We have moved!

A few months ago, I redesigned my website, posted a note here that ‘We Have Moved’
only to find today that the post is lost in space!

HI!  Me again!  I know it seems like a long time, but I have been writing – just on the new site on my new website.  And the redirecting did not work.  drat.

So you have probably not moved with me, and I apologize you have not gotten any updated blogs- I have written plenty!

The new blog site is www.nutrition-in-motion.net/blog.  Please visit there and sign up to follow the posts.  And please read what I have written in the past few months!

Modern technology is only great when it works the way you want it to!
Those strange things that happen when you have a site here, yet wordpress does weird things that make all of your posts disappear 😦  I mean all but one!

See you on the new page!
joannayour holistic sports nutrition coach!

New site, new blog page

We have moved the blog to a new site: www.nutrition-in-motion.net/blog

Please visit us there where the new blog posts will be found.
The old ones you are used to seeing have also been moved 🙂

Thank you for following and reading!
joanna

Listen to my heart

This past month, I have been fighting with weight issues.  Yes,  I have gained 10 pounds and I am at a loss of where they came from.  (ok, some may be from muscle weight from re-engaging atrophied muscles after surgery…but what about the other 6?) I have helped countless clients lose weight.  One lost 11 pounds since December 1….I found 10 of them 😦
I have not changed anything with eating.  Or with exercise.  And even the detox plan doesn’t help me much.

So I thought I would listen to my heart (or my gut, intuition).  Look inside and see if I could find some answers.  I also have done many Path To Heal sessions to identify the blocks to why I was not losing weight.  And the need for Joy kept coming up.  I also found that I gained some weight to protect myself from meeting prospective mates who were only interested in the body I had.  When I am at my healthy weight, I am pretty attractive physically.  Well, hot might be what some guys call it.  But I want to find a life partner who could see me and beauty in me, not just in the body.

Well, that made sense when I listened to my heart and thought more about it.  I really didn’t want to be just a physical attraction.  I wanted my strength, intelligence, laughter and inner beauty to be what people saw.  So I ‘padded’ myself to protect myself.  Good thing Path To Heal sessions clear that energy and subconscious thinking!

Hmm, I had lost the joy of cooking, the joy of eating, the joy of training.  I took a tele-workshop last week on Listening to Your Inner Guide.  They asked me to ask my inner guide about a big challenge I had.  So I asked about the weight issue…..and it revealed that I was no longer having fun.  I need to find joy.   I am doing too much on my own.  Training in my basement.  Running by myself.  I just started tennis, so there is a partner activity!  I went to a few Bikram yoga classes but still kinda lonely.
I need to be social.  (and yes, I dropped a few pounds just from having a more social weekend!)

My heart/guide was saying…go back to when you had adrenal exhaustion.  In order to get out of that funk, you needed to train with others.  You cannot shine if you are alone.  You cannot get hugs but from others.  (yes, you need hugs to be healthy!)
You cannot have fun just by yourself (although I am fully content on my own).

Here is almost the whole conversation when I listened to my heart (inner guide):

You just need joy – find your joy. 
Look back at when you had your adrenal exhaustion and gained a lot of weight.
Look at what you find fun.
look for ways to be more social and socially connected (you mean Facebook is not enough??)  This is the key to your losing weight.
You are too isolated.  Go to the gym and find your training partners so you find the joy in training . (and I go to the gym already….but only once a week to meet anyone)
You have the inspiration.  You are just alone too much.
Find more circles to be a part of.
Find more people to feed your inner joy.
Being on your own has squelched your joy.
Find more friends for camaraderie.
Find partnership in all you do.
This is not a time to be alone but to with others…..eating, cooking (got bored with that!), teaching, presenting….
Your inner child wants companionship.
Go to classes.  Go to MeetUps.  Even if you don’t know anyone.
You shine when you are with others.  You cannot shine on your own.

Do not worry about you weight.  It will normalize to your healthy weight once you reconnect with your social circles….your extra weight is your loneliness and lack of joy and fun.
Find fun and find yourself again.

So have you listened to your heart?
What is your heart and inner guide telling you?

Joanna Chodorowska is a sports nutrition coach, and intuitive healer at Nutrition in Motion.  She helps clients get to the root of their issues with nutrition coaching, nutrition response testing, and intuitive healing using The Path To Heal.
To schedule a session with Joanna, please visit www.n-im.net or connect with her on facebook, twitter or linkedin.

Starting Over

A year ago, almost to the hour, I had a hip replacement surgery. Little did I know, the year would be a starting over journey. In many ways, it was a new lease on life and I would be able to resume so many of the activities I had once stopped due to the severe degenerated hip condition I had. But in other ways, I Was learning how to move again, as i I had never done it before. And that is how it felt with many things.

The day of the surgery, the physical therapist had me walking on a walker within 6 hours of surgery. ‘Wow, you are walking really well. Tomorrow we will have you on your cane”. she said with excitement. Guess all that cycling and yoga did help! The next day I WAS on the cane walking and terrorizing..I mean dazzling everyone with my new ability so shortly after surgery. But when the PT came that day to have me ‘walk up and down stairs’, I wanted to do it the way i knew….up with right, then left, repeat or same way down. But this was not the way to do it after surgery. My brain couldn’t get it on the first try, so I did it three times more just to get my brain to not do walking up and down stairs the ‘normal’ way. I was ok when I got home, but it way days before I could stop grabbing the railings on the stairs.

I learned to walk again pacing up and down hallways at home, since Mother Nature gave us lots of ice and snow last year. And with a new hip, I really did not want to slide down my drive way just for a walk in fresh air. Weeks later, at my follow up, I was given the clearance to swim, bike and re-introduce activity, but I needed PT first. My first physical therapy session was almost 2 hours as Shon tried to figure out which set of exercises would work best and how my body responded. It was then, I was told to continue using the cane to walk….I was so upset. But my left hip muscles had so atrophied, I needed to use the cane to prevent the hip drop. I was learning to use muscles I forgot existed. I was learning how to move and engage new muscles which who knows were last used. It was truly starting over as if I had never done it before.

Cycling was the same, although more familiar. I started as if I had never done it before. But not like a normal person’s perspective. I was starting over. Those muscles and new joint didn’t know how to move that way. I started with 3 minutes. Then 6 the next day, then 10, 12, 15, 20 then 30 minutes with little resistance. And it felt good to move. But to keep myself from pushing too hard, I rode the stationary bike in my basement with my pajamas on, rolled up. I know, I really should have taken a photo of that! But changing into cycling clothes would have made me a serious rider….and I was starting over. I was not yet ready to be serious! And then with PT, I was too tired to be serious!

Then I added swimming. It was so nice to finally get into the pool after 3 weeks away. But it was like starting over. I didn’t want to hurt all over the next day, so I did maybe 10-12 minutes of swimming. At first, I was also terrified of doing a flip turn. I would tell myself “ok, this time flip…” as I got to the wall…..and for 6 lengths, I wimped out and did an open turn. When I finally braved into that flip turn, it wasn’t that bad. It was actually nice! But then I was terrified to push off the wall with the left leg. Oh this starting over thing is killing me! I was an elite athlete before this injury 5 years ago, and now I am starting over. It was such a weird feeling! But I got out after some 2-300 yards which is not even a warm up for me usually. Oh to practice restraint when starting over. So hard.

This past November, I was finally able to start adding yoga. But it was sporadci. But each time I tried earlier, the pressure in the left hip didn’t feel right. I tried to avoid any activity that didn’t feel right. I learned to listen to what my body was trying to tell me and what I was ready for. Only this past week, have I been able to add the yoga back in regularly. And I sooooo missed it! I went from doing yoga daily before the surgery, to none. So this January it was totally like starting over with yoga. I remember being really bendy before…..not so much anymore. I am so out of yoga shape 😦

Then I tried a boot camp ‘class’ with November Project in October. OMG, I couldn’t even do a push up anymore! And a burpee was just ugly. I had to laugh at myself, and remind myself I was starting over. These were new activities! And so I started doing push ups every week to regain some strength.

This past 52 weeks has been a series of starting over points relearning how to get my body to move. I am hyper aware of how my body moves or doesn’t from the right vs left. It is only now that my left side is almost as strong as the right. It has been interesting, fun, challenging and rewarding. You cannot speed up the healing process after a hip replacement, neither can you forget you are starting over with all your motions. (emotions, too!)

Morning Green Monster Smoothie

Last night I did the Detox Plan Cooking Class…..and we made some really great stuff:
– gluten free tortilla wrap (more like a crispy flatbread) and so good!
– roasted carrot and ginger soup (which is what distracted me from the roasted beets – so I had burned to a crisp beet slices instead.

drat)
– veggie flatbreads with avocado slices
– hummus with garlic and rosemary (you will never make your own again!)
– vegan bean burgers with pinto beans and crimini mushrooms
– Green Monster juice with the hyper anti-inflammatory twist since attendees also were interested in that for auto immune issues.

This morning, I have the left overs, so many of my snacks will be ready for me! I decided not to juice this morning, and use the pulp from the juicer as a morning smoothie instead.

Just added apple cider, flax seeds and more turmeric, lemon and put it into the blender. pretty simple, but this will now work as a snack later in the day, and one as my breakfast. The juice extractor version ends up being part of breakfast where the smoothie is more filling.

Last night after the class and all the sampling, everyone agreed that this real food eating is really fun, but very filling. This should make doing the detox plan so much easier!

If you want to join in on the detox plan with the group, or on your own pace, please visit http://www.nutrition-in-motion.net/detoxplan.html
Get your “healthy” on!

Preparing for the detox

Another year passes, another holiday behind and well, that break from healthy eating needs a jump start. Last year, I did the detox, not because I needed a jump start to healthy, but I wanted to see if the detox with a hyper anti-inflammatory twist would work. And it did. I was pain free and thrilled!

This year, as I now prepare for the detox, I reflect on what it is the point of the detox plan. It is not a diet plan, although most will lose weight.
It is a plan to help jump start healthier eating. It is not a calorie restricted food plan, although it can be fewer calories than you are accustomed to as junk food can be high in sugar, bad fats and calories. Less junk food = less calories.

Preparing for the detox is both a mental and physical preparation. From the physical, it is eliminating the junk food, the processed foods, the sugar and focusing more on making your own real food meals. For some it is a total change in eating. For some it is not that bad. For most, it will require planning your meals, cooking ahead of time t have meals and snacks ready (although this really should be what you do anyways!). This is the mental part – getting mentally ready to do the work needed. And keeping focused (which is where the group support helps!)

For many, it will be an exploration of real foods. Instead of store bought hummus, you make it yourself. It does actually taste better, and is really easy to make. And quite honestly, once you make it yourself, you may never buy it in the stores ever again.

I know for me, I get excited to buy all the vegetables for the Detox Class and teach others how to make the basic items in the detox plan:
– Green Monster Juice (in juice extractor or blender)
– hummus with rosemary, garlic
– roasted carrot and ginger soup
– red lentil, zucchini and ginger soup
– broccoli slaw
– Moroccan spinach
– roasted beet chips
– mashed celery root and cauliflower with garlic and butter (the real stuff)
and many more! Yes, there is an ice cream and chocolate moouse, too.

This plan can be done by just about anyone, and eating out can also be included if you focus on mainly vegetables and no wheat, bread or pasta. It is almost a vegan challenge! I offer it a couple of times a year as a group where I do the plan with the group. This year, I will be doing it focusing on less chocolate (my sugar) but more veggies, fruits instead of chocolate (wish me luck), and healthy fats (raw nuts instead of roasted nuts). And also not getting too few calories as this will make me gain weight…..and noone wants that!

Another focus is to be creative with my meals. I will try to post some of the meals I make in the next two weeks and the recipes, although some might be just me winging the ingredients together to make something!
Like these bean burgers I made with the leftover pulp from juicing….mixed with pinto beans, not enough rosemary and heated them up in a pan with homemade ghee. Will add flax seed meal next time to make it stick better as patties! The soaked ones made it too soft, so I couldn’t flip it. Bean burger hash I guess it was 🙂

Tomorrow starts the group Detox Detox Plan Plan. Join us if you can!

Joanna is a sports nutrition coach working on using real foods to help people alleviate their symptoms. Every symptom can be tied to what food you ate. The challenge is making the connection – Joanna makes it easier for you to connect those dots between symptoms and foods, and offers alternatives as needed.
She started Nutrition In Motion, LLC 11 years ago to help others heal with real foods spiritually, physically and mentally.
http://www.n-im.net

Lessons Learned

Looking over the past year, I have learned many lessons.  Some were harder to learn than others, but in the end of this 2014 calendar year, I am grateful for those lessons learned.  And hope to inspire others to learn their lessons, too.  Some might even work with me to help them  work through theirs for 2015.

In January, 2014, I started the year with my Detox Plan but added a hyper-anti-inflammatory twist in an effort to see if pain can go away with food.  To my delight, it did!
It was a process that lasted 6 months, slowly identifying the inflammatory foods and chemicals I was exposing myself to. I did this using the Nutrition Response Testing monthly.  By the time I got to January, I had eliminated all those items including sugar, wheat, brown rice, isopropyl alcohol, and petroleum/petrolatum based products.  I made modifications over those 6 months looking for alternatives and foods I could eat.  And the pain went away.

I also had the issue of eating those things I was supposed to avoid.  But I guess I liked the pain?   Human nature is such that you forget….so I would eat something I am not supposed to like dark chocolate M&M’s….and I got pain and fatigue in a horrible way.  But I ate them 3-4 times before getting to the point where I fully made the connection between the M&M’s and the pain.  This was another lesson learned!  Sugar is inflammatory.  Dark chocolate M&M’s have lots of sugar in the coating.  duh.  We sometimes repeat the same things over and over again….even with disastrous results like pain and inability to sleep at night from the pain…in order to learn what we should not consume.  We are not stupid for doing it.  We just forget the why.  Once we make that connection between the food and the terrible symptom, then we can finally decide to stop consuming the aggravating item.  But until you get to that realization yourself, no one can tell you enough.  I am thankful that I can now use this in my practice to help others overcome pain as I do understand the process.  I lived it.

I also learned that some of my pain was from emotional traumas.  Learning The Path To Heal was one of the best things I did 3+ years ago.  It has helped to identify those subconscious issues I had to help alleviate pain.  Sometimes it is easier to hold on to pain, than to ask for one of our basic needs to be met.  Why?  Because when we asked for the need to be met, we got criticism, or some other negative reaction.  We no longer want that reaction, so we stop asking.  The pain is easier to hold on to than re-experiencing the other negative reaction.

I also learned from my own experience as well as my clients, that those subconscious issues keep us stuck in our patterns.  I have a client who has been sick for over a year.  We did some nutrition therapy, but The Path To Heal sessions were the key to helping them.  The underlying issue was the inability to ask for help unless you really, really, really needed it.  So a debilitating health issue was needy enough to ask for help!

Which brings me to my own lesson I learned from my hip degeneration – asking for help is NOT a sign of weakness!  That was probably one of the harder ones.  Being highly independent by nature and by rearing, I did (and still do) most things myself.  I thought only I could do it right.  I did not need anyone else.  But this also closed me off from receiving….from anyone.  And we all like to give!  Myself included.  The Path To Heal did help to clear that issue, but so did my sheer recognition of the issue.  How could I learn the basics of the Law Of Attraction, when I was failing at doing one of the basic things – giving and receiving!  One of the Path To Heal dimensions is about giving and receiving.

If we fail to give to ourselves, we cannot receive from others.  If we don’t give to others, we cannot fully give and receive.   “Giving and receiving are one in the same.” Once I started asking for help with carrying things, asking my renter to get the mail when it was icy or snowing, asking for assistance to help get groceries to my car – it was a pretty amazing thing to feel.  The gratitude and warmth I felt from others.  I allowed them to help which brought both of us joy!  People like to help, and for years, I denied them that satisfaction.  I hence learned to be more humble.  As a result, I am now better able to help others and give more!  What a lovely lesson that was!

The hardest and most repetitive lesson learned was about fears.  I have plenty of them, mostly about my business and making enough money.  Then add to that the fear of criticism or the fear of not being accepted.  Fear of failure.  Fear of success.  I learned to channel message from my guides in October.  At that time, I was actually in one of my lowest points for the second or third time last year ….and message was consistently that my ‘fears are stifling [my] progress‘.  They were stifling my success.  The fears were what I thought about more than anything.  And again, as in the Law of Attraction, the more you focus on the fears, the more you end up manifesting them!  It didn’t matter how many affirmations I had repeated…the fears were larger and almost possessed me.

Usually in desperation, we pray to God, “HELP!”  And I did that, too.  He did help.  Things did improve.  So the fears did not realize.  But there they were again a month later.  I did more Path To Heal sessions, but not on myself like I usually do, but with the other local practitioners.  I built the new grid (from the Divine  Grids book by Rebecca Cohen), Optimism with the appropriate crystals to increase the energy.  I did more praying, more affirmations, more channeling of messages.  And the lesson was right there in front of me!  Stop focusing on the fears.  I finally got that one!  Gosh, I hope I don’t have to see that one again!  Scary as it seems, the closer we are to realizing the things we want most, the bigger the lessons we need to learn are.

I am thankful for the lessons I have learned this past year.  I am grateful for Rebecca Cohen for creating The Path To Heal and grateful that I am an advanced practitioner able to not only heal my own subconscious issues, but others.  I am thankful I had a hip replacement.  Without it, I would not know that pain can go away with a change in food (and Path sessions, and reiki, acupuncture and chiropractic, too).  I am thankful I had an amazing physical therapist to help me get coordinated again.  I am thankful I am back to running, and feel completely blessed that my surgeon ran my first 5K with me in October.

Some years can be a challenge.  Some more than others.  But I am thankful I have learned many lessons this past year.  And hope the next year will have less challenging ones for me!  And I look forward to the lessons I will learn, and know that I have the tools needed to face those lessons as they come up.

What lessons have you learned??

Joanna Chodorowska is a multi-dimensional healer.  She works with nutrition therapy, intuitive healing and Nutrition Response Testing to help heal even complex issues.  She can help you heal your body, mind and spirit!   Please visit www.nutrition-in-motion.net for more information.

Why Wait?

Why wait til January to start on a healthier plan?

The holidays are always a rough time to get started on a nutrition plan.  But I had more clients this year not wanting to wait until January to get started on a healthier plan.  They wanted to go through the holidays with a better plan so that January would not be as terrible of a change.  Besides, I have holiday specials on my website which offer huge savings on nutrition coaching, The Path To Heal sessions and nutrition coaching packages.  SO why wait til January when those specials are gone??

When working with clients, I am not an extremist and suggest restrictions to your eating.  This just sets you up for failure and disappointment.  Holidays are about enjoying the company and the food.  But as I suggested to one client who was dreading the family gathering with nothing to eat…..why not offer to bring something?  This way you will feel like you contributed, but mainly you will have one thing you know you CAN eat.

Why wait to get yourself to feel better?  Why wait if you have health issues?  Why wait til you are so disgusted with your weight or how you feel?   They will not go away on their own and it is always easier to work with someone who listens to you and helps make the journey easier.  Ok, mentally you might not be fully ready.  But waiting til January 1st is almost making it worse!  I wrote a blog a few years past about embracing change, not creating resolutions.
Embrace how it is you want to feel.
If you want more energy – why wait?
If you want to feel vibrant – why wait?
If you want to learn yoga – why wait?
If you want to be pain free – why wait?

How bad does it have to hurt before you seek help?  I know I was in pain with my hip degeneration last year, but I made sure I could do all I could from a nutrition and movement stand-point to keep it as low as possible.  Yes, I did wait to have the surgery (darn insurance based on calendar year) but I would have never learned I could eliminate the pain with just food.  Just this past week I had a client come in incredulous that the pain had disappeared.  Now she can enjoy the holidays without pain!

If you want to work on nutrition, vibrancy and health – hire a nutrition coach who listens to what it is you need, not what they want to sell you.
If you want to be pain free, hire a nutrition coach who specializes in the anti-inflammatory diet and preferably who uses Nutrition Response Testing, too!  But also add an acupuncture, exercise and healing subconscious blocks with intuitive healing. (and gosh, I do all of these!)
If you have emotional issues with food, work with a therapist or intuitive healing coach (I do this with The Path To Heal energy work).
If you want to learn yoga, go to beginner yoga classes and find the instructor you like.
If you want to play tennis, join a league or sign up for lessons.
Whatever your goal, find the right people to partner with to make it easier.

So why wait?  Get started before everyone else does.  Do whatever it is you need to do for you on your own time line.  Work on your nutrition, eat more vegetables, eat less processed foods, learn to cook, take yoga classes, take tennis lessons, go to a drawing or painting class.  Whatever it is….why wait?

Why wait for an imaginary date that probably won’t work anyway.  Just decide Today is the day I start.   Why wait?

Sports Nutrition Planning

You should be finishing strong!

December is a time when many athletes plan their seasons for the upcoming year. They pick which races they want to do – short course, long course and sometimes destination races.  The one thing typically forgotten about is the nutrition part of the race.

A client wrote to me:
“I don’t think many realize when racing triathlon, that there are actually 4 events:
Swim, Bike, run and the most important NUTRITION!!”

But most athletes I have worked with tend to change the aspects of training first in hopes that the race season will improve. Well, it may. But without taking a look at your nutrition, all the training in the world is not going to get you to the finish line quickly if you’re puking your guts out or walking the marathon/run portion of a triathlon.

I have a package that works well with most athletes – the Race Day Nutrition Package.   It consists of 4 sessions, usually 2 weeks apart.
It helps to build the foundation of your nutrition goals so you become a fat burning machine, not a carb junkie looking for the next fix. I am not saying that carbohydrates are bad or good. But we need to keep our nutrients in balance. If you eat mostly carbohydrates, like bagel for breakfast, you spike the blood sugar and set yourself up to be craving more carbs and sugar the rest of the day. This set you up for burning sugar, even if you are in fat burning mode while exercising.  You will have trouble losing weight and the spare tire around your middle.

Why is any of this important? Because you have to train your nutrition and see how the body adapts. It is not an overnight process. And it takes time to pay attention to what signs your body is giving you. It takes time to understand what language your body speaks to you! I am the translator many times with my clients. If you want your body to be a fat burning machine so you can be lean for your race season, you have to plan out the off-season to incorporate the diet.

Your sports nutrition planning comes in 4 basic phases: 1- fat-burning/ transitioning into healthier eating phase; 2- adapting to increase in training phase; 3- practicing race day nutrition in training; and 4- finalizing the race day nutrition plan.

The off -season may be the best time to work on fat loss (not just weight loss). Pick a 2-6 month window before your racing season begins to schedule time with a nutrition coach to help you with your body composition goals.   This will help address the blood sugar management issues you may be experiencing that keeps you feeling heavier than you want, and hungry all the time.

Next is to adapt the eating to the increase in training.  Usually this is 2-4 months before your event.  This sports nutrition planning consists of modifying food options for recovery, further balancing blood sugar for fat loss and working on fueling while training.  This fueling can include real food options to test, or optimizing your choice of pre-made mixes.  Just remember, you need time to make the adjustments.

Then 1-3 months before your event, you want to work on race day nutrition and practice it in training. If you have trouble with walking on the run, GI distress, IBS or just feeling too tired to finish, you need to work on nutrition. These are usually not training related or being under prepared with training.  If you are a carb-burner, you will need more sugar when you train and race. Increase the sugar, increase the likelihood you will have GI distress. Yes, you can train your body to take in more, but your overall nutrition might need adjustment along with race day nutrition so you can minimize the risks of GI distress.  This is where we further optimize recovery meals and timing, as well as work on re-hydrating after workouts so the next sessions are stellar rather than punky.

The last phase of sports nutrition planning is race day nutrition.  This is usually 2-4 weeks before your event.  It will help you optimize what you will eat the week and days before your event, what to eat the morning of your race, and what you will use for fueling and hydration.  You will learn what your signs of dehydration are and how to avoid them.  You will know exactly what to do race day as you have worked thru the issues in training so there is no guess work left.

If you want a better race season, you need to plan your sports nutrition, too!
Use Winter months to convert from sugar to fat burning. Spring to work on more fat burning and adjusting intake to increased training loads. The spring into summer is all about race day nutrition and training the race day plan until it is dialed in with recovery meals during the week, electrolyte adjustments for heat and humidity and finding out what works best for the pre-race dinner, breakfast and during racing fuel. Don’t just plan your races, do your sports nutrition planning, too!  And please don’t wait til May when you are racing in June!

5 Tips for maintaining Holiday Health

The week before Thanksgiving and most of us are worrying about family gatherings, what to wear, what tasty treats we are going to eat and then the fear of not wanting to gain weight as a result of all this holiday celebrating!  Here are 5 easy tips for maintaining holiday health.  I promise, not restrictive!

1)  Eat like normal and bring your food:
If you eat every 3 hours at home, you need to eat every 3 hours when you are away.  If you need to pack some extra meals in the car or for your flight, then do it.  If you need to go grocery shopping while staying at relatives homes so you have what you need, then just do it.  No one will criticize you for eating the foods you are used to.  I do this when I stay with family.  They understand my eating habits are different than theirs  I ask for a few key items to be added to their grocery list or plan a trip to the grocery store while there.  It keeps us all happy!

2)  Don’t save up for dinner!:
This seems to be the key to not overeating at Thanksgiving dinner.  If you just eat smaller meals all day, and maybe keep them to green vegetables and a little protein, that will keep you satisfied for the day.  Going into dinner starving is a sure recipe for overeating, and having a few too many treats afterwards, too.

3)  If you drink alcohol, keep it 2:
This may work for some, it might not work for others.  I know I like my wine with dinner, but I do limit it to 1 glass before dinner and 1 with dinner.  Otherwise I feel lousy the next morning.  The more alcohol you drink, the less control you have over what you eat.
For some, alternating 1 alcoholic beverage with 1 glass of water or sparkling water does the trick.  But try to shy away from the sugary eggnogs which can be 400 calories in 1 glass!

4)  Make sure you find time to exercise, even a little:
Each of us needs to move for 30 minutes a day regardless of what season we are in.  The body needs activity just for overall health.  When traveling, this should not fall off the radar screen.  Schedule time to exercise.  Find a local gym and go in the morning when others are still sleeping in.  You can even make it a joint activity with a sibling or hometown friends.  One year, I went to 2 yoga classes in one day with my sister, then swimming the next day and another yoga class – so much fun!  You’ll feel better since you got your endorphin high, and be less stressed the remainder of the day.

5)  Say yes to you!
Your needs are just as important as your family’s needs.  Don’t be at the bottom of the list and feel resentful at the end of the day or week.  It is not being selfish.  It is saying yes to you.  It is not saying no to the other person.  You may find that when you don’t cram in too many activities, you can enjoy the day.  If you have now committed to making everything for dinner while others just show up, you will have no time to enjoy the gathering, and just be pissed off and tired.  Make dinner a potluck so you divide the tasks amongst everyone coming.  You can ask for help.  You should ask for help.  This is a way of saying yes to you and not feeling overwhelmed.

Give thanks to the many things you have even to just be happy!  Gratitude if given is something that keeps on being received!  Don’t stress about the holidays.  Just enjoy what you can, keep it real, and try not to overdue it.  Enjoy the friends, enjoy the family, enjoy this wonderful time of year.  And be thankful you can maintain your health one more year 🙂