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Don’t wear your fat clothes! Or toss on your gym pants, yoga pants, baggy Ts, or other loose clothing every morning to start y our day. Obviously I’m speaking to women who work from home and can wear pretty much anything–or nothing–to write, coach, and anything else self employed types keep themselves busy with. It’s easy, we want to be comfortable, “no one’s going to see me” and all the rest of the reasons are valid. But not when we are fighting to keep the holiday 5 at bay.

I am guilty of the gym and yoga pants but mine are fitted. I feel when they feel tight, it moves me out the door to use them for their intended purpose–exercise. It’s all too easy to put on loose clothing every day oblivious to the 2 and then 3 then 4 pounds that are sneaking in to roost.

One night we must show up at a client party or other function and ouch! the fave black pants are snug or the perfect little cocktail dress seems to have been shrunk by the dry cleaner. So we go out in our once comfortable going-out-in-public duds sucking in our gut or sitting “just so” mostly so the seems don’t burst, get through the night, get home, rip these torture devices off and slip silently and blissfully back into our pjs or sweats. 

To lounge at night and sleep, by all means get comfy. But if you are looking for ways to stay on top of holiday fare as it relates to your thighs put on real clothes every morning. If you’ve got to sit at your computer with your muffin top as company you might pass up that chocolate dipped macaroon that’s been calling your name all morning.

It’s a small thing but success in whatever we do is always a series of small things repeated over and over.

Maximize your workouts. When I have to take off a couple of pounds, or want to have a negative calorie escrow–yea it’s a made up concept but I think you get it–I pump up the intensity but not the time alloted for a workout.

None of us has extra time at this time of year so working smarter not harder or harder which is smart in the case of our exercise, is the way to go. Yesterday I posted about how important music is for health and for working out. Play up tempo music and you’ll gain endurance which means you can go either harder or longer. When time is short I’m going to go for harder.

On the treadmill I really up the incline once I’m warmed up. Or I do a jog and walk combo–the jog portion is fast enough that it’s not so much fun but not so hard that I might injure myself. I also use the Nordic Trac. It’s a good overall workout and especially when I add some resistance to the glides and arm pullies.

The place I slow down? Weights. I keep the same weight but I go super slow on the release. This will add a little more time to a weight routine but trust me it pays off.

If you are not a gym rat and walking is your thing, power it up by timing yourself with a goal of chopping off a few minutes each time you go out. And if you are using a DVD at home your timing is fixed but if you focus intently on each move you can increase the pay off. Think about your form for each rep or different exercise.

Interval training–short bursts of intensity–mixed with the normal pace or weight has proven benefits both in moving you out of a weight plateau or upping your results.

While this tactic is great for the holidays with more eating and less time to workout it’s also a great habit to create for long lasting results oriented exercise.

What’s your favorite way to blast calories?

So it’s the day after Thanksgiving here in the US and I have a question midlife women–what kind of exercise will you do this weekend? “Why do you ask?” you might ask. Because if you are anything like me it’s helpful to have someone remind me to include this uber beneficial activity in my long weekend with leftovers lurking in every corner of the kitchen. Hey, we have yesterday’s extra calories to get rid of but that’s not all. 

Yes, the holiday season has officially started bringing with it the once-a-year-only delicious morsels, parties, and longer than usual to-do lists. In our already busy lives, these rituals can squeeze out our much needed exercise program. Skipping exercise is never a good thing but when temptation in the form of food and libations beckon ditching that walk or spin class is the surest way to the Holiday 5. Hate to break it to you, if it was a 5 pound weight gain in our 30’s and 40’s it’s an 8 - 10 pound gain in our 50’s.

Rather than fretting let’s do something different this year. Let’s plan some movement into our month rather than trying to squeeze it in as the days progress. Oh, and if you are of the mindset that “it’s already the end of the year, I’ll just party like it’s 1999, eat what I want, and start my new lifestyle habits in the new year” I have a question for you? How has that kind of thinking worked for you in the past?

Starting on Dec. 1st I’m going to give you tips to party smart and avoid the Holiday 5 (10). I am not asking you to starve, forgo treats, or stay home like Cinderella all season. I’m going to give you easy ways to manage it all and not gain the weight. 
Wouldn’t it be a bonus if you woke up on January 1st feeling like a success before you even looked at your new year creation plan?

I can’t wait to hear your success stories.

No matter what time of year you are reading this, cold viruses are lurking. And flu season will have it’s way with you or try to at some point.

There are over 200 viral invaders that can cause colds according to the Real Age site. And the closed buildings we work, shop, and work out in are breeding grounds but that’s not the whole story. The cold virus is prevalent no matter where you spend your days or who you are swapping germs with. The key to fighting it off is a healthy immune system.

Exercise—I know not again with the exercise, but once again moving your body and getting your blood circulating helps keep the immune system in full force.

Add regular sound sleep and I mean regular, every day! Rest and sleep some more if you feel run down or you’ve been traveling. Daily Show reruns be damned, Jon Stewart would understand.

Stress lowers the body’s immune responses period. If you take stress reduction seriously—that means incorporating it into your daily routine as opposed to having a pint of ice cream or 3 glasses of wine after an especially hard day—you have a better chance of avoiding winter bugs or getting through them faster.

There are a couple of products I keep on hand at this time of year: EpiCor is a product discovered by accident when insurance adjusters noticed lower numbers of sick-leave claims among employees who handled fermented baker’s yeast.

www.vrp.com/epicor. It lowers the # of immune suppressor cells.

I’m convinced that one of the best immune support products on the market right now is called GXL. It boost glutathione which is the body’s master antioxidant and helps all the circulating antioxidants do their work in top form. You can learn more at this website.

I take extra Vit. C and keep a bottle of Nature’s Way EchinaGuard on hand—it’s an Echinacea formula and my recommendation is to take this only if you feel sick, not as a season long preventative.

If I’m feeling flu-ish I run, don’t walk and think about, but run to my Oscillocococcinum or Oscillo. It’s a homeopathic made by Boiron and it has never let me down if I get it in soon enough. Nature’s Way Sambucol or Umcka Cold and Flu formulas are based on elderberry which may work by inactivating the flu virus but Andrew Weil says it’s to be taken only for symptoms not for prevention. I’ll go with him on that.

When cold symptoms are bad enough and I’ve got to work and be clear headed I take an over the counter Day time formula or aspirin depending on what’s going on. And I never skimp on rest once I’m down for the count. It’s rare that one can’t shut down a bit early or skip a meeting—people understand, and if not you might want to think about why you are tolerating that.

Don’t underestimate chicken soup. If it’s cooked with garlic you’ll get lots of cold and flu fighing properties from the chicken and it’s pot-mate garlic.

My two, all-time, favorite hot drinks when I’m down for the count? Hot ginger tea with lemon and honey or hot chicken soup with lots of garlic and chopped jalapenos. Science be damned on these home remedies tho there is some. I take these cause they taste good and feel good going down. If you like spicy foods you’re familiar with the endorphin rush a dose of capsaicin can produce. How can something so good be legal? Not to mention therapeutic which they are as well.

Be well and stay well.

Got remedies or products you want to share? Leave them in a comment.