O.K.

So despite your best efforts, you over-indulged on all things Thanksgiving.

So how can you start burning off all the extra calories?

What if I told you there was a way to do it, which involved something that you enjoy doing.

So what’s the secret?

It’s called shopping.

O.K.

You might be thinking,

I love shopping

But how is this going to help me burn off any extra calories.

Simple.

You exercise shop.

By this I mean, incorporating more exercise into your shopping than you normally do.

For starters do not circle the parking lot for an hour looking for that ultra-close spot.

No.

Park some distance away so you have to walk.

Second when you get into the store or mall and are done, and are going to move on to another store, don’t leave the store until you’ve done a lap around it.

Then move onto your next stop.

Of course, if you happen to be in a mall, the perfect thing to do is to take a couple of trips around the mall, and by trips I mean serious trips, no slow walking.

Really put some effort into to it.

Next, you take the stairs whenever possible—stairs are one of the best workouts that you can do.

Finally, do not count out the workout you get from carrying around all those shopping bags.

Lastly, make sure you steer clear of food court at the mall.

So your Little Nudge for this week is.

To find ways to turn your holiday shopping into a cardio workout.

UNTIL NEXT WEEK

THINK FITNESS

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!

By the time my next Little Nudge post comes out, Thanksgiving will have come and gone so,

I want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving like Christmas is a time to be with friends and family, to laugh and enjoy yourself, or enjoy talking about the good-old-days while you try and make some more memories.

So your little nudge this week, is to take the time this coming week to enjoy the journey of getting ready for Thanksgiving.

And not be so stressed that you cannot enjoy the process.

Also, too many people try and make things perfect.

So try and relax this year and enjoy whatever comes and not get stressed.

UNITL NEXT WEEK

ENJOY THE HOLIDAY

There is an expression, do what you love and the money will follow.

And I think that should apply to your everyday life as well.

So this weeks LITTLE NUDGE is to find the love in everything you do.

Find the joy.

Learn to enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

Instead of sweating the small stuff, learn to enjoy the things around you, and take it all in.

Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing, just go along at your own pace and enjoy the journey.

Yes, this is a short LITTLE NUDGE for the week.

Go enjoy the day.

UNTIL NEXT WEEK

KEEP SMILLING

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but with fall here and the leaves falling, now is a great time to take advantage of this and get out there and rake some leaves.

It is a great workout and as-long-as you don’t over do it you should be fine.

For example, if you have a front and back yard,

Try tackling the front first and then see how you feel the next day and if you feel alright you can tackle the backyard, but if not take a day off or maybe just go for a nice brisk walk.

Then the next day you can tackle the backyard.

People underestimate how physical something as simple as raking leaves can be.

Plus you have to remember, this is not an activity that most of us do everyday, so don’t be surprised if you wind up sore the next day.

This brings up something that you always see people doing.

They will pay someone one, maybe a professional service or a neighborhood kid to rake up their leaves and than drive to the gym to workout.

What a waste!

Being out side can be a great workout.

You can rake leaves, give your bushes one final trim before winter, turn over your garden you if have one and haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Plus and this is one thing that you don’t seem mentioned much.

Everyone goes to the gym but when was the last time you actually used your muscles outside of the gym for something physical.

I feel working outside on non-gym equipment gives you the chance to get the new muscle you have built at the gym used to being used in non gym ways.

Not too mention working outside gives us a cheap and easy way to burn of some of that Halloween candy.

So your LITTLE NUDGE for this week is:

To find ways of getting in workouts by taking advantage of being outside.

Until Next Week

ENJOY THE SEASON

My little nudge for you this week is to

HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Relax and enjoy the day.

Oh, and here is one more little nudge.

If you decide to dive in and have SOME candy.

Only have candy that you really like.

Hey,

If you are going to blow it,

You might-as-well have something you really want.

Until Next Week

KEEP FIT

I know I’ve touched on this before but with the holidays coming up I wanted to talk about it some more.

We all know that it is important to keep exercising though the holidays and through the cold weather in general.

Not only does this help us keep our weight down, but, if you stay in decent shape throughout the winter, chances are you will have any easier time of it when it begins to get warmer.

You won’t have to work-your-way into it, or at least not as much, like people who have backed off their exercise programs.

However, there is another pitfall out there lurking, that nobody really talks about, and yet most people despite good intentions, fall into

And this is the pig out.

Yes, bodybuilders do this all the time, where they have junk food days, but trust me; you do not want to get into the habit of doing this.

If you are wondering,

What exactly is a pig out.

Basically a pig out, is where you pig out all day on anything and everything.

Sure it sounds fun, but when the day is over and you wake up the next day, just not doing so well, you will be sorry you had your pig out day.

If you are also thinking,

I wouldn’t be that silly!

Hold on.

It is easy to do it, someone bakes brownies at work, so you have one, then you start thinking, hey that brownie was REALLY good, maybe I’ll just have one more and then…

The flood gates open.

Some people might think,

Well one day cannot possibly set me back all that much.

Maybe, but again it depends on how much you pig out.

A nine-to-five pig out is going to add up to a substantial amount of excess calories, most of which are going to come from junk food sources.

SOME COMMENTS

So your little nudge for the week, is to avoid pig outs.

If you want a brownie, or ice cream or cake, have some; just don’t turn the rest of the day into an all out eating fest.

If you do this, and always manage to keep yourself in check, you will save hundreds of calories over this coming holiday season.

And that along with keeping your exercise routine going through winter will help keep you right on track.

Until Next Saturday.

KEEP FIT

Weight loss is a huge industry in-and-of itself, but did you know that there is an easy way to not only lose weight, but to keep better tabs on your calories.

A quick side note, I do not like the term weight loss because it implies that you just want the scale to go down and you do not care what kind of weight you are losing.

When in fact you could be losing mostly muscle, which is the worst thing you can possibly do, because muscle burns calories.

I will be writing a post on this topic in the future, so please keep an eye out for it.

O.K.

Rant over.

The method I am referring to is, using smaller plates and smaller glasses.

Yes, this method has been around, but it is probably needed more now than ever because of the way things have changed.

Food portions have increased; everything is bigger now than it was in the past.

Heck, drink down one of those big sodas and you’ve just about wrapped up your calorie needs for the day.

And the thing is we do it without thinking.

Or if you go to a place that serves pizza by-the-slice and you order two pieces, some of those places give you huge slices—without even realizing it you possibly just ate half a pizza.

I realize that when you go out you have less control, but even then, until you know the portions a particular restaurant serves, error on the side of caution.

At home though it is a totally different ball game.

So break out some smaller plates and cups and some of your normal plates and cups and do a comparison of how much food and liquid they will hold when full.

You might be surprised by how much can fit on a good sized plate.

So your little nudge or nudges in this case, for the week are.

To get some smaller plates and cups to use for eating at home.

And to make an effort to take note of the portion sizes you are eating when you eat out.

Also, don’t be afraid to ask for half sizes and take-home containers.

Doing so can save you a lot of calories over the course of a year.

Until Next Week.

THINK FITNESS

If you’ve read my little nudges posts in the past you know I am a big believer in removing stress from your life as much as possible.

So this weeks little nudge is to find yourself a hobby.

Or if you were really into something like gardening, then your goal for this week should be to find the time to get back into your hobby.

You might be wondering what a hobby has to do with reducing stress.

Well, if your hobby is a popular one like say, knitting, you should be able to find a group near you that is also into knitting.

Say they get together once a week—try to make it a couple of times per month.

There is way more to staying healthy than exercise and eating right.

And getting out amongst people is one of them.

Going to the get-together, especially if you don’t get out much, will give you something to look forward to.

I know people will be thinking that, I already have too much to do, but some people do not, and staying home alone in an empty house is not really healthy.

Plus getting lost in a knitting project for an hour or so is a great way to forget about some pressing issues you may have.

So this week,

Find the time to, well; find a hobby or pick up where you left off with a hobby you may have had to stop doing years ago for whatever reason.

Until Next Week

WORK SMART

A couple of weeks back I was talking to a friend of mind, who knows that I am a bodybuilder.

And she said that she could never do what I do.

Meaning workout on my own.

Her way around this is to enroll in classes at our local park district.

So this is my little nudge for the week.

If you simply cannot stomach the thought of working out on your own, either with weights or walking or any other form of exercise.

Check out what your local park district has to offer.

Not only will it (hopefully) give you the incentive to exercise regularly —which in-and-of-itself is great, but you will also be out and about with other people and this is never a bad thing.

So that is your little nudge for the week.

Check out your local park district—and give a class a whirl

Who knows—you might find something you really enjoy doing and will stick with even when the class is over.

Until Next Week

KEEP MOTIVATED