Finding the ability to efficiently maintain your weight through the holiday season

Found the ability to successfully sustain excess fat through the holiday season, or perhaps even lost a handful pounds? If so, great job! If you have gotten off track over the last month or two, now will be the time to be back on course by placing your health and wellness first.

Here’s how to make: Keep only health- promoting foods. Clean your cupboards and pantry of each item classified as not advocated choices for the Take Shape For Life Plan or(for those successful maintainers) that provide empty calories. Get rid of all of the additional baked goods, excessive calorie finger meals, etc that can be surplus from holiday parties. Store your fridge and pantry with only health- promoting items—lean meats, fresh/frozen or canned vegetables as recommended for use on the 5 & 1 Take Shape for Life Plan
; add fresh/frozen fruits, whole grain products, and low- fat dairy products to your to-do list and cupboard for those currently following the transition/maintenance phases.

Planning your surroundings for success will be key to staying with your goals. Here’s to a fresh re- commitment of the necessary health objectives!

If you’ve neglected your workouts over the holidays, don’t expect to resume them at full force. Unfortunately, it takes much less time to lose aerobic capacity or strength than it will to gain it. Fitness physiologists call this loss of fitness “detraining. ” How fast you detrain depends largely on genetics and on your level of fitness; interestingly, the fitter you are, the faster you may well detrain.

Using Medifast and following the 5 & 1 Take Shape for Life BeSlim Plan you can expect to lose 2-5 pounds a week. Each Medifast suppliment contains only 100 calories.

Generally, you can expect to lose 5 percent of your aerobic capacity after one week of inactivity, 15 percent after 2 weeks, and up to 25 percent after three weeks. If you’ve managed to get in at least one workout per week, chances are you’ve maintained your previous level of fitness. Start off slowly, because haven’t worked out for over several weeks. And no problem- you’ll be back fit right away!

Now’s the time when preparing for thinking ahead to the New Year. So what will you change? How will you adjust? What will you start? If you’re thinking about making real changes toward a healthier way of life, begin by evaluating your goals. Are they sensible? Are they doable? Are you able to put them in a time frame? You’ll find it wonderful to start the New Year with new changes ahead. Just be sure that your goals are achievable, so you can see real success.