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Thanks and thanks and more thanks!

Thankful for Thanksgiving!  This is one of my favorite weeks of the year.  People are getting into the spirit of the holidays.  I see so many posts about gratitude and thankfulness.  It definitely brings hope and perspective to the season.  One of the wonderful things about social media is that it's given people an easy outlet to journal and share with others.  I know, sometimes over-share, but hey…we can keep scrolling if we don't like it, right?  For the most part, I'm inspired daily by what others have overcome and experienced.  It's also heartwarming to see so many helping others, paying forward and embracing friends and family.  I'm so into what Thanksgiving is all about, but I also know it's like the kick-off party for 6 weeks of indulging.

I'm certainly not going to tell you that you can't enjoy a little decadence every now and then.  I absolutely do.  I'm simply suggesting, while keeping in the spirit of the season, let's be more mindful all around.  When you're having your pumpkin pie, or cream of casserole, just slow down and taste it.  It's not a sprint to see how much you can scarf down before your stretchy pants pop a stitch.  Put a little bit of what you love on your plate, really taste it and fill up on the good stuff.  Before you start flinging gravy at me, check out my top 5 list:

5 Ways to Stay Svelte Through the Holidays

1) Stay Hydrated

I talk about the importance of drinking water all the time, but know this, not only does it help curb your appetite of keep you from confusing "thirsty" with "hungry", but it also helps protect your lean muscle tissue, which in turn keeps your metabolism higher.  Drinking water keeps you digestive system working properly, so less belly bloat.  Ultimately, it replaces empty calories with 0 calories, so you will have a bigger "calorie budget" for nutrient dense food (or the occasional Christmas  cookie)!  Try drinking 12oz 30 minutes before your meal.

2)  Dress the Part

Coming from a girl who practically lives in spandex, I may not be the most credible source, but on those days that you'll be celebrating by indulging in a big meal or exchanging (sampling) cookies, the last thing you want to do is be overly comfortable or wear loose fitting clothing.  Looking and feeling "put together" will keep you more mindful of what you're eating.  I'm not suggesting extremes here!  Wearing clothing that is too tight can be dangerous and unhealthy.  Hwever, there are plenty of studies that show when we wear loose clothing we eat more mindless calories.  Besides, who needs an excise for dressing up in the perfect holiday outfit?

3) Have a plan!

It's not Thanksgiving dinner 3 times a day the entire holiday season.  Stay on track by planning your non-holiday meals ahead of time.  If you already know what you should be eating, then stick to it.  If you don't know, meet with a nutrition coach or do a little research to determine what meal plan you're most likely to stick to.  If you have a plan and stick to it, then one meal won't be a huge setback.  On the other side of it, one healthy meal won't get you to your goal.  Stick to your plan at least 80% of the time and be mindful when you indulge.  Lastly, don't keep things in the house that aren't part of the plan.

4) Do the dishes!

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After a big meal, do you find yourself lounging on the couch watching TV?  Once you're done eating, may as well get that kitchen clean.  Especially if you weren't the chef.  What says "Thanks for dinner" better than taking care of all those dirty dishes.  Staying on your feet and lifting those pots and pans back to their place can keep the blood flowing and the calories burning.  Once the kitchen is clean, turn out the kitchen light.  It gives you a sense of "kitchen closed" where you'll be less likely to go in and snack later.

5)  Make your holiday get togethers active gatherings!

There are plenty of ways to get active this time of year.  Let me spill out some ideas for you:

• Holiday 5K, 10K, etc. like a Turkey Trot or Jingle Run.  There are plenty of local races that you can commit to to keep your training all winter long.
• Ice skating, skiing, snowboarding and sledding!  All classic winter activities.
• Organize the traditional Thanksgiving flag football game.  I've ALWAYS wanted to do this.  Thanks to my sister and bro-in-law, we are rapidly approaching enough family members to form a team.  Still looking for recruits though.
• Caroling!  This is a lost art, in my opinion.  I loved walking do to door caroling when I was a kid.  It's also a great way to walk your neighborhood and check out the holiday lights.
• Or…get plenty of extra workouts in by challenging yourself and your friends to sign up for my new online fitness program StrongCalmSexy.com!  I've been working on the development of this for some time now.  It's a complete fitness program that you can take with you wherever you go.  All of the workouts are web based workouts led my me.  There is even a meal plan that you can use to keep you on track (especially this time of year).  With a membership to this program, you can 3 workouts (one barre, one yoga and one SwanFit), that you'll complete each week, working out 5 days per week (choosing 2 of the 3 to complete twice-make sense?).  Every month you'll get 3 new workouts and a new meal plan.

I am SO excited to have this program ready to share with your.  Here is a little clip to give you a feel for what it's all about.

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Let me know if you have any questions!  Also, feel free to share this with friends and family that you think may benefit from an online program like this.  It's perfect for your busiest time of year when you feel like you don't have time to get it all in.  Thanks for reading, thanks for sharing and thanks for being you!