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I don’t even own a scale, and am recovering from years of torment of that metal beast. It’s somewhat liberating to not be bound by those numbers.

In my humble opinion, if you’re using your scale as your number one way to determine your progress, then you may be sabotaging yourself and not even knowing it!

Why is the scale such a deceptor? Because it measures (or weighs) your overall body composition, and takes into no account how much of your weight is fat, muscle, fluid, or tissue. here’s a few examples of how this can be misleading.

Take two ladies, both 5’4″. One has worked out and weight lifted for years, looks great and wears a size 5. She steps on the scale and weighs 135 lbs.

The other leads a sedentary lifestyle, wears a size 7 and is unhappy with how her body looks. She gets on the scale and weighs 130 lbs.

It’s true! This has happened!

In fact, I have just recently had a client that has been working really hard and has come in on more than one ocassion completely frustrated because the numbers have not budged on the scale! Well, we took her measurements on Tuesday, and in less than two weeks, she has lost a total of almost five inches! Her clothes are fitting better, and she feels better, yet she’s allowed that to be overshadowed by the scale!

I’ll tell you what, if I had a “magic” machine, and you could step in it and weigh 15 lbs less, but look the same, would you be happy? What if you stepped in it, weighed the exact same, but looked amazing, how ’bout that?

Using the scale can be a complete mind game, and something I encourage you to stop doing! Have your body fat % measured, take your circumference measurements, try on a pair of tight fitting jeans and use them as measurement, take before and after pictures!

All of these can be much better judges of progress. You may even save your sanity too

So that’s why we’ll be posting great Holiday dessert ideas for you that won’t pack on the pounds.

First, is Grilled Banana Splits. Here’s the simple ingredients you’ll need:

4 ripe bananas

2 Tbsp chocolate chips

1/2 cup non-fat, frozen vanilla yogurt

4 tsp chopped walnuts

Here are the easy-to-follow directions:

1- Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2- Place each banana on its side on a piece of foil. Cut a slit lengthwise across the top. Leave the skin attached.

3- Push 1/2 Tbsp chocolate chips into the slit of each banana.

4- Wrap the bananas with the foil, leaving the top open. Grill or bake about 15 minutes or until the chocolate melts.

5- Loosen the foil and press the bananas open a little.

6- Top each banana with 2Tbsp of the frozen yogurt and sprinkle with 1tsp walnuts.

That’s it for a nutritious and delicious treat!

Second, if you like your life even easier, and you’re a big fan of Dark Chocolate, you are going to LOVE Prograde Cravers. I seriously cannot even begin to tell you how delicious they taste.

You can watch this video to see for yourself. You’ll see fitness professionals tasting Prograde Cravers for the very first time. Yes, fitness pros that have tasted every bar on the planet are amazed at how good they taste.

Trust me, you have to see this: http://dominateyoursport.getprograde.com/cravers 

Seriously, Cravers make the PERFECT holiday snack or dessert.  They are less than 200 calories and are made from organic dark chocolate. http://dominateyoursport.getprograde.com/cravers

I also am well aware of the additional stress that this time of year can bring as well.

I went shopping yesterday afternoon, and could not imagine doing that more than once! There were people everywhere! Right off the bat, parking was difficult to find, there were lines in almost every store, it was difficult finding the right item in the right size, there were extra specials all over, it was the vision of holiday chaos.

I couldn’t help but think of James and Shilo at home, playing in the snow, hanging out, and how I wanted to be there with them!

Just being surrounded by that business raises stress levels. Throw in the extra large schedule, parties to attend, gatherings, colds going around, and it’s enough to make most people reach their breaking point.

Stress not only makes us feel like someone we’re not, it also causes the release of hormones into our system that sabotage our fat loss efforts. Blood sugar levels remain high, cortisol is released, and our ability to make the “right” choices lessens.

Here are some strategies I use to try to ease the stress and get back to the point that I enjoy the season!

I sit down and choose which events are most important, and respectfully decline others. Freeing up your schedule can do wonders for your outlook on the holiday season, as well as your waistline!

Do things that allow you to truly enjoy the holidays. Take some detours on the way home to admire some of the lights and decorations, turn off the TV and have a special dinner with your family and remember to take in the memories and enjoy one another.

Also, remember to take 10-20 minutes to yourself to de-stress. Take a bath, or close your eyes and allow yourself to enjoy a few moments alone in the shower. Indulge in a sugar scrub, or go and get a pedicure. Or wake up a little earlier than everyone else and spend a few quiet moments journaling, or meditating, or reading.

The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today; Let us move forward with strong and active faith. 

~Franklin D. Roosevelt

I know it may be a little cruel and unusual to do this right after having wrapped your mind around that…but this means that New Year’s day is just 3 weeks away!

I am speechless too! Do you have your goals in mind? Are you ready to “turn over a new leaf”?

I know in the hustle and bustle of the season, this can be on the backburner. However, I encourage you to take a little “me” time and come up with your goals now.

Even start telling others about them as you gather during the holidays. You are much more likely to reach your goals if you’ve made yourself accountable to others by telling them about your plans.

Here, I’ll start…One of my goals for the New Year is to read a new book every other month. I don’t know what it is with me and reading, but I do better to read articles, and tend to fall asleep reading books. But, I know and want to read more. So, there you have it. Not entirely fitness related, but it’s a goal nonetheless.

Feel free to post your goals here. I’d love to see you reach each and every one of them!

One of the books I use on a regular basis is “The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook” (http://www.triggerpointbook.com). Until recently however, I have been all about doing this as treatment for my husband and others. I have just recently began to experiment on getting myself “straightened out”. These little knots are facinating things, painful as anything when they’ve gone too far, and the relief once they’ve been remedied is astounding.

What are Trigger Points? Travell and Simons define them as “a highly irritable localized spot of exquisite tenderness in a nodule in a palpable taut band of muscle tissue.” In other words, these little knots are crazy painful, and are found as knots in tight bands of muscle tissue.

Without going into way too much detail, trigger points literally can cause your body to stop using a muscle. When you stop using a muscle, it will shorten and tighten up, making the situation worse, not to mention the stress caused on surrounding muscles due to the fact that they are trying to overcompensate for movement within that area.

Many times, pain and discomfort in an area have nothing to do with that area at all. For instance, you may feel pain in your glutes (butt) for a period of time, well, after ignoring that pain long enough, it seems to have gone away, or is less intense. Then one day, you find that your lower back is killing you doing every day activities. Well, remember that pain in your glutes? It could be directly causing your back pain and discomfort due to your body overcompensating for trigger points in your glutes.

Remember that song you’d sing as a kid…your ankle bone connected to your leg bone, or something like that? Well, the same goes for our muscles. Along with learning to create movement properly, I’d highly suggest either learning about trigger points and addressing them yourself, or consulting a local professional that knows about trigger points and can help you sort yours out.

A little side note…having trigger point therapy work done is not pleasant at the time. You may feel like the person doing it (even if it’s yourself) means you harm. Just remember the relief in the long run is well worth it!

It was a last minute trip, but hey, you only live once, right! What’s a total of about 24 hrs on the road with a three year old?…Yes, I must be crazy!!

Anyways, what does this have to do with nutrition?

I realized that there is going to be a lot of traveling going on this holiday season. I also realized that it is MUCH harder to stay on track nutritionally when you’re on the road. Especially when you don’t follow my #1 tip: PLAN! Did you catch that? In case you didn’t, I’ll repeat myself. PLAN!

There’s a saying that I use a lot (both with myself and clients) “If you fail to plan, you can plan to fail.” I can’t tell you how true that is.

So, what do I mean by plan? I mean that when you’re thinking about what clothes you need to pack, and what shoes to bring, and your hair, make up, and jewelry, don’t forget to think about your nutrition as well!

I get the excuse all the time that it’s so hard to eat well while traveling! No, it’s not, if you’d put as much thought and effort into your nutrition as you did in everything else you’re going to haul with you.

Here’s some things that pack and travel well:

-Apples

-Oranges

-String and/or packaged cheese

-Trail mix

-”True North” nut mixes

-Grapes

-Natural yogurt tubes

-Nuts (almonds, pistachio, pecan, etc.)

-Water, and LOTS of it during travel!

If you’re flying, I suggest getting a large ziploc baggie and filling it with a good mix of the aforementioned foods.

If you’re hitting the road, get a cooler, and fill it with the same goodies. That way, you’re not left at the mercy of the heartburn, trans-fat, drag you down pit stops you may hit along the way.

Trust me, if you make this a priority, you will not only find that traveling can be much easier when you’re fueled by the right things, you’ll be pleased with the lack of additional fat to burn at the end of it all.

We have arranged prize drawings at chosen businesses in the Grand Junction area. They range from weekly $20 gift certificates to monthly drawings.

This is our way of supporting local businesses promoting a healthy, stress free way of life, as well as giving you something in return.

To enter, visit one of the following locations, and drop your business card in the “fishbowl” with our logo on the front card. And hey, tell your friends and family too!

Good luck!

~The Garden of Eat’N Location: 2502 Highway 6&50, Suite #700 Web: http://thegardenofeatn.com/

~Innovations Salon & Day Spa Location: 2470 Patterson Rd. Suite #11

~Supper Solutions Location: 2584 Patterson Rd. Suite #2 Web: http://www.suppersolutionsinc.com/

I don’t care how healthy the catch phrases on the packages are, if you haven’t read the “fine print”, you could be sabotaging yourself over and over again!

For instance, did you know that the “Healthy Cereal” Quaker 100% Natural Granola, Oats, Honey & Raisin packs the caloric equivalent punch of EIGHT chicken wings?!?! And not to mention for the same amount of sugar, you could have a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles more than twice the size. Even scarier, with the Cocoa Pebbles, you’d get more fiber and save about 60 calories in fat!

Whodathunkit?!?! You can see more examples of healthy labeling gone wrong here. http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/13-Worst-Healthy-Foods-in-the-Supermarket/?cm_mmc=ETNTNL-_-2008_12_04-_-MainBlk-_-NA-_-04

Hopefully this will make you think twice about trusting the package for what the front reads.