The holiday season can be a challenging time to make healthy food choices. With all the office parties, family celebrations, and abundance of cake, cookies, and pies, it is easy to see why the typical American gains weight between Thanksgiving and the New Year. With food as the center piece for most holiday celebrations and social events, it is very hard to avoid, but with a little preparation and planning, you can still enjoy spreading the holiday cheer without spreading your waistline.

Don’t go to a party hungry. The hungrier you are, the faster you will eat. It is important to eat your typical breakfast, lunch, and snacks on the day of the party to avoid being famished when you arrive and therefore overeat.

Substitute traditional foods with healthy alternatives. Most of the traditional holiday meals can be prepared in a healthier manner. For example, try our Low Carb Pumpkin Casserole (link to recipe) as an alternative to pumpkin pie.

Watch out for holiday spirits. Alcoholic beverages can contain from 150 to 450 calories a glass. Limit your drinks to 1-2 glasses. The lower calorie, lower carb choices are dry wine, Bloody Mary’s, or spirits with diet mixers. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram (fat has 9 and protein has 4) and then is stored in the body as extra belly fat. Individuals who are overweight can gain weight more quickly when consuming alcohol.

Up Your Exercise. Yes, you can bond with family over bread and wine, but you can also bond through a brisk walk or bike ride. Try to plan some holiday events around fitness such as entering the family into a 5K Holiday Fun Run, or walk together, or enroll in a fitness class together.

Plan Ahead. Know what parties are you going to attend, what food you will be tempted by, what personal stressful triggers may drive you to eat, and make a plan on how you will deal with those situations. It is much easier to deal with difficult social eating situations if you already have a plan.

Practice conscious eating. Most people tend to eat beyond their body’s physical hunger at holiday events simply because the food is there, it is good, and everyone else is doing it! To avoid over-eating, make one plate of food of the items you really want to eat. Sit down, and eat slowly. Chew and saver each bite. Set your fork down between bites and take your time. When you are finished eating, pop in a mint or a piece of gum to keep your mouth occupied and prevent having seconds.

Bring your own healthy dish to the party. If you are not sure what you can eat when you get there, bring the food with you. Offering to bring a dish puts you in control. At least you know there is one healthy item on hand.

My name is Austin Barton with Medi-Weightloss Clinics a medical weight loss company. We are experts in the field of weight loss and living a healthy lifestyle.

We are all looking for new ways to keep our families and ourselves healthy. We watch our fat and calorie intake and encourage our children to get more exercise. We take vitamins and are careful to teach our children careful hygiene habits to avoid illness. One way that we can take care of our families’ health that is easy is by using healthy chicken recipes to find new, delicious dishes we can serve for dinner that our families will love and will eat.

Eating healthy does not have to be a sacrifice. Many of us imagine a plain, lonely chicken breast sitting alone on a plate, dry and boring. However, there are many more ways to prepare chicken so that it is still low in fat, but it is full of tastes that will please everyone at the table. It is pretty exciting that we can offer our families dinners they will love and still be putting in front of them healthy, wholesome, low fat foods.

Grilled chicken, prepared with barbecue or teriyaki sauce, is one low fat option for preparing chicken. The sauces and marinades lock in the juices to create a tender, juicy meal that will taste so good, you will be unlikely to see any leftovers. Baked chicken may be prepared with barbeque as well, or it could be baked in the form of a casserole with vegetables and potatoes, topped with gooey cheese. Roast chicken has always been a favorite, and it can even be prepared in the crockpot to give you a tasty end to a very busy day.

Chicken breasts are not the only part of the chicken you can serve that is low in fat. Drumstick and chicken thigh recipes offer many different ways to prepare these favorite chicken parts. If your home is one that favors dark meat over white meat, these recipes might be exactly what you are seeking. These chicken parts can be delicious, marinated or prepared with a sauce or a spicy rub. Even leftover chicken is delicious in a casseroles, soup, or chili.

For fried chicken aficionados, prepare breaded oven fried chicken to make a dish that will truly satisfy, but with far less fat. No one at the table will miss the oil soaked chicken, and you will have created a new family favorite. You can do this with drumsticks, thighs, breasts, or any combination of these parts. Experiment if you like with various kinds of breading and seasoning.

With so many options for healthy chicken recipes, there is really no reason to look for some new or exotic food to cook in order to change up the menu. You can create original, creative dishes regularly with chicken, a familiar food that is easy to work with. Your family will love the variety of dishes they get to eat, and you will love that you are serving them foods that are healthy and low in fat and cholesterol. Everyone wins when you use healthy chicken recipes to prepare your family meals.

For more Healthy Chicken Recipes for the holiday season, pay a visit to http://www.thehealthychickenrecipes.com.

How many times have you said to yourself that now is the time you’ll start exercising and eating healthy only to be disappointed a short time later when you are back to your old habits? There is a way to make these changes from the inside out. How do you get started? Follow these steps:

* To begin any change, you need to have that spark of motivation. Ask yourself why you want to make these changes. Is there a health concern? Have you just put on your “bigger” clothes and even they are tight? Do you feel bad about yourself?

* Write down a sentence in the present tense that describes what you DO want. What is your intention? Write as if it is already happening; for example, “I feel healthy and strong” or “I feel good about and comfortable in my body” or “I love myself.” Read the rest of this entry…

The world today is a very stressful, fast-paced place to live. Many people have a very hard time making it through life without having problems at times. The best way to make it through life without major problems is to live a healthy lifestyle. Living a healthy lifestyle makes everything much easier to deal with, because you are in a good frame of mind, and you feel well physically. A healthy lifestyle is not just about eating a healthy diet, or exercising regularly. I think the most important thing in living a healthy lifestyle is everything in moderation. You need to eat healthy, exercise, and find a healthy balance between work and play. Read the rest of this entry…