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Hey there all of you Holiday Lovies! I have been thinking about you and decided to whip up this little Holiday Helper so that you can get some tricks up your sleeve for feeling and looking your most FABULOUS self during the holidays. 2
You know what? It really doesn’t HAVE to be an all-out brawl with your body all season… It CAN be all warm and cozy and sparkly, fun AND LIGHT- even in the midst of all out holiday CRAY-ZAY With a few mindset shifts, some new ideas and a plan floating around in your head you can hop on through the holidays without plopping over at the end with an eggnog hangover and a berry pie belly. Come on in.Let’s talk about it!
Holiday Decisions
1. Make Decisions, Not Choices: What does this mean? Well, I often coach my cleansing clients with this mantra. What I mean by it is that you have the power to DECIDE how you want your holidays to roll ahead of time. We often go into autopilot around this time of year and think that things just kind of happen to us. • Those extra 5-10 pounds that creep up magically - POOF! • Doing too much for everyone and getting resentful • Drinking Too Much Too Often and feeling puffy, guilty and crappy • Overcommitting to things you don’t really like to do but think you should • Not asking for help because that’s just not how you roll • Not getting regular exercise because you are just too busy • Not getting any downtime because, well… (insert your annual story here) • Not getting quality time with your closest friends because: Oh, you’ll see them at the big parties
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O.K Darlings…these are choices we make when we haven’t thought to make a few decisions. Decisions are PROMISES we make to ourselves.
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And they can be so uber powerful that if we take the time to map and put them on our calendar, we won’t just go all flimflam and run around like a turkey with our head cut off and land in a heap of dark peppermint chocolate (which you get oh-so-sick of) by the end of December. So try this: Find a quiet place with no distractions and get your calendar out. Think of the top 10 things you WANT to do this year, but listen to your inner voice and ask: 1. 2. 3.
WHY do I want to do this? How does thinking about doing this make me FEEL? WHAT would make this easier to do?
Put those things on your calendar along with the idea you had for making it easier. So for instance: If you usually host a fun shindig but it’s a ton of work because you usually make all the food, decorate from floor to ceiling, give out cute homemade hostess gifts, make all of your ornaments and centerpieces out of sugared fruit from your apple orchard…
OH MY GAWWD! Stop it! Just STOP! Pleazzzzzze! I say this because this used to be me. Back then it was fun. Sort of. Now? Not so much. So consider this: How about doing part of the things you usually do. Like have the Ho-Ho-Ho holiday shindig. But ask yourself: What feels FUN about this? What feels Stressful and Sucky about this? Divide, conquer, delegate and DECIDE ahead of time to keep everything manageable and as FUN as possible. Because truly, if YOU are having fun and you are not all stressed and shrieky from the OVERDOING, whomever you are doing the doing for-they will have more fun too.
It doesn’t matter how MUCH you do. It matters HOW you do it.
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90/10 & Back Again
2. Adopt The 90/10 Concept: What does this mean?
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Ok. Don’t be an all-or-nothing gal. I will share a secret with you: Most women who struggle with their weight and taking care of their bodies are absolutely lovely women. It’s just that, they’re so hard on themselves with their perfectionistic ideas about how they should be that they end up working against their bodies by not planning to ALLOW themselves the joy of delicious food and delicious FUN. Inevitably, what happens is that all the tremendous willpower they have eventually dissolves into an all-out brawl with their bodies because, Damn Girl: Gimme some freaking CAKE and some ME time once in a while. Or I WILL find a way to get some pleasure, somehow. Oh YES I WILL. And if you keep holding me back with all of your rules, it will turn out ugly; like an all-out BINGE.
So what if you adopt the idea that: You can eat whatever you want.
Yes, I said it. You can. 10% of the time, eat whatever you want. 90% of the time, eat what you know feels awesome in your body. 10% eat something just because it is simply delicious and you LOVE it. Only caveat? Stay completely PRESENT with yourself. Don’t FOG out and treat to food mindlessly. Give yourself permission to enjoy it and stop eating when it no longer tastes as amazing as it did in the first few bites. By the way? This is how most women who DON’T gain weight each holiday eat. Try this. It’s absolutely MAGIC.
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Healthy Social
3. Schedule Healthy Social:
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It’s not hard to find people in your life who are craving some healthy things along with all the imbibing that goes on during the holidays. If you’ve ever had holidays like I used to have where I actually DIDN’T spend time with some of my best pals because we were all so busy with OBLIGATIONS (are they really obligatory? Says who?) Than you know how sideways that can feel. Like: “Let’s get together AFTER the holidays when we aren’t so busy.”
Question that idea, Dear One. If you hear yourself saying that, than you are missing the whole holiday boat ride, sister. Get ahead of the holiday curve and book your pals for lunchtime walks, coffee or tea at 10 A.M., a healthy Thai lunch in the midst of a day out shopping. Book it Dano. Otherwise it won’t happen. Trust me. You will thank me if you do this NOW.
And you know what? THIS is the kind of thing that creates true, happy holiday memories. Here’s a wonderful memory I have from last year where a friend and I committed to getting out together for a walk, a few times a week, no matter what:
Wine-Thirty Strategy
4. Plan Your Holiday Booze Strategy: What does this mean? Oh, you know. Having a drink during the holidays is always fun, until it’s NOT. Capiche? My clients are generally wine lovers and partiers. That’s probably because I am too. I’ve had too many holidays where it’s caught up with me in the end because I didn’t have any strategy. There was one year that I determined that: Martinis are not my friend. I love them, but they do not love me back. We no longer party together. If you have a drink like that, I’d say just ditch it. So with this, I think if you and your cocktail habit have a sticky relationship, make decisions, not choices. Here’s what I recommend: If you love your wine, love it. If you love a few festive martinis--love them. But do this just two nights a week during the holidays. And it’s the same with the food. Stay present. Enjoy and savor every sip, and when it’s time to stop, stop. Think of how you want to feel the next day. And stop. Cheers!
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Body Love
5. Body Love Breakfast: Not just for the holidays, but a simple and very easy way to love your body thru the holidays is to have a luscious smoothie for breakfast as often as possible with added fiber & healthy fats.
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Your body shifts into fasting mode when you sleep. Because you can’t store protein, getting it at breakfast becomes especially important to prevent muscle breakdown, and to give you a healthy energized start for your sleigh ride of a day. My clients learn quickly that a proteinrich breakfast smoothie helps them feel amazing and helps the day go more…well…smoothly! Fiber is my go-to little appetite helper. I call it my secret weapon for fat loss and fast metabolism. Of course it can keep you regular, but fiber also balances blood sugar and reduces hunger and cravings so you’re less likely to be tempted by the stupid little candy canes at the bank, or those nasty store-bought anemic-looking little cookies that are always omnipresent at the office. My hunger-busting, high-fiber fave foods to include in your smoothie are: raw nuts/seeds, berries, non-starchy-veggies, flax, chia seeds and fiber powder.
I will tell you that I honestly resisted the whole smoothie thing for a long time. I generally like a hot breakfast, and truthfully, I don’t jump quickly for new fads. But I feel sooo good all through the day when I start with a smoothie. My energy is level & strong. I feel light and alert and exceptionally awesome.
Here is my favorite blood sugar balancing smoothie recipe: 11
Beauty Sleep
6. Beauty Sleep Sessions There is a REASON it’s called beauty sleep! Not getting enough sleep doesn’t just make you bitchy--it wreaks havoc on your hormones, causing you to hold on to belly fat (OY VEY!). It makes your stress hormones scream out loud, leaving your skin looking deflated and dull. Not a pretty picture. So make good sleep a non-negotiable. How do you get beautiful sleep? 12
• Ditch the alcohol. More than 2 drinks a day will KILL your sleep. You may fall asleep easier, but do you know what? It’s not the same type of restful REM sleep you get when you don’t imbibe. Alcohol disrupts your rest halfway through the night and makes it difficult to hit the Holy Grail of rest: REM, the deep sleep stage, which occupies around 20% of our total sleeping hours each night. Losing that delicious REM sleep will add up quickly! So again, plan that alcohol strategy like I talked about earlier. • Turn off the electronics waaayy before bedtime. Did you know that the blue light emitted by screens on cell phones, computers, tablets, and televisions restrains the production of melatonin--the hormone that controls your sleep/wake cycle (circadian rhythm)? Also, it may seem like no biggy to knock out a few emails before bed or unwind with your favorite movie, but by keeping your mind engaged, technology can trick your brain into thinking that it needs to stay awake. And if you’re surfing the web, seeing something exciting (or annoying) on Facebook, or reading a negative email, those things can make it hard to relax and settle into a healthy snooze. After spending an entire day surrounded by technology, your mind needs time to chill out!
• Take a nice relaxing bath at night before bedtime. I always encourage this when my lovely clients are doing my Clean & Lean Cleanse. Here’s a great bath for relaxing your nervous system, helping you sleep better: the magnesium contained in Epsom salts gets rid of toxins, while the lavender oil in the mix lowers your cortisol and actually promotes weight loss and weakened inflammations! Need I say more? I think not. Here’s how to end your razzle-dazzle day in your own decadent haven of a spa-like luxury treatment:
Lisa’s Little Holiday Helper Spa Bath:
Add 2 cups of Epsom salts, 1 cup of baking soda, and 10 drops of lavender oil to bath water as hot as you can tolerate. Take a 20-minute bath just before bed every night you can swing it! Warning: This is addictive.
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Thin Woman Secrets
7. Think, Drink and Eat Like a Thin Woman:
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Ok, so I don’t know if you know this, but I absolutely ADORE creating this Holiday Helper every year for my community. I always want it to be useful, helpful, and empowering for the lovely people who take these strategies to heart. So it occurred to me, that many of you would be interested to hear from real women, over 50 WHO DO NOT GAIN WEIGHT every holiday. I interviewed some of the healthiest women I know who have this weight and health thing, pretty well handled. What was so interesting is that they all had this one theme in common:
Low Drama Moderation. What does THAT mean?! Well, some of us cringe at the word moderation, and what do I mean by low drama? They go about eating and drinking without a lot of drama around it. This is HUGE to women who can’t seem to figure out how to get things dialed in around their weight. It can always feel like this giant mystery… how do other women have success in that area? Here are a few of the principles they practice:
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No Drama Extremes:
These women all told me that they love to eat, but if they have a day where they feel they overindulged, the next day, they simply cut back. They don’t go on a juice fast. They don’t beat themselves up. They don’t hop on and off the scale all day. They just plan out the day to be more mindful. They start their day with a healthy smoothie and maybe a light soup for lunch. They move forward, making one better choice at a time. And they don’t make what they ate the day before a huge character judgment. They don’t ruminate in guilt. They simply more forward with how they want to feel in their bodies. •
No Drama Exercise:
All of the women I interviewed have made regular exercise non-negotiable in their lives in a LOW DRAMA way. A few have regular classes they attend that they love. A few walk regularly alone or with friends. A few squeeze it in when they can with at-home practices in an area of their homes with exercise equipment. One slender 55-year-old Chica shared something I thought was brilliant. She is a super busy entrepreneur who runs not one but two successful businesses and has got a schedule most of us would find pretty hectic. What she does is first thing in the morning in her pajamas, she grabs a cup of coffee and hops on her recumbent exercise bike and simply pedals at whatever speed she’s in the mood for, for as long as her schedule permits. She says she can read emails on her phone, go over paperwork she would normally be doing at the office, or simply plan a dinner party in her notebook. How BRILLIANT! No big huge boot camp thing, no 12-mile marathon every day, she’s just getting her bod pod MOVING. She also told me that once she gets moving it often inspires her to do a little more, so she’ll do some weight lifting, balancing yoga poses or whatever. She also mentioned she is sometimes inconsistent. No big deal. She just starts back up.
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The main thing is:
These women view exercise as just something they DO. It makes them feel good and look good, so what the hell? It doesn’t need to be a big mysterious drama to get a little movement in everyday. 16
Is there something about this that appeals to you? Do you have an old treadmill or exercise bike that is now a place to hang your clothes? Why not clear it off and try starting slow and mellow and see what happens?
No Scale Drama: The other thing I found interesting is that these Moderation Mavens don’t hop on the scale that often. They are so in tune with their bodies that they pretty much can tell what they weigh by how their clothes fit. Waste band gets a little tight? Cut back on the nighttime treat, or wine with dinner. They mostly mentioned that when they get on the scale it’s more out of curiosity than anything. I can always tell a woman who has a struggle with food by her relationship to the scale. Some of these women tell me they weigh themselves off and on all day long.
Please don’t do this. That is not healthy or kind. Your body won’t respond to this kind of tyranny. How your weight fluctuates during the day has little to do with real weight. If you are going to weigh yourself do it at the same time in the morning, every week or so. No need to give the scale so much importance. Your body deserves to be tuned into. She will guide you better if you listen to her instead of a stupid scale. Do you notice a common vein here? These women are more curious than judgmental about their bodies. They explore food, exercise and their weight from a balanced view rather than from a perspective of GOOD and BAD and ALL or NOTHING thinking. They are KIND to themselves and to their bodies. You can have this too.
Notice when you are tuning in to what works for you and when you are tuning out. Notice when you allow FEAR and DRAMA around your body and food to rule you. Slow down and Love yourself up. Good habits FEEL good.
Loosen up the reins a bit. Allow yourself to feel your best, and let that motivate you.
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Holiday Fashionsista
8. What to Wear this Holiday: OK. This one is something I’ve personally been working on, big time, for the last year or so.
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Do ever dread a party because you don’t know what to wear but you wait until the day of the party and then frantically go out shopping to find an outfit and you can’t find the right thing? Finally you head to your own closet to see what fits and well…then that is a whole other stressful ordeal. Eventually you find something to wear and lo and behold your pantyhose are all snagged up, so damn; I guess the weirdo shiny ones with the little silly bow at the heel will have to do? Oh and you put on the shoes and suddenly realize that they are painful to walk in (outside of Nordstrom). They are kind of hooker looking too, and didn’t you swear last year you’d never wear them again? OK, sister. This. Is. Me. It’s SO not fun to get dressed like this and it usually leads to the Fabulous Husband reminding me an annoying number of times that the party starts at X and am I almost ready or will I be ready SOON? Which usually leads to me becoming kind of a frazzled bitchy Beaucoup Pre-Party Pooper as I am totally frustrated with myself for repeating this insanity every year.
Do you do this?
Stop it! Here’s how: •
Get out your holiday duds NOW. Try them on and see what fits and looks best. DO NOT plan to lose 5 pounds to wear such and such dress this month. It’s probably not gonna happen sweetheart. And it will only make you feel defeated, trying on a tight-a$$ dress the day of a party. Line the true contenders in a row in your closet and even the jewelry you plan to wear.
• Polish up and arrange your jewelry; organize them and you won’t be searching around for that one earring or untangling that necklace you love from Aunt Edna. • Go out and buy like 5 pairs of pantyhose NOW. This is not as easy as it used to be. Now it is like rocket science to pick the right pair. Open them up and try them on NOW with your whole ensemble. With the shoes. Not the hookerish ones. The ones that you bought way ahead of time that look and feel fabulous. Yes, those. You’re welcome.
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Holiday Beauty Elixir
9. Drink a Beauty Power Elixir: I have a new Beauty Power elixir I’m drinking first thing in the morning. As you may know by now, I have a line of products I created to be perfect for my lovely clients who are over 40. So since I really want to feel and look my best this season, I’m starting my day with a little magic concoction and here is the secret recipe: Holiday Beauty Elixir:
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• • • • • • •
½ cup warm filtered water ½ lemon squeeze 1 TBSP Clean & Clear Hair, Skin & Nails 1/2 tsp. Clean & Clear Power Probiotic 2 tsp. Clean & Clear Power Fiber 1 TBSP Clean & Clear Power Greens 1 Dropper of Clean & Clear Daily D Drops
I swirl that all up and drink it and I’m well on my way to feeling fabulous. The Daily D drops with K-1 and K-2 has a superior delivery system and if you are D deficient you may need to supplement as D is CRUCIAL. You can learn more about that here {Editor Note: Don’t forget the link here!}. Hair skin and nails are always flying out the door these days as it’s full of collagen peptides, loaded with biotin and vitamin C, Glucosamine, and L-Glutamine. It’s terrific for skin, hair, nails and ALSO for athletes who need joint and ligament support. Women are reporting great results and it’s my latest and greatest new beauty product. Greens? Oh, we KNOW we need to eat our greens, riiiight? Well this is what I call: Greens Health Insurance. I simply drink this bio-available form of powerful ant-oxidants to ensure I get my boost right off the bat in the morning. You must know by now that almost everyone can benefit from a probiotic. But you know what? Many of the probiotics out there do not have a delivery system that allows them to get through the barriers in your digestive system and go where they need to go to do their magical work. Mine does. And I don’t like to take a lot of pills so I just toss my powerful probiotic into this elixir. BAM. And Fiber? In just 2 teaspoons of Clean & Clear Fiber you get 12 different kinds of healthy fiber in a Paleolithic formula that is free of fillers (most greens powders have fillers), and free of toxic contaminants. Greens powders are definitely not all created equally! Anyway, my skin really glows when I drink this combo in the morning and I notice a difference FAST. So get your holiday Glow on girl! You can find all these things here!
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Foodie A-Hole
10. How to Eat at Parties and not be a Foodie A-Hole
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Are you going non-gluten? Who cares? Are you non-dairy? No one cares. Not drinking wine tonight? You guessed it: No one cares. What I mean by this is: What you choose to eat and drink is no one’s business but your own. Don’t try to transform the world at a party by imposing your food habits on others and don’t allow them to impose their food choices on you. I used to make a big ordeal about what I was going to eat or drink at a party. Now I just bring a healthy veggie dish or soup and pile it on with some protein and call it a day. Another brilliant trick if you are not drinking and you are with a food and wine crowd: Just let them pour you a glass of wine and don’t drink it. What I’ve learned is that when I say: “OH, I’m NOT drinking. Or I don’t EAT Bread. Or, I’m DAIRY free.” It simply draws attention to it. Sometimes it makes people uncomfortable because I appear to be frowning on something they intend to enjoy. When really, who cares?
It’s kind of like going to a party and saying “HEY! I don’t wear red sweaters EVER. I’m trying to quit!”.
So the people wearing red sweaters are all like: What the Hell is WRONG with red sweaters?!” Get my point? Coming into your own about what and how you eat is a process. This idea might sound foreign to you if you’ve always been one to either “just eat” whatever is served to you, or one who simply desires to “share” your healthy ways with others. I understand that. I really do.
Honestly, if others want to know why you look and feel so good from how you are eating or drinking, they will ask you. And if you feel you must eat every food someone serves you, I’d imagine this quality is true in other parts of your life too. Stay aware. Food and your relationship with it contain hidden secret messages it may be trying to teach you about yourself. Listen. What you learn when you take responsibility for what you eat, drink and how you think, can transform you. Trust me on this.
Now get out there and eat, drink and live like you mean it!
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Give Presence
11. Give the Gift of PRESENCE What the Whaaaattt?
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Isn’t it funny how we can spend all this time, money, and energy with such good intentions around the holidays and still often feel so depleted and empty come January 1? I think it’s due to a lot of the factors I’ve discussed here in this handbook,
but the one thing I want for you and me this holiday is simply being present. I have a friend I adore, as she is simply lovely in every way. I was discussing her almost magical qualities with another friend and she remarked: She’s just so PRESENT when we spend time together. I thought: AHA! That’s IT. She makes you feel good because not only is she a positive lady and a no-drama mama, but when she is with you, she is WITH you. She listens. She looks you in the eye. She notices funny comments you make. She reads your face and can tell if you are happy or sad. Whether you are meeting for tea, or in a meeting she is IN.
So how do we develop this quality that is so remarkable? Slow down.
Listen. Rather than thinking of the next piece of helpful advice to dish out, or the next thing you want to share, show up and ask great questions that you’d want someone to ask you. Breathe. Embrace the moment. Hold space for the person you are with. Get off your phone. Or better yet, show the people you love how important they are by turning your phone OFF for an hour or so. Not only will your friends and family love you for it, you will love yourself for having the guts to embrace every moment you are in with deliberate grace. Because really, what life is about are the MOMENTS all linked together to make your entire delicious experience.
Why not show up for all of them fully this holiday?
Let’s commit to this together. Are you with me?
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And so my Friend,
I want YOU to have a seriously Joyous Holiday. Take just a moment each day when you wake up to reflect on all the best memories you have around this time of year…
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(Yeah, I get that there is probably a little junk in the trunk there too, but we aren’t gonna go there right now, K?) Who were you with? What were you feeling? I bet you’ll notice it wasn’t the flawlessness & perfection of it all that makes you smile, but the LOVE & the GOOD INTENTIONS and even the funny occasional Christmas mini-disasters that stand out in your mind.
So, my wish for you is that:
YOU just show up as your most fabulous self, And that you simply rock this season with love, gratitude and a dash of healthy swagger!
Xoxo, Lisa
Recipes? Did you say recipes?
Here you go:
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