Indulge with moderation

Thanksgiving is a holiday to eat, drink, and feast with friends and family. How do we plan our nutrition to continue to meet our health and fitness goals, especially during Thanksgiving time?
I tell my challengers that, in my opinion, they need to splurge a little on the holidays. How do they do that? They need to plan for the holiday meals by being as good as possible prior to the holiday day, and then splurge on the day of the holiday. What if they do not want to, or have a hard time eating clean and healthy prior to the holiday? Then I give them some healthy options such as sticking to the lean meats and low-calorie and low-starch (if late in the evening) vegetables.

We get so caught up in calorie counting and what is the right or wrong low-calorie or low-sugar food item to put into our mouths that we forget about the simple, healthy choices. Load up on vegetables at every meal and we all need to remember moderation is very important. Remember to wash all the healthy stuff down with good fresh water. Your goal is to consume about half of your weight in ounces everyday.

When losing body fat, I believe we really need to stay away from sugars most of the time. If someone says the sugar-free stuff is better, then I disagree because normally the sugar-free stuff(except stevia) is something processed that our body does not need or rejects anyway. I believe that, when we eat sugar substitutes, we are falsely attempting to satisfy a craving. When we do not really satisfy a craving for sugar the right way, we usually end up wanting more—and even worse the next time.

We need to be eating for maximum performance, not just for the sake of saying we are eating low-calorie foods or sugar-free stuff. Our bodies can take a little bit of sugar, but we really are asking for trouble when it comes to gaining body fat when we overdo it. Sugar, if eaten in even small amounts, such as from fruits or sugar in coffee, should be consumed in the early parts of the day.

​The reason for consuming the sugar earlier in the day is so we can have the rest of the day to have it burned off by being used as fuel for moving our bodies in exercise or normal activity. Here is a great way to satisfy your sweet tooth without giving too much into the sugar.

Pumpkin Pie Protein Power Balls

INGREDIENTS
1 cup raw almonds
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup dates(pitted)
7 oz pumpkin puree
1 scoop vanilla shakeology protein powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
2 tbsp flaxseed
2 tbsp mini chocolate chips
​
DIRECTIONS
1 Add the almonds, oats, dates, flaxseed, pumpkin puree, protein powder, and spices to the food processor, except chocolate ships. Turn on until a choppy dough forms, several minutes.
2 Roll dough into 20 balls, roll each in chocolate chips and place on a clean cookie sheet.
3 Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to set. Store uneaten balls in an airtight container in the fridge.
​

---