If you are reading this while snowed in – congratulations! You get a day off of work! A day stuck in the house can be lots of fun and/or relaxing, but it can also wreck your diet. Here are 9 DOs to help you NOT gain weight today, and 2 DON’Ts.
DO THIS
- DO sleep in - Or go back to sleep, or take a nap later because sleeping burns calories. PLUS, you can’t eat while you are sleeping. (Two birds...one stone...just saying.)
- DO eat oatmeal for breakfast. It’s so warm and cozy; and since you have extra time, you can put an extra spin on it like adding apples and cinnamon or raisins and honey. Nutrition meets comfort with oatmeal. Bonus points if you add flaxseed.
- DO have a bed wrestling match. Okay not so much wrestling as just playing around on it, but I know my dog and baby both love to roll around on the bed and run in and out of the room jumping onto the bed and off again. Hey, it’s a quick fun way to burn a few calories.
- DO watch a movie or catch up on Netflix. I love to binge watch a whole season of something light like Orange is the New Black. If you must snack while watching, fix a big bowl of popcorn. (Hold the butter.) It will last longer than a bag of chips or cookies and save calories. Pickles are a great crunchy, salt satisfying snack, too.
- DO get outside and play. If you can, wrap up good and go outside for a little bit. I’m sure your dogs/kids will be begging you to anyway. Build a snowman or make snow angels or collect snow for snow cream. Here is a recipe that is lower in sugar than most.
- DO make chili. You know that you are low on bread and milk because you didn’t want to fight the crazies last night at the grocery store, so no French toast, but you probably have enough canned goods to make decent chili. Here is a basic recipe: add what you want or take away, but really, you just need tomato sauce, chili powder, and broth. Nutritional Bonus: The more veggies (like beans, onion, peppers, etc) the better.
- DO drink hot chocolate. Skip the marshmallows or whipped cream to save calories.
- DO shovel some snow. If it’s really bad and you know you’re going to have to get out sometime today or tomorrow, get out and shovel some snow. You will burn approximately 200 calories* for only 30 minutes, and then you can come inside and enjoy the warm chili.
- DO start your car. If your car is not in a garage, it will save your time tomorrow morning melting the ice on your windshield.
DON'T DO THAT
- DON’T open the refrigerator/pantry 30 times. Make a conscious effort when you get bored to say, “I’m not hungry, I’m just bored.” Then direct your attention to something else like what TV show you should binge watch next.
- DON’T stay on social media all day. If you do, you will regret it at the end of the day. 1) You’ll probably have a headache from staring at your phone/tablet/computer all day. 2) How many food ads and/or recipes are you likely to see while online? Avoid!
*Calories burned calculated on the weight of a woman weighing 160 pounds.
