased incidence of colds and infections
• Impaired recovery from exercise (e.g., heart rate remains elevated well after the completion of a bout of exercise)
• Increased perceived exertion during your normal workouts
• Reduced appetite
• Dramatic weight loss or inability to lose weight
• Disturbed sleep patterns
• Increased depression, irritability, or anxiety

Being focused in a workout is not simply concentrating or staring at something, but visualizing what you are doing or about to do, what is going on and still being aware of what is happening around you.  Having a guide in front of you so you can make your movements precise, strong, and controlled.   When you truly understand it, you can take your focus into any workout and they will transform your body like never before.   I hear people say that a certain type of workout doesn't do anything for them, or that video tape workouts are not as challenging as a live classes, but I believe that when you are focused and understand your body mechanics, you can make anything challenging, even taking a walk!

Don't sweat if a size 4 doesn't fit. Try your own size instead.

Health experts will tell you that the present American/European ideal body shape is a combination of slenderness and athleticism and that the media exploits this image by bombarding men and women with the messages that they have to have this ideal body to be happy and attractive.  We put numbers in our head for example women tend to think 125lbs or less is ideal and shoot for these unrealistic goals when in fact, their body was not designed to weight that little. 

Okay, fess up, you know you have done it.   The kids have brought home bags of candy and when nobody is looking, you have fished through to find the good stuff.   A little fun size candy bar here is harmless, right?  I mean it is so small, how can a few of those hurt you, right?  Then there is the after Halloween candy sales at the stores that are hard to resist and of course your co-workers are all bringing their extra candy to work to get it out of their homes so now you are tempted at work.  It is a tough time of the year!

The problem with candy is that it is small and you don't feel like you are blowing it.  Unfortunately, candy does a terrible thing to your blood sugar.  It spikes it super high and then drops quickly so you feel awful and sometimes so jittery that you grab some more candy in order to get rid of that feeling and before you know it, you have eaten 2000 calories in candy.   This is a neat tool from kidshealth.org that helps show you and your kids how quickly that candy adds up.  You just drag your candy of choice to the pumpkin to see the calories add up.  Turn on the sound because the pumpkin talks to you!

If you’re not seeing the changes you want - a frustration so many people are experiencing today - it means you’re staying completely inside that circle of we like to call the comfort zone. In order to make a positive change in your life, you have to expand your boundaries by climbing outside your comfort zone.

If that’s all there is to it - if a little step outside your comfort zone is all it takes to grow and improve - then why don’t more people do it? What makes that little step so difficult?