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Taking Weight Off After the Holidays –
Tips to Make New Year's Resolutions Succeed

The holidays are over and it's time to kick start those New Year's resolutions. If one of your resolutions was to lose the few weight, you are in good company. One of the most common resolutions is to get back in shape and start a healthier diet.

If the extra inches you collected at holiday gatherings, or that have crept up on you slowly through the years, are bothering you there is hope. Personal trainer Paul Plakas, featured on Life Network's Taking It Off, shares tips to shed those unwanted holiday pounds:

1. Spend time with motivated, active people for support and inspiration.

2. Small changes each day result in huge improvements. For example, one less teaspoon of sugar in your coffee can help you lose 3.7 pounds a year.

3. Stick to the perimeter of the grocery store where fresh produce, meats and dairy are kept.

4. Incorporate standup exercises such as lunges, to your exercise program as they burn more calories.

5. Consume fresh, organic food and limit intake of packaged, preserved foods.

Remember that it will normally take a bit longer to lose weight than it took to gain it.

Plan plenty of fun outdoor activities with your family and friends. Having company makes getting up and moving around more fun.

A walk in the snow or a snowball fight will burn of plenty of calories. Biking down to the beach or for just 10 minutes - five away and five back - will get you started on a healthy exercise routine. A twenty minute walk after lunch or dinner burns off calories, tones up your heart and makes you feel good. Leave the dishes to someone else or do them when you get back.

Small changes are easy to make permanent, so stay away from radical diets and exercise fads that promise to make you lose 150 pounds in just a short time. The reason that they carry the small print "these results are not typical" is that they don't work for most people.

Don't set yourself up for failure. Old eating habits are difficult, but not impossible, to break. Every meal is a chance to start again and every snack choice can be a small victory. In a few months you'll find yourself happy with the results and with the energy you discover as your weight goes down. Good eating habits will start to automatically replace the bad choices. You can still have an occasional serving of ice cream or dessert, just keep the portions a tiny taste treat.

Use your head to choose the foods that pass your lips and watch the pounds drop from your hips!

Visit www.LifeNetwork.ca for more information.

- News Canada

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