8 Tips for Avoiding the Holiday Pounds

By Stephanie S. SaundersIt's that time of year. The leaves turn majestic hues of red and gold. The air becomes fresh and crisp. We can finally put an extra blanket on the bed and cuddle up with a cup of hot tea. Yes, it's fall. We just spent 8 months killing ourselves to get into that bathing suit, but now we've replaced it with a worn pair of jeans and a much more relaxed attitude towards food. After all, it's the holiday season, and no one'll notice a few extra pounds under layers of clothes. A little extra weight just gives us a New Year's resolution to focus on, right?
Wrong. According to a study by researchers at Sweden's Linköping University, those 4 weeks of celebrating can actually lead to long-term weight gain.
Essentially, the researchers took a group of healthy young people, increased their caloric intake by 70 percent, and lowered their exercise levels. They also had a control group whose diets weren't altered. At 4 weeks, the participants in the test group had gained an average of 14 pounds. After 6 months, and no longer on an increased-calorie diet, only a third of these participants had returned to their original weight. After 1 year, the test group members were each still an average of 3.3 pounds heavier. After 2 and a half years, the "gluttonous" group continued to gain, while the control group still maintained a stable weight.
Now, most of us don't increase our calories that drastically for 30 days straight. Sure, there's Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving leftovers, Hanukkah, the work Christmas party, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day, not to mention the extra sweets, cocktails, and (ahem) fruitcake. But according to the New England Journal of Medicine, the actual average weight gain over the holidays is only 1 pound. (They obviously didn't poll my family or friends.) So what's the big deal? The problem is, a year later, the vast majority of people have not removed that pound. Continue this pattern over 30 or 40 holiday seasons and the problem becomes—quite literally—huge.
So how are we supposed to get through the holidays without gaining weight? Here are eight effective ways to get yourself ready to beat the holiday bulge.

1. Buy clothes that fit right now. This first tip might be a bit pricy, but it's a great motivational aid in staving off weight gain. A new addition to your wardrobe in a size that shows off your summer body can be all you need to prevent those extra pounds from creeping on. Imagine that beautiful holiday dress or great pair of pants, then imagine being unable to zip them up thanks to sugar cookies. Yeah, no one wants that. So before you begin the festivities, go buy yourself something perfect to wear to your parties and hang it someplace visible, so it serves as a constant reminder. Perhaps on the TV where you play your P90X®,INSANITY®, or TurboFire® videos, or in front of that treadmill that might be starting to collect a little dust in the corner, or on your refrigerator door . . . that way, if it doesn't fit quite the same way the next time you try to slip into it, you know it's time to get back to work.
2. Write it down. We try to write down everything we eat, right? We spend countless hours each month staring at a food diary, adding up our calories, and seeing if we got the correct balance of macronutrients. And then the holidays happen, and our little book ends up in the bottom drawer. It's almost like we're hoping that if we didn't write it down, it didn't happen. Unfortunately, the scale doesn't fit in that bottom drawer. The truth is, if we would write down the not-so-perfect meals and treats, we could find a way to compensate for them, at least a bit. For example, you have a peppermint brownie in the break room at work, which you know is carbohydrates and fat. Eat one less portion of carbohydrate and one less portion of fat for your dinner. It's not ideal, but it'll help. Or perhaps you couldn't resist Mom's homemade scones for breakfast. You could plan on an extra 20 or 30 minutes of your workout tonight. The point is, if we write it down, and do the math, we can lessen the damage. It isn't a good long-term plan, but to help compensate for a few slip-ups, it can help.
3. Keep exercising. Most fitness trainers will tell you the slowest point of their year is between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Sure, their clients schedule workouts with the best of intentions, but then they cancel them for parties and gift shopping. It's hard to remain balanced when you have a million things to do and gifts to buy. Yet the greatest gift you can give yourself is to stay focused on your fitness goals and get your workout in. Shopping getting in the way? Do it online and save some time. Parties getting in the way? Just show up later. Who cares if everyone else is a couple of cocktails ahead of you? You'll be healthier, and you won't have to worry about the embarrassing YouTube® videos in the morning. Just stay consistent, even if it's inconvenient. You'll be much less likely to look like Santa (both belly-wise and red-nose-wise) at the end of the month.
4. Eat before parties. Most holiday parties don't focus on low-fat, low-calorie refreshments, so unless you're organizing the event, the best damage control is to show up with a full tummy. Make sure you eat your meals and snacks throughout the day, and try to eat a healthy meal before attending any party. If you're going straight from work, prepare a healthy and filling snack to eat on the way. You'll be a lot less likely to swim in mayonnaise dips and pigs in blankets if you're full.
5. Get junk out of the house. The majority of people don't get into their car at midnight, drive to the store, buy the ingredients for cookies, bake them, and then stay up to eat them. But if those homemade cookies that Linda in accounting made for you are already on your kitchen counter, you better believe you'll find a way to justify it. Frankly, at 12:30 AM, after a rotten day, for most of us there's nothing like a few cookies to drown our sorrows. The secret is to get the garbage out of the house. Send it to work with your significant other, donate it to a bake sale, re-gift it to your 100-pound friend with the perfect metabolism, or just dump it in the trash. Linda will never know. If you have holiday dinner leftovers, box them up for your guests individually and send them home with them. If your family still sends you that Pepperidge Farm® cookie assortment, invite a bunch of people over for a pre-party party and serve 'em up before the drinks. Try not to be wasteful, but get the less-than-healthy temptations out of your reach.
6. Offer to prepare healthy fare. This suggestion won't be well received by those of us who'd rather spend Thanksgiving sitting around watching football than toiling in the kitchen, but if you do the cooking, you have the control. Your family could have a tasty and satisfying meal without ingesting thousands of calories and fat grams. The way the turkey is prepared, the type of stuffing, how vegetables are made, whether the cranberries are real, and countless other things can make or break the healthiness of a meal. There are tons of cookbooks out there, plus recipes in this and past newsletters, that can help you out. Yes, it does require a bit of work. But you're part of the Beachbody community. You can do anything!
7. Choose wisely and proportionally. Something occurs during a holiday meal. It's like a Las Vegas buffet—we feel like we have to eat some of everything. We feel almost like those foods will never exist again, and this is our last meal on the planet. This year, why not try to eat only your favorites, as in two or three items, and keep the portions to the size of your palm? If you're still hungry, try to fill up on veggies (preferably ones that aren't drowned in butter or cream-of-mushroom soup). If you want dessert, lean toward a small slice of pumpkin pie (220 calories) as opposed to pecan (a heftier 543), leaving out the hydrogenated nondairy whipped topping if possible. If you're going to have an alcoholic beverage, go with a flute of champagne (100 calories) as opposed to that rum-laced eggnog (with more than four times more calories, at 420). Just a few wise choices will save you a ton of calories, and probably a significant amount of heartburn as well.
8. Don't beat yourself up. Quite possibly the worst thing you can do is beat yourself up over a bit of holiday indulgence. Yes, it does stink to backslide after working your tail off. But sometimes it doesn't stink as much as dealing with your mother when you turn down her brisket and potato pancakes. Sometimes, we don't have time to go to work, buy a Christmas tree, decorate it with our kids, make dinner, oversee homework, tuck kids in bed, and spend an hour doing our Beachbody workout of choice. We can only do our very best. Mentally beating yourself up will only make you feel worse, which never helped anyone get back to their fitness program. So if you happen to gain that 1 extra pound this holiday season, be part of the rare group who actually follows through with their New Year's resolution and manages to shed it again. A week of hard work and a slight calorie deficit should do the trick. Resolutions don't come easier than that!

A wise person once said, "The toughest part of a diet isn't watching what you eat. It's watching what other people eat." That really is the crux of the problem with dining out in public. When you're surrounded by people who are consuming the equivalent of their body weight in fat grams, it's really tough to stick to that chicken breast and steamed veggies. But if you have a game plan, you're more likely to walk out with both a satisfied tummy and a satisfied mind. So spend a few minutes on researching, on eating, and on exercising beforehand, and be strong when you get there. The effort will be worth it, and you might even be an inspiration to your dining partner. What greater reward is there than that? Oh, yeah—a six-pack.

Beachbody and Network Marketing???

Being involved in Network Marketing I’ve found that many people have negative preconceived notions about this business model. Many people say, “it’s a pyramid scam”. I still can’t figure out how it could be considered a “pyramid scam”. First of all, pyramid scams are illegal and I doubt a profitable multi million dollar company, such as Beachbody, would want to get involved in something like that. The network marketing business model has been around over 60 years and and has helped create huge, profitable companies. The top 2 cosmetics companies, Mary Kay and Avon, both use the Network Marketing business model. Tupperware was on of the first companies to use this business model nearly 60 years ago. Amway still is the top online global seller of supplements. Sprint, MCI and AT&T make their long distance phone service available through Network Marketing companies. The A.L. Williams Company utilized Network Marketing and astounded the insurance industry by outselling Prudential, a giant in the industry, in four short years.
Network Marketing is the new way to financial freedom. You’ll never create residual income and freedom from the traditional job. Even professionals are trading their time for money; if they are not seeing clients or patients, they are not getting paid. Most income is temporary and it is easy to determine if your income is temporary – just stop working for 90 days. If your income stops or slows down, you have temporary income. With Beachbody, you’re able to make sales, generate team volume, and make money while you are asleep, on vacation, or at your kid’s soccer game.
I’ve taken the below right from Carl Daikeler’s, (founder and CEO of Beachbody) Blog:
Carl Daikeler wrote- So when people ask me “Why Network Marketing”, I respond that it is an imperative. Growth is one thing, contribution is another. This business model has both, and instead of one giant company, we’re going to be a company of a million coaches, each their own independent company, helping 100 million people get healthy and fit. That’s what we will achieve, and that’s why network marketing is a priority!
I also found this on Carl’s Blog in the comments section:

Anonymous said…


Though there may be certain benefits of the coach network, I think it’s a net loser for Beachbody. Even for die hard, loyal customers like me, the whole coach thing wreaks of a multi-level marketing scam. I believe you’re well-intentioned, but the coach set-up appears unscrupulous from the outside. In the end, I think it leads to people doubting the integrity of your fitness programs, and that’s too bad because they are absolutely the best DVD workouts available. If I were you, I’d ditch the coach network and put more resources into keeping your customers happy by improving customer service and shipping.



Carl Daikeler said…


First, thanks for your business. As far as looking like a scam goes, that’s what they said about infomercials… but we’ve shown that a marketing medium of ill-repute isn’t what’s guilty, it’s simply misused by unscrupulous people. Look at the P90X infomercial. It’s more entertaining than most of the stuff I see on TV! And it’s promoting a product that’s getting people into incredible shape.
Network marketing as a business model has been abused for decades. But the power of people-helping-people is undeniable. The last the society needs is a giant “Wal-Mart of fitness”. What I think is needed is a million people with an incentive to help those around them incorporate fitness and portion control into their lives. We’ve created that incentive. And that incentive, combined with “absolutely the best DVD workouts available” (thank you!) plus constant improvements in customer service and shipping equals a revolution in health and fitness.
All I know for sure is, many of the people who get involved are making money helping people succeed where they failed with fitness and weight loss for years. That’s a win worth perpetuating. And that’s why this is so important to see through.My prediction is that in five years, people will look at this business model and wonder why gyms were ever so popular in the first place.

TURN YOUR FITNESS INTO A BUSINESS TODAY!

Network Marketing 4 Year Plan VS Traditional Business 40 Year Plan

Let's take a look at how the majority of us are living our lives. For 30-40 years most of us go to a job every day that we hate, barely making enough to pay our bills. Overtime, we give up on our dreams and become complacent to what we have achieved in our life. We stop chasing our dreams, we stop learning, and we give up entirely on any personal growth or development.
This quote below is taken directly from the book, My First Year in Network Marketing, by Mark Yarnell.
“By age twenty five, most people have an idea of what profession they’ll enter, anything from a fishing guide to a surgeon. But forty years later, out of a typical 100 people, 5 are still working, 36 are dead, 54 are dead broke (or at least earning far less than when they were employed), 4 are well off, and 1 person is wealthy. Thus, the forty-year plan means that for four decades most of us go back and forth, like a silly, sick, caged lion … and yet at the end of that time only 1 out of 100 has something to show for it!”

AND THINGS ARE GETTING WORSE

The video above is very sad. People’s lives have been crushed. Although the video is mostly about investing into a 401k, it also talks about the downturn of the economy and how getting laid off or losing a job can turn your financial situation into disaster. This reinforces the fact that working for someone else is the biggest financial risk someone can take. We all have the opportunity to be our own bosses and to take back control of our lives and finances.
Instead Of Working Hard For 40 Years, Work Hard For 4 Years…
With network marketing, it is possible to work hard for one company for 4 years and build an income based on the honest movement or products or services, and be set for life. While 4 years may be very ambitious, it is possible to do. I don’t want to give false hope or imply that it is something that is easy to do. As with any business or industry, there will be some learning involved that requires time and effort, but it well worth it. While author Mark Yarnell claims it is possible to achieve in 4 years, it may require up to 10 years of hard to work to earn enough residual income to consider yourself independently wealthy, 10 years is still much better than working hard for 40 years for someone else, and ending up with nothing.

“Stop building someone else’s dream and start building your own”


More To Think About


Most network marketing businesses have very little to no risk. Most “brick and mortar” businesses require significant capital before you can even hang up a sign. This is not the case when joining a network marketing business. This is a significant fact because it enable anyone to be able to join and in the competitive world of home businesses and franchises, we have no equals other than other network marketing businesses.

Another great aspect of being part of a network marketing business is that there is literally no ceilings or limits on the amount of income that can be earned. Most workers are paid by the hour or a fixed salary and there are only so many hours in a day, which limits how much they are able to make. Even high paid professions have limits to how much can be made, a lawyer can only bill so many hours in a day and a doctor can only perform a handful of surgeries in a day. Some great people working in traditional business haven’t had a raise in ten years. But, in our case, we can create a raise for our family everyday if we choose. Since we can sponsor an unlimited number of people who can each do the same, we are ultimately paid on the efforts of hundreds of thousands individuals. The fact that it is possible to earn 10K a week, or 100K a month is very exciting. I’ve personally met people that are making that kind of money and even more, so I know it is possible.

Get Started With The Best Network Marketing Company Today!
Contact me for more information on how to get started.  http://beachbodycoach.com/mrsbeachfit

Shakeology -Vegan Style is coming Soon!

Since becoming a Beachbody Coach I have had too many inquiries to count about Shakeology being vegan and customers and Beachbody Coaches alike wondering when a vegan Shakeology would be available. I knew plans for a vegan Shakeology were in the works, but did not have a specific date until now! A VEGAN Shakeology will be available sometime in the first quarter of 2012, most likely in January.


http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/MrsBeachFit?bctid=1009394794001



The vegan diet is becoming more and more popular as the benefits of it are being talked about. Research is being done and people are starting to conver to veganism. Eating a vegan diet is healthy for the human body. There are many benefits to being vegan which include:

• Healthy Weight Loss
• Higher Energy Levels
• Healthier Skin
• Longevity
• Less Body Odor
• Reduction in Bad Breath
• Healthier Hair
• Reduction in PMS Symptoms
• Alleviates Allergy Problems
• Prevents Disease
• And much more

While I am not a vegan or vegetarian after reading the list of benefits above I am not against it in any way. Our bodies deserve the best food and nutrition possible and if that option is vegan, so be it!
Many people don't know the difference between vegan and vegetarian. A vegan does not eat anything that comes from a living animal. The major difference between a vegan and a vegetarian is dairy consumption. A vegetarian will eat a slice of cheese pizza while a vegan will not.
It seems like it would be difficult to be 100% vegan. Your options are limited if you are travelling or on the road. It seems as if most meals would have to be perfectly planned. The new Vegan Shakeology will be a healthy snack or meal option that is easy to take anywhere. The best news yet is that the Vegan Shakeology will be a Tropical flavor and is supposed to be the best tasting of the 3 Shakeology flavors!
Vegan Shakeology Coming Soon!

Put it all out on the table.

I really like this post from Jillian Michaels- She is famous for just Telling it like it is.

Listen, getting in shape is all about setting goals. Losing weight, building muscle, and getting rid of the unhealthy eating habits take guts and perseverance. You're dealing with something big here. When you decide what you want, make it specific and concrete. For example, don't just say that you want to lose weight. Ask yourself some questions: How much weight? And is weight really the most important thing? Or is it more important that you climb your front steps with ease or lower your body-fat ratio? Think hard about what you want, and use your journal to keep track. Once you've figured out where you want to go, here's how you're going to get there:
Learn how to make decisions you can stick with. Remember, you're not just going on a diet, you're establishing a pattern of health that will enhance the quality of your life. Think big, but choose small, attainable goals — lose five pounds to start or fit into pants one size smaller — and build on those goals as you reach each one.
Allow yourself room for setbacks. One setback is only one setback — it's not the end of the world, nor is it the end of your journey toward a better you. You don't have to give up. Just get back on the bandwagon and keep going.
Walk the line between self-denial and self-indulgence. It's the middle ground between the two that will offer you the best foundation for building your new life. Maintain your discipline by allowing yourself little pleasures every now and again.
Understand that there are no mistakes. The things you used to think of as mistakes are now just learning experiences, so don't waste time beating yourself up. You'll encounter small failures — everyone does. But you'll achieve success too. Just remember, every pound you gain can be lost.
Keep in mind that faith in yourself and your work is what will keep you striving for the best. Now, get in the zone and push as hard as you can!

Don't Feel like you cannot keep up with a Healthy lifestyle.  We all need support and motivation and That is what I am here for. Contact me for support.
Have a Happy Healthy Day!

Is it Possible to Make A Million $ with As a Beachbody Coach???

A million dollars a year is a lot of money. If we break it down to a daily amount it comes out to 2739.73 dollars a day. All you need to do to earn a million dollars is figure out how to make $2739.73 a day. But, what job pays that much?

Let's break it down to hourly. To earn a million dollars a year earning an hourly wage you would have to make a little under $343 a hour and work 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day the entire year. Upon doing a little research I couldn't find many jobs that pay that kind of hourly wage. To earn a million dollars a year you need to be a professional athlete, an actor or celebrity of some kind, own a profitable company or be the CEO of a large company. Those are the most common ways to earn a million dollars a year so how the heck can a Beachbody Coach earn a million dollars a year? How is it possible to earn that kind of income selling P90X and Shakeology? It just doesn't make sense.

I'm very happy to inform you that not only is it possible, it has been done. In the link below you can see the highest and lowest earnings of the different ranks of Beachbody Coaches. In the chart you can see that the highest amount a Beachbody Coach earned in 2010 was $1,052,383.

http://www.beachbodycoach.com/uploads/fckeditor/mdbody/File/downloads/statement_of_independent_coach_earnings.pdf

As you can see from the numbers on the earnings pdf it is possible to make some serious cash as a Beachbody Coach, but how is it possible?

Beachbody Coaches have the opportunity to build a large income because they are able to use leverage to build a large organization of coaches. Leverage is the key component in obtaining wealth. In regular companies, business owners leverage employees who are willing to work for a hourly wage. But Beachbody's business model is much different than a regular corporation. It would be a rare occassion for a business owner to train an employee with the hope that the employee would someday surpass him or her. In most cases an employee never has the opportunity to earn more than the owner of the company. If an employee wants to earn more money the only option the employee has is to start his or her own company, and then would be direct competition to their former boss. This is why owners never really share their secrets or train employees to their full potential, out of fear that they will someday lose them and be their direct competition. This is very common in real estate, the construction business, the financial industry and many other industries.

On the other hand, in Beachbody's business model, when someone brings a new coach into the business, it is actually beneficial to the sponsor if the new coach does well. So the sponsor will do everything they can to make sure the new coach gets trained properly, and the sponsor will also share any secret tips or methods they use. Network marketing is a unique business because it is the only business where you would route for your distributors to do better than yourself. It comes down to real team work because if the sponsoree doesn't do well then the sponsorer doesn't do well. The sponsorer has a vested interest in seeing their sponsoree do well.

I'm not saying making a million dollars in this business is easy, in fact, I will say that it is hard. It takes some real work. Things will have to be learned and there will be ups and downs. But the fact that it is possible and can be done is very motivating. The possibility of earning a million dollars a year at your every day 9-5 office job doesn't exist. It doesn't matter how hard you work, even after 30 years, there is no way you can make that kind of money working for a hourly wage or salary, for someone else. Even with all the over time in the world. And who wants a life full of overtime? The fact is kind of depressing when you think about it, to be limited in what you can earn and what you can do. It depresses me which is why I became a Beachbody Coach and will be a 15 Star Diamond making over a million dollars by the end of 2012. More and more people are starting to see the benefits of network marketing and the industry continues to grow year after year. Are you ready to change your life?

The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch.