The Moose is Loose

OMG, 14,000 Calories! Pass the ambrosia please...

Welcome to the 3rd issue of the Moose is Loose.  

Gobble, gobble, gobble!  Happy Thanksgiving, eh! (to all my Canadian readers)... and to those in the U.S. - not to worry, your holiday is just around the corner.

All formalities aside, the next few months are the worst times for annual weight gain for those of us who live in North America.  The typical person puts on between 2 to 5 pounds of fat per year.  Of this, nearly 1.5 to 4 pounds are put-on over a 6 week period between American Thanksgiving and Christmas!  What-The-Food!

Let me put this in simpler terms:  one pound of fat is approximately 3,500 calories; so to put on 4 pounds of fat, one would have to consume 14,000 calories above and beyond what the body needed.  That's a lot of overeating... in fact, I'm breaking a sweat just thinking about it.  

A strategy to prevent holiday weight gain?  Read about it here.

My challenge to you:  connect with your accountability partner and make a plan to stay true to your healthy, active lifestyle goals.  You know the foods that make you feel good after you eat them, and you know how you feel after overeating.  Remember these feelings when deciding whether to go for seconds on the ambrosia salad... (Yuck!  I don't know why anyone would have singles of this - LOL)  Its all about portion control... 

Lastly, don't worry, if you don't have an accountability partner, email me directly and I'll be it.  Only condition, you have to promise to be truthful and try your best at reaching your goals.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Are holidays an excuse for weight gain?

Are holidays an excuse for you to gain weight?  So many of us spend a great deal of time following a particular nutrition program, but when a holiday comes around, all that gets thrown to the curb.  Why is that?

I addressed some strategies to help with preventing Christmas weight gain, in the “More” Philosophy.  These tips are useful to curtail some of the weight being put on, but by no means is it the best and only solution.  The real trick to not deviating from your chosen nutritional lifestyle is to remember it is just that – a LIFESTYLE. 

At some point or another we’ve decided to make a change for the better.  Whether it be to improve your workout results, shave 10 minutes of  your 10k runs, do your first marathon, or simply ensure that you’re around 20 years from now to play with your grandkids...

Read more here.

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Life as an obese teenager

I was an obese teenager! 

There, I said it.  It’s hard for me to admit but for a better part of 7 years of my life I battled the war on bulge.  At the age of 14, at a height of 5 feet 6 inches, I had a 38” waist and tipped the scale at nearly 200 pounds.  According to the Body Mass Index I was morbidly obese.  How did I get there?  Well, that was the easy part.  Like many kids, I spent much of my days from the ages of 8 to 15 playing video games, watching TV and eating whatever I wanted.  I wasn’t healthy, and worst of all, I wasn’t educated on what I was doing to my body both inside and out.

Along with some of the health complications I bore, one of the hardest things to deal with as an obese teenager were the stigmas that come with being overweight.  Children are mean, but teenagers are cruel.  I lived with constant ridicule from my peers...

Read more here. 

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