Keeping the Stuffing OFF our Thighs!

Wake up and get active!  On one of yesterday’s talk shows,  I heard that we take in about 5,000 calories at a typical Thanksgiving feast.  Good news, though, as a  student of mine, visiting family in New York, wrote to let me know that Mayor Bloomberg declared any calories eaten on Thanksgiving, don’t count.

In reality, the best way to not wear yesterday’s stuffing on your thighs, today, is to get out there and burn off the extra calories.  If you are indulging in the annual tradition of shopping for bargains, you are probably already out there.  Hopefully you are walking a little faster than the usual shopping pace.  If you belong to a gym, try getting in there for one hour of intense cardiovascular work.  Adding some weight training to your routine will help boost your metabolism.  If you are lucky enough to have today as a vacation day, grab a friend and try to get outside for a brisk, long walk, if your weather allows for that.  Adding some push-ups at the end will keep your heart-rate up and add some upper body strength training to the workout but don’t forget to stretch when you are all done.  Doubling your water intake, today,  will help rid the body of some of the extra sodium ingested yesterday.  Even if you never picked up a salt shaker once at yesterday’s feast, you can be certain your sodium intake was still quite high and drinking alcohol probably just added to the bloating effect.    Eating foods that are natural diuretics will also help reduce that bloat.  Grilled asparagus is my personal favorite.  In fact, consuming lots of vegetables and fruits today, along with the added water, will help detox the body naturally.

In the world of yin and yang, yesterday was a very yang day of family, friends, football and food.  Today we can find balance by making it a yang day of exercise coupled with a yin day of food.  If we can maintain this type of balance through the holiday season, we are certain to enjoy all the festivities, without wearing our “stuffing” on our thighs.