Holiday Survival

Appetizer All-Stars
These cocktail-party standbys are easy on the waistline, heavy on the health benefits.
 Red Peppers 
Working as a vitamin booster, red peppers are low in calories but packed with essential nutrients and water.
 Shrimp
Lean protein in shrimp helps turn off your body's hunger mechanism.
 Broccoli
Broccoli works as a portion controller, bursting with fiber broccoli helps fill you up so you eat less.
 Mozzarella
The fat in mozzarella slows the absorption of alcohol in the bloodstream causing it to work as a booze buster.
 Grapes
Watery foods help stave off hydration.  Red grapes are also loaded with antioxidants.


Watch the clock: If you're the host, do your guests a favor and bring out dinner around 7.  If you're a guest, be mindful of the 20-minute phenomenon.  People are more likely to overeat during the first 20 minutes after they arrive, out of nervousness.  So settle in before taking a bite- you'll eat less and enjoy it more.
Plate wisely: Enjoy a few forkfuls of your grandmother's noodle kugel and a few bites of your aunt's sweet-potato casserole.  Just don't plan on polishing off a full plate of either.  Approach holiday buffets with the idea of sampling everything.  And be a picky eater.  If you're nibbling that pasta salad just for the marinated artichokes, leave the fusilli, olives, and extra calories behind.
Save the best for last: The dessert table is the bete noire of holiday food situations.  Time tested advice?  Be the last person up there.  Not only will it give you time to think about which sweet treat you're really craving, but the picked-over spread will be less appetizing (and you'll be less likely to overdo it).


At the Party: Be Selective
The food will be plentiful; the drinks will be flowin'.  But with a little preparation, there's a way to enjoy the night without totally blowing your stay-fit diet.
Pre-Party with Food: Have a protein-rich mini meal beforehand, like a grilled chicken salad or some sashimi.  Clear soups are ideal.  They're satisfying and fill your stomach in a way that little bites won't.
Be an hors d'oeuvres snob:  Most appetizers (cubes of yellow cheese, pigs in a blanket) are like reruns of A Christmas Story: You've seen them before, and you'll see them again.  So fill up on safe bets, like crudites or shrimp cocktail, and hold out for truly special treats, such as caviar blini or foie gras sliders.  Go for the worthwhile indulgence, not the cheap waste of calories.
Dress Sexy:  Choose close-cut pieces, not sacklike ones.  A body-conscious dress will make you think twice about reaching for seconds.  Even the right bag helps.  A clutch will busy your hands and keep from dive-bombing passed appetizers.






Happy Hoildays!

2012 is just around the corner!!

It's about that time of year that we all start thinking about our New Year's resolutions.  How many of us have actually followed through our resolutions all year, rather than the first couple months?  What if each month was different?  Why not try these healthy habits; each is new and different every month!  

January: Eat More Fruits and Vegetables—Add 3 more servings of fruits and vegetables to your diet each day. 

Feb: Get Moving—Increase the amount of aerobic exercise you do. 

March: Get Cooking—Cook at least 3 meals more per week than you are now, even if that means cooking breakfast or lunch (for freezing, maybe).

April: Go For More Grains—Add 3 servings of whole grains per day.

May: Eat Breakfast Daily—Eat a healthy breakfast every day. 

June: Get Stronger—Add strength training to your fitness regimen: at least 2 sessions per week.

July: Focus on Healthy Fats—Swap unhealthy fats for healthy fats in your diet.

August: Go Vegetarian at Least 1 Day a Week—Expand the number of all-vegetable dishes that you eat by making 1 dinner or main-meal-of-the-day vegetarian.

September: Eat More Fish—Cook fish or seafood for dinner 2 times a week.

October: Ease Up on Salt—Cut back on salt/sodium and increase your sodium awareness.

November: Be Portion Aware—Cut your portion size of less-healthy or higher-calorie foods at least once per meal.

December: Eat Mindfully, Be Thankful—Learn two ways—in this busy season and throughout the year—to find joy in food and to share that joy with others.

The New Superfruits

It's not just all about apples and oranges anymore, check out these superfruits and their
health benefits.  




ACAI


A dark purple Brazilian berry rich in essential fatty acids and fiber, the fruit also boasts powerful antioxidants such as anthocyanins and flavonoids, which protect your cells from damage and may reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. 
 ACEROLA

This sweet fruit is apple-like in flavor and rich in vitamin C.  It contains as much immunity-boosting vitamin A as a similar-size serving of carrots.

BLOOD ORANGE

The deep color of this sweet, tart orange comes from anthocyanin, an antioxidant that's been shown to help fight cancer, inflammation and diabetes.

 CHERIMOYA

Mark Twain once characterized this complex tropical fruit as "deliciousness itself."  It can be sliced or scooped like an avocado and has similar velvety texture.  One fruit provides 7 grams of protein and 15 percent of your daily value of iron.

 GOJI BERRY

Most commonly found in dried form, this Asian fruit has been used in traditional medicine for years to enhance health and longevity.  It packs a massive nutritional punch, including beta carotene, vitamin C, iron, protein, trace minerals and B vitamins.

 GUAVA

According to USDA researchers, this fruit may be the highest of them all in antioxidants.  One cup delivers 8,500 micrograms of cancer-fighting lycopene and serves up as many of the free radical fighters as one serving of broccoli.

  PAPAYA

Rich in immunity-building vitamin A and papain, an enzyme that aids digestion, papaya is a delicious addition to salads and stir-fries.

 PASSION FRUIT

This egg-shaped, intensely sweet tropical fruit is rich in cancer-fighting carotenoids and polyphenols.  It also delivers an appetite-satisfying 12 grams of fiber per fruit.

 POMEGRANATE

The tangy seeds of this fruit are rich in polyphenols, plant chemicals that fight inflammation and may fend off cancer and heart disease.

UGLIFRUIT

The lumpy, bumpy exterior of this milder-tasting cousin of the grapefruit gives this food its name.  It's rich in vitamin C and A as well as potassium, and is low in calories.

 PRICKLY PEAR

The pulp of this cactus fruit is mild and sweet, rich in potassium, and delivers 10 percent of your daily calcium requirement in one cup.

 STAR FRUIT

Each fruit contains 4 grams of fiber and fewer than 40 calories, and is rich in potassium and vitamin C.

Keeping the fat off during the Holidays...

We all love the holidays; filled with family, friends, laughing, and delicious meals.   However we all worry about the extra added pounds that comes along with the holidays.  Of course we come to Xtend to exercise regularly to keep ourselves active and healthy; but here are a couple tips you could also be doing to help keep off those little extras. 

1. Drink two glasses of water thirty minutes before you eat a meal. Not only will this help you feel fuller before you start to eat but drinking water before a meal also increases the production of stomach acid which will help you digest your food better.

2. Use spice more frequently with food. Spicy foods such as cayenne, peppers, cumin,
pepper, etc can slow the rate of sugar entering the bloodstream and increase the amount of calories burned in response to a meal.

3. Increase your fiber intake during the holidays. Use PaleoFiber because it is excellent
in lowering both blood sugar and insulin levels which are going to rise up due to eating heavier, more carbohydrate laden holiday meals.

4. Eat vinegar before each meal. Vinegar helps to decrease blood sugar and insulin
responses to a very starchy meal. When you eat vinegar before a meal your blood sugar and insulin levels don’t rise up as much. The simplest way to do this is to take about a shots worth of vinegar right before you eat or add that amount onto your salad.

5. Drink fresh squeezed lemon juice before a meal. This has much the same properties as does vinegar for lowering your blood sugar and insulin response to a high starch meal. You can drink a third of a cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice directly or put this amount onto your salad.

6. If you are going to eat deserts during this season, choose ones that contain berries or cinnamon. Cinnamon helps to regulate blood sugar and insulin levels and berries are very low on the glycemic index scale and help to stimulate fat loss and slow weight gain from a high fat meal.

7. Make sure to drink green tea when consuming high fat meals. Green tea has been
demonstrated to decrease the absorption of fat and to increase fat loss by stimulating fat burning genes. If you are caffeine sensitive of course be careful here, but other than that there is really no downside to drinking green tea often.

8. Remember to eat slowly. As mouthwatering as those holiday foods are, if you take the time to chew each mouthful twenty to thirty times you will significantly decrease the amount of food you eat. Eating this slowly gives your body a chance to become more satisfied, resulting in less desire to overeat or stuff ourselves.

9. While eating a meal and when you burp for the first time, it’s time to stop eating.
Burping is the body’s natural way of telling us that it is full or close to it and going any further will just result in us reaching the “stuffed” zone.

10. Exercise one hour before eating a big meal. This way when you do consume a high fat/carbohydrate laden meal, some of those calories consumed will go into building muscle instead of storing as fat.

Happy Holidays!