Diet Tips for Surviving the Holidays

Here are some tips Kami Gray offers in her bestselling healthy lifestyle book, The Denim Diet: Sixteen Simple Habits to Get You Into Your Dream Pair of Jeans (New World Library, March 2009) on how to survive the holidays and winter months without gaining weight:

The three things I do to make sure I survive the winter (and the holiday season in particular) are:

1. Snack Before Holiday Parties: Sounds counter-productive, but one of the biggest reasons we overeat is because we're hungry! I always eat a little something beforehand. Since I have literally zero control over what will be served at the party, I supply my body with fuel so I don’t completely lose it and eat an entire plate of cheese and crackers. The usual appetizers, hors d’oeuvres, and bowls of nuts are extra pounds in the making. Party hosts are apprehensive about serving starters that the average person doesn’t eat or enjoy, so they usually offer fattening crowd-pleasers. I’ve been guilty of this as well, but I always provide a few tasty options that are on the List, like mini–tandoori chicken skewers, which are high in protein. One or two are the perfect pre-dinner snack. If there are no good choices, skip the starters altogether. Just sip on water, wine, or a vodka soda, and wait for the main course. If your hosts are serving a specialty cocktail and not serving wine until dinner, cheerfully decline and let them know that water is good for now.

2. Eliminate Temptation: First, go into your kitchen and your pantry and start reading labels. Do you see anything containing high fructose corn syrup? It's not just in soda pop and sports drinks; read the label on your sandwich bread, spaghetti sauce, ketchup, salad dressing, and chocolate syrup. This ingredient and many others like partially hydrogenated oils, modified food starch, and even sugar and sugar substitutes like Splenda actually set your body up for fat storage. By eliminating packaged and processed foods that contain these ingredients, you've solved half the battle...the battle of the bulge that is! Now that your cupboards are bare; restock you kitchen with real, whole foods. You'll find these on the perimeter of your grocery store. Shop wisely and watch your weight get and stay under control.

3. Stay on Track: Literally. If you're a walker, runner, or cyclist, find an indoor track to maintain your exercise routine. This can be at a college or a local gym -- an indoor mall works great for walkers like myself. I live in one of the rainiest cities in the US. I do not let that curtail my exercise routine. One tool I use to stay motivated is dailymile.com. It works for keeping track of daily walks, runs, swims, yoga workouts and almost anything else you do to stay healthy. It even has a handy tool to map your route. I found this particularly useful since I often overestimate how far I’ve walked — the same way I underestimate how many calories I’ve eaten! You can even post your workouts on your blog, website, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook account. I find this aspect particularly motivating because my friends and family can see when I've posted a workout (or haven't posted one in while!). They can even write a short motivational message to me if I've gotten off-track!

Click the following link to check out Kami Gray’s book, The Denim Diet: Sixteen Simple Habits to Get You Into Your Dream Pair of Jeans.

Tips for Saving on Holiday Décor

Mae Anderson has written an article for the Associated Press on how to save money on holiday decorations, “Smart Spending: 4 Tips for Saving on Holiday Décor.” In it she offers suggestions on using personal touches and getting crafty with natural decorations, as well as planning a family outing to look at neighborhood Christmas light displays. There are also a couple of tips on the best time to shop for discounted holiday decorations.

Click here to read the article in its entirety.

10 Homemade Gift Ideas

1. Edible Treats: Package homemade cookies, peppermint bark, or sugared pecans in old-fashioned tins that can be found at thrift shops and garage sales.

2. Painted Pots: Take a standard, inexpensive clay pot and paint in a solid color. Let it dry completely and then decorate it with your own design. Personalize it by adding the recipient’s name. Finally, plant some herbs or a small plant in the pot for an extra special touch.

3. Printable Coupons: Design (or use an online template) and print out coupons to be used as stocking stuffers or stapled into a little booklet as a gift. A few suggestions for the coupons are: Good for One Hug (or Kiss); Good for One Back Rub; Redeem for a Car Wash; Take the Night Off; Have Breakfast in Bed. Be creative!

4. Printable Calendars: Use one of the many available calendar templates or software programs to personalize a calendar for a loved one by adding pictures and special dates.

5. Handprint Canvas Bag: Have the kids stamp a plain, light-colored canvas bag with their handprints. Simply paint their hands with fabric paint and then press them on the bag. You can paint on stems, leaves, or other designs or lettering (such as the kids’ names) with fabric paint or a fabric marker. Note: may take a day or two to dry so give yourself plenty of time to finish this project.

6. Message Board: Make a colorful message board by wrapping a piece of fabric around a rectangular piece of styrofoam and glueing the ends to the back. Then create a grid by wrapping strips of ribbon around the board so that pictures and messages can be easily tucked behind the ribbon. For complete instructions on this project, go to: http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/schooldays1/a/081402a.htm

7. Button Picture Frame: Paint a plain wooden picture frame (remove glass first) and let dry. Glue a variety of old buttons to the frame to create an unusual and interesting frame for family pictures.

8. Marbleized Christmas Ornaments: Squirt 2-3 different colors of acrylic paint inside of a clear glass ornament, and gently swirl the paint around. Let paint dry completely before adding the topper and tying it with a ribbon.

9. Family Cookbook: Ask all of the family members to contribute some of their favorite recipes to be typed up, printed out, and copied into a cookbook for all of the family to enjoy. You can have the cookbooks professionally bound by a printer such as Kinko’s, or put inside of a report cover or notebook with your own cover design or picture.

10. Garden Stepping Stones: Decorate plain concrete stepping stones by painting your own design with acrylic paints or using the kids’ hand or feet prints. Let dry completely before applying 1-2 coats of acrylic sealer.
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Copyright 2009 Charlene Davis. All rights reserved.

Holiday Survival Guide

Dr. Laura Markham’s (www.ahaparenting.com) “Holiday Survival Guide” helps families avoid the inevitable crash and burn that always seems to emerge out of the Christmas chaos. Here are three tips:

1. Fill kids’ real needs instead of promoting bottomless greed. Most children experience the holidays as a time to create lists of all the material goods they covet, and toy companies spend fortunes on TV ads designed to induce cravings for more, more, more in our children. Limit TV exposure, throw out the toy catalogs, and discourage the list-making. Instead ask your kids to sift through their desires and tell you one or two presents they really want that are within your means, one “together” present (such as your taking them ice skating or playing their favorite board game), and one present that it would make them happy to give to someone else (“Should we assemble a kit of your old dress-up clothes for your cousin? Fill kids’ gift stockings for a family shelter?”) Use family dinner discussions to refocus everyone on the true meaning of your December holiday. Instead of excessive presents – which always leave kids feeling unfulfilled -- fill your children’s deep longings with family connection and giving, and with traditions that leave them feeling good inside.

2. Keep to your usual schedule as much as possible. Give kids plenty of warning about travel and upcoming events so they feel less pushed around and taken by surprise. Kids thrive on predictable routines and feeling at home. They’re stressed by unfamiliar events and what feels to them like chaotic unpredictability. At the beginning of the holidays, you might use a calendar to show them what will happen each day. (“Then the day before Christmas we leave for Grandma’s, where you’ll get to play with all the cousins.”) Many kids love to make a little book, where each page represents a new day and they draw a picture of what will be happening. Sit down for a snuggle every morning and describe the day ahead.

3. Plan no more than one event per day. If you’re taking the kids to the Christmas pageant in the afternoon, don’t expect them to sit still for dinner at Grandma’s that night. If you’re visiting your inlaws, don’t plan the morning with the cousins and the afternoon at Aunt Betty’s. Kids need downtime, just to chill out, snuggle, and do whatever relaxes them. If they don’t get it, they can’t really be blamed for melting down when the over-stimulation gets to them.

To read the remaining seven stress-saving tips and get the most of this holiday season, go to: http://ahaparenting.com/parenting-tools/traditions/Holiday-Survival-Guide

Dr. Laura Markham is both a mom and a Clinical Psychologist who helps parents find “Aha Moments” by translating proven science into practical solutions. Visit her website (www.ahaparenting.com) for parenting tools, workshops, ebooks, and to sign up for her daily tips and weekly newsletter.

Safety Tips for Holiday Lights

For more than 115 years, Underwriters Laboratories® has been a leader in product safety. You’ve seen their UL Mark on lots of household items indicating they have passed the UL rigorous safety tests. UL now has an informative website (http://www.safetyathome.com/) with tons of helpful articles and tips for the home, environment, community, and holidays. Here’s a sample:

Four safety tips about holiday lights:

1. When you unpack your holiday lights, make sure that none are broken. In fact, inspect all of your electric lights and decorations for damage or wear. Cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires and loose connections may pose a fire or shock hazard.

2. The new trend in lights is LED. The bloggers at Blissfully Domestic (http://bit.ly/7QJTFG) have a recycling tip for those who are in need of new lights this year.

3. Do not connect more than three miniature light strings together. Also, be sure to check the rating on your extension cords, and do not plug in more than the recommended wattage.

4. Look for the UL Mark on the package of lights before you buy them. If you already have lights, the mark may be found on the tag located next to the plug. The information on that tag will tell you whether your lights are suitable to use outdoors.

May your holiday decorating be safe and bright!

Source (reprinted with permission) Safety at Home: http://bit.ly/7SfCxx

Enter the “Safe and Bright Holiday Contest” for your chance to win $10,000!!

Share your family’s brightest holiday moments with stories, pictures, and/or videos. For more info go to: http://safetyathome.com/contest/

How Safe is Your Chicken?

WalletPop.com has a great article that talks in detail about contaminated chickens that have salmonella and campylobacter. It also provides information on what brands – such as Perdue or Foster Farms – tested better than others. I highly recommend reading the article in its entirety at: http://bit.ly/8QvkbZ.

The article also provided some tips consumers can use to help lower their risk of contamination from chicken:

- Most important is to cook chicken to at least 165º F. Even if it's no longer pink, it can still harbor bacteria, so use a meat thermometer.

- Make chicken one of the last items you buy before heading to the checkout line.

- Choose chicken that is well wrapped and at the bottom of the case, where the temperature should be coolest.

- Place chicken in a plastic bag like those in the produce department to keep juices from leaking.

- If you'll cook the chicken within a couple of days, store it at 40° F or below. Otherwise, freeze it.

- Thaw frozen chicken in a refrigerator, inside its packaging and on a plate, or on a plate in a microwave oven. Never thaw it on a counter: When the inside is still frozen, the outside can warm up, providing a breeding ground for bacteria. Cook chicken thawed in a microwave oven right away.

- Don't return cooked meat to the plate that held it raw.

- Refrigerate or freeze leftovers within 2 hours of cooking.

For more ways to help ensure that your food is safe, go to www.BuySafeEatWell.org.