I hope Santa was good to everyone this year – he sure was good to me I apologize for the week of neglect, but there was just too much going on! I completed the 12 days of FITmas – including workouts on Christmas eve and Day! Don’t be fooled though – the food consumption was a little over the top so my workouts helped negate some of what I ate.

What we managed to eat on Christmas Eve:

Greek-style riblets

Caprese Skewers:

Spinach and artichoke dip:

Tiropites and Spanakopites:

That was just the appetizers… now, the main course: (mostaccioli, mashed potatoes, mousaka, okra, roasted veggie medley, salad, ham, turkey, filet and roast pig.) You’d think we were feeding an army!

I was so excited about dessert that I completely forgot to take pictures! At the end of the night we played our White Elephant game, which was hilarious! Last year, I decided last minute to take a picture of myself and put it in a frame (it was so funny) so this year, I decided to get really crafty and use the same exact picture, but put it on a T-shirt!

I also added my old scale since Santa bought me a new one this year My uncle ended up choosing my gift and quickly put on the fabulous shirt!

My Uncle and the designer of the Tee:

Apparently snuggies and onesies were a big hit: (my kermit was so comfy)

Christmas morning  we decided to have some dessert for breakfast, so after that I jumped on the treadmill and did a 5 mile HIIT run with my new Dr. Dre headphones – amaze  Christmas day was pretty much the same as Christmas eve, just at a different house and with different food.

Some food images from Christmas day:

My plate: Lobster, cream of corn, double baked potato, brussel sprouts, cauliflower gratin and Ceasar salad

Different angle..

And for dessert I brought banana pudding with the Christmas version of Chessman Cookies:

I guess you could say that I definitely didn’t go hungry this weekend! Oh, and I don’t know if you noticed some of the pictures I took in the beginning were from my new camera (Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX9V) from Santa I am fully stocked with new electronics!! I guess I was on the nice list this year

Good afternoon, my pretties! I recently came across a post by a fellow inspiring member of the TIU team and was intrigued (as usual) by her challenge, so I thought I’d put myself to yet another test and let you all in on it too!

12 Days of Fitmas:

Your Our challenge for the next 12 days of Christmas is to workout every-single-day. Yup, no rest! This doesn’t mean that you need to run 10 miles every single day, but a minimum of 30 minutes a day of whatever you can do is quite doable even for us busy bodies! The key here is to MOVE.

As Bridget stated, “For everytime I choose to indulge I must add to my workout the next day. I am not using that as a punishment, it is a way to enjoy goodies at the holidays, but not gain weight and feel guilty or sluggish.” I think that is a great rule because lets be honest, trying to ignore the treats that will come our way is nearly impossible, so in order to not gain weight we will need to balance that out with some physical activity!

By the way, our challenge starts today … I’d love for you to check in with your workouts either @vickyptrakas or on here!

Happy 12 Days of Fitmas, Challengers!!!

It’s fairly common for us to gain a few extra pounds – in my case, around five – during the holiday season. This year I’m really hoping to stop that from happening. I know, you always say the same thing over and over – that you won’t gain the weight this winter and then you find yourself making an unrealistic “lose 10 pounds” New Year’s resolution which you can’t even stick to. Let’s prevent that from happening this year, shall we? This way we’ll be able to make a better, more realistic New Year’s resolution since we didn’t gain any unwanted holiday weight!

Some tips to remember during this magnificent food-filled season:

1. Treat each holiday as a separate day, not an entire month.  I find that if I had just indulged on the day itself (Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year ’s Day) instead of stuffing myself with leftovers for the following weeks to come, I more than likely wouldn’t have put on the extra weight.
2. Just because it’s the season of joy, laughter, parties and fun doesn’t mean you forget about your daily responsibilities (exercise.)  If you want to have your cake and eat it too at your holiday party, there is an absolutely positively non-negotiable exercise policy. Get – over – it.
3. Pick and choose which foods or desserts you definitely cannot go without and have only those.
4. Embrace the gift of giving. It will heighten your spirits and make this season that much more enjoyable.

I understand it’s much easier said than done – especially when you have work parties and friend parties on top of your family parties, but if you change your mindset going into it, your chances coming out of it (weight in tact) are far greater! It’s very easy to make time for dinners, parties and outings, but learn to make time for yourself too. Your body will thank you!!

Related Article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heidi-grant-halvorson-phd/avoid-holiday-weight-gain_b_1091302.html?ref=health-and-fitness&ir=Health+and+Fitness

I couldn’t be happier that today is Friday and rest day! With this awful weather – and it’s only mid October, I find that it’s super easy to fall into a rut. It’s something about the combination of cold weather, over-sized sweaters and leave-room-for-more-food- stretchy leggings that cause this reaction. I mean, who wants to leave their house to go workout when it’s incredibly freezing outside? Or who doesn’t crave a salted caramel mocha or two during the day? If you ask me, I’d rather sit on my couch snuggled up in my fuzzy baby blue fleece robe and watch infinite reruns of ‘Sex and the City’  or ‘The Rachel Zoe Project,’ all while sipping on my deliciously sweet cup o’ Joe – and munching on popcorn, obvi!

This behavior, my friends, will create a downward spiral that – six pounds later- you’ll be wishing you didn’t start.  Especially since the holidays are nearly around the corner- which btw, it’s kinda annoying that Halloween hasn’t passed yet and there are Christmas commercials already (even though I really am looking forward to Christmas music!) Why is it that we are constantly looking forward to tomorrow instead of enjoying today? That’s probably too heavy of a topic to be discussing on a Friday. Moving on!

If you’re finding yourself entering this rut, I urge you to pinpoint exactly what’s causing you to feel this way. Is it drama? Is it boredom? Or, is it simply the cold weather? Whatever the reasons may be, they’re ultimately excuses. Excuses are what will keep you from reaching your personal goals! I totally didn’t want to do my two mile run yesterday, but I switched off that part of my brain and found myself driving to the gym anyway. It wasn’t easy and it felt like it was the longest run of my life, but it had to be done. Mission accomplished!

There are approximately two weeks left in the month of October. Are you going to finish the month with a list of excuses or a calendar full of stickers. You are in charge of your life, so don’t keep waiting until “tomorrow” to start exercising, start eating healthy or to start reaching your goals  - “yesterday you said tomorrow!”

On a lighter note, I’m really excited for my cousin Patricia’s birthday celebration – which may or may not include a couple drinks Have a fabulous weekend, darlings!!

Words of Wisdom: