Holiday's coming and I'm scared!

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steffyjeffy
steffyjeffy Posts: 9
in Introduce Yourself
I've been on this great Myfitnesspal program for 4 weeks, and so far I've lost 4 pounds. My husband and I are determined to cook small dishes so we are not eating Thanksgiving leftovers for a week. I haven't begun exercising yet, and I would like to squeeze some exercise in so that I will be allowed to consume more calories. I have a very busy schedule and I just don't see how I can manage adding exercise in. My weigh-in day is normally on Friday and I just want to at least maintain the weight that I am now. Any suggestions?

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  • elainegsd
    elainegsd Posts: 459 Member
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    First of all, take a deep breath and look back on all the changes you have made in the past 4 weeks. You've made some really good progress, and are already proactively planning the holiday. Nice work!

    As for exercise, you can do things a few minutes at a time and have them add up to something quite substantial. What is your schedule like? Can you squeeze in a brisk walk around the block a few times per day?
  • sapphire983
    sapphire983 Posts: 21
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    I work and go to school full-time and I always find time to work out. Even if it is just for 15-20 minutes, it's better then nothing! Get up 30-45 minutes earlier to work out or if you are not a morning person, stay up later to get some exercise in. You can burn a good amount of calories just running or doing high-intensity interval training. You burn more calories in a shorter period of time. Good luck and if you need anymore suggestions or advice, feel free to contact me!
  • pinkymalloy
    pinkymalloy Posts: 3 Member
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    How about getting the whole family to take a stroll after dinner or scheduling a friendly game of football amonst the family members before or after dinner.
  • Trickynotts
    Trickynotts Posts: 24
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    Hi

    Record all exercise however small. Make a conscious effort eg use the stairs, park your car and walk further than would normally etc consciously use every opportunity to do exercise for example if I'm watching tv I use my exercise ball during the adverts and do sit ups or in my office I do subtle leg lifts or stomach crunches. I have put a couple of ideas on my profile page take a look if it helps, I do understand as a busy person myself however we can all do that tiny bit more to make a difference.
    Good Luck and Happy Thanksgiving!
  • steffyjeffy
    steffyjeffy Posts: 9
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    If I really tried, I could squeeze in a walk before dinner time. It's been pretty cold up here in CT, but I do have a treadmill in the basement. I would like to see if I can get in 3 days this week of at least 1/2 hour each time. If I can manage that, I would really be proud of myself. Thanks for the encouragement. I really didn't look at how far I've already come in these past few weeks!
  • deckerp
    deckerp Posts: 4,365 Member
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    I wouldn't worry too much about Thanksgiving and over eating. It's one day and you already said you don't plan to save left overs. So on that one day, even if you go nuts, at worst, you'll lose your progress for the week. That's if you go 3500 calories over your goal. Since 1 pound is 3500 calories and your goal is probably to be 500 under each day.

    You could plan the week with 100 calories less each day except on Thanksgiving. Then you'd pretty much come out even.
  • WildFlower7
    WildFlower7 Posts: 714 Member
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    Best suggestion would be small portions at Thanksgiving. Before I go out anywhere to drink or eat I always eat an apple a hard boiled egg and I drink a glass of water, It helps you feel full.

    Also try eating on a smaller plate and load up more on the veggies then you do the other junk. We had our Thanksgiving Saturday because that's when all of our family could be there for it so were already done, and I'm down a pound today. . . but I worked out extra hard last week too, to account for our feast. I'm the kind of person who when I'm in the kitchen all day long cooking a feast like that, I'm not very hungry for the food afterwards, so maybe that will work to your benefit. The leftovers I had I split up and sent home with everyone, and for appetizers we had deviled eggs, a veggie tray and Ham roll-up's all fairly healthy stuff! I did not drink any calories either except for my small glass of sparkiling cider at the end of the evening, I avoided the wine all together, and you know how I did that, I didn't buy any at all! I drank coffee and water all day, lol.

    Good luck and remember Thanksgiving doesn't have to be an un-healthy thing. Even if you workout starting today for 30-45min a day you can burn anywhere from 250-350 or so calories, if you do that for 3 days (until Thanksgiving) that's close to 1000 extra cal. and it's only 30-45min out of your day!

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